Let’s start out with an example.  You want to hire somebody for minimum wage to train on a simple job.  Are you going to ask your next door neighbor, who happens to be an electrician, to become your employee and be paid minimum wage?  No, probably you are going to look for a teenager or somebody looking for an easy part-time job.  Still, you are going to be choosy.  You are going to have them fill out an application, interview them, and check out their references.  How do you find your candidates?  You might keep your ears open for somebody looking for a job.  You might ask your friends if they know of anybody looking for an entry-level job.  You might also place an ad in the local newspaper.  You collect your applications, do your interviews, check your references, and hire one employee.  A lot to go through right?

For recruiting network marketing distributors, which we hope will ultimately be people to recruit more distributors, we need to do some of the same things.  We identify what our candidate looks like: their interests, needs, demographics, and other identifying characteristics.  We might ask our friends if they know anybody that fits the bill.  We might place an ad in the newspaper.  We talk to people and see if they are a good fit, then ask them to join.  Well, actually, the person can join or not based on what they felt about the opportunity.  So it’s kind of like an interview in reverse.

Commissioned sales people, which is really what you are recruiting, are an interesting bunch.  Some will produce and some won’t.  Most won’t in fact.  You are just hoping for a small handful that do very well.  So you continue to look for candidates, put them through the process, and hope that some will join.  Most won’t, some will.  Most who join won’t produce, but some will.  So as a network marketing recruiter, you just keep recruiting.

This series is going to take you through the elements of recruiting step by step, starting with joining your company.  By the end, you hopefully will understand what it takes to build a network of distributors for a network marketing company, and can decide whether it sounds like your cup of tea…

Did you become interested in the Watkins Business Opportunity and then… see Watkins Products at Walmart, Target, online somewhere, or now seem overwhelmed by the number of Watkins Associates out there?  It’s a good thing!  Watkins reaches only a small percentage of households in the nation, and they are trying hard to grow.  Part of that is getting a select few products in retail outlets… just so people see the name out there and recognize the brand.  However, most sales are still done through product demonstration and from Independent Watkins Associates.  So customers become aware of the brands in the store, and perhaps purchase an item, but then are exposed to the quality and value of Watkins… and the only place to get everything they want in one place is from a Watkins Associate.  And we deliver.

Perhaps you are interested in selling, and we all sell to some degree.  You can introduce new products to customers who already know the brand.  Much easier than trying to sell Brand X to somebody who doesn’t understand the quality and value.

Still not convinced?  Let’s look at the network marketing side of the equation: I know Watkins, love the products from Walmart, and I learn it is a business opportunity.  So I join, get my 25% discount on all the wonderful Watkins Products, and talk up the product line to my friends.  Pretty soon a couple join to also have total access to the product line and the 25% discount.  Same with them: They sign up a couple each.  Pretty soon we are talking about volume and commission checks.  Not to say that building the business is this easy… but it can be with the right combination of factors.  And one of those factors is the general population knowing more about Watkins.

By contrast, let’s say that I wanted you to join my network marketing company: Bob’s Products.  It has a great comp plan, the products are excellent, and everyone is joining.  One problem: you are skeptical.  Who is this Bob anyway?  Are his products safe and effective?  Are they a good value?  On the other hand, if I wanted you to be a distributor for Tide and Lifeboy, you know the products and quality, you just might worry that they are too widely available and used.  Watkins doesn’t suffer from either problem: They are a known brand by young and old alike, and they own very little of the marketplace.

How about us?  We sold in the early 90′s and we sell now.  Is there any difference?  Well, yes… we find that we are getting orders for unusual products now by people seeking us out.  It used to be we sold a lot of Watkins Vanilla.  Now we get orders for deodorant, spray liniment, soup bases, hand cream, and many other products.  We often have to ask: do we sell that?  Here we are, 20 years as associates, not even knowing that our product line has a certain product.

We have always been more into the network marketing aspect of Watkins, where we earn based on the sales of other associates, but we also made it our mission to find customers of Watkins Products that were not being serviced by anyone else.  And guess what?  We found some…. and continue finding new customers.

It may seem convenient to buy Watkins Products from the store.  Several stores carry a handful of products.  But did you know that you can get any of the 350+ items Watkins sells from a Watkins Associate?  Can’t find a Watkins Associate?  You can do a search for “Watkins Products”, “Watkins Dealers”, or “Watkins Associates”, or better yet do the following…

1. Request a free catalog from Satterlee Marketing, Inc.

Make your request here (click).  We will send you out a catalog promptly.

2. Write down the items you would like to order

Note that we will honor or beat the catalog prices.

3. Email your order to smi@foxvalley.net

We will invoice you by paypal and you will receive your order within a week.

Note that we charge $4.99 for shipping, regardless of your order size! Your order total will be the sum of the item prices plus $4.99, that’s it.  We even pay your sales taxes for you.

So that is how to get free shipping and receive convenient delivery to your front door or mailbox.  If you are local to the Elgin, Illinois area, we can even deliver same day in most cases.  Note that we may also be able to get difficult-to-get discontinued items.

Many business opportunities tout making money or how you can get in on the ground floor. Watkins is an opportunity you can use to make an unlimited income, yes. But there are reasons it is a great opportunity:

1. The Products

No matter what happens, the products are always great. You can be wildly successful or you can just buy for yourself, people stay in the program because they love the products. The whole product line is great, you don’t have to buy just vanilla or just liniment — you buy anything and everything you like. There is so much to choose from and it’s all good!

Don’t worry about how much you have to buy… there is a small minimum to receive your downline commissions, but no purchase requirement otherwise.  Besides, the small minimum is easy to achieve by just shifting some of your purchases from your local grocery store to your Watkins business.

2. The Customers

Customers who use Watkins, love Watkins. They may be in love with one item… for instance, many customers love the liniment spray. Or the vanilla. Or the soup bases. We have several customers who will buy one item over and over again. Many customers seek us out for that one item they cannot find elsewhere.

The great thing about the one item problem is that it is your foot in the door. Customers are often willing to try something else, especially if you offer them an unconditional money-back guarantee. Then they will be hooked on more than just the one item.

Customers are out there, and they often cannot find associates for some reason. Still, you don’t need to sell much directly to make this a great business.

3. Other Associates

Many people are out there looking for a great business opportunity. Introducing the business to others is a great way to grow your business, and have it also grow itself. People you sponsor will also sponsor others, and you make income from the total volume of the associates you bring into the business, and the ones they bring in, to a virtually unlimited depth.

Now sponsoring is not the easiest thing in the world, I agree. But if you publicize that you are looking for others for your business opportunity, people do come forth. Then you just get them as much information as they need. Not all will join, but some will.

4. The Summit Group

We belong to The Summit Group. TSG has all kinds of help available. Free online information about finding customers and associates. A free website that you can use to sponsor. An advertising co-op. Most of the services TSG provides are free or at cost.

5. Satterlee Marketing

When you join our group, you are getting nearly 20 years of experience with the Watkins opportunity. We have even more experience with network marketing, and have the vision to help you become successful in any way you wish.

Take that next step, request FREE information!

I wanted to take this opportunity to say Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! We are having Thanksgiving tomorrow with my sister and her family, plus my Mom and Dad, Jill’s husband’s Dad, and several other people. Should be an adventure.

I can’t even begin to talk about all the Watkins Products we use for Thanksgiving… my wife is an exceptional cook and we get that little extra edge with the products that Watkins offers.

I was at my cousin’s a couple of weeks ago and they are big time gourmet cooks. They were very excited about the Watkins my Mom gave them for their wedding, so I made sure to also send them a catalog. So many of our immediate and less-than-immediate family members use Watkins and love the products.

I urge you — if you have ever thought of having your own home-based business, please consider Watkins. We would be happy to send you free information.

What are Watkins Products anyway? They are the best gourmet products you can buy anywhere. Gold medal winning Vanilla, Black Pepper, and Cinnamon. Spices, seasonings, and flavorings of all kinds.

Watkins Products are top cleaning products that are all natural and contain no harmful ingredients. Watkins Products are also personal care items and home medicinals, such as salves and liniments.

Interested? Make sure to order a free catalog from us to learn more.

You can go out and buy advertising or participate in The Summit Group’s co-op, which I do, but the most rewarding prospects are the ones you get free of charge. Those from your own website that you do not advertise. That is what is happening more and more now as people discover us. They request free information and maybe they will sign up, maybe not, but they are always the most interested prospects we get. Most ask for even more information or product samples after they get their free information, and I expect more and more will sign up in time.

Our best associate to date came from a free lead we got from the eAssociate site. We had a big order from her just last month. It is nice to work with somebody so excited about the business… that is not always the case.

Don’t get me wrong, the co-op is a great way to get some very good leads, but you have to pay for them. If you can generate your own free leads by setting up a web site and promoting it, you will do very well without spending much money. Personally, I think you have to give out as much information as possible that is easy to get to, but offer free information by mail that they can hold on to and look at. We will see how it goes over the next few months…