By this point you should have a strong understanding of SFI and have become EA qualified.
If you are not EA at this point there is no point in continuing your training. By not being EA with a
standing order you are putting your placement in the Tnet at jeopardy. The rest of this training
is going to show you how to build your downline and SFI business. If you lose your
place in the Tnet all the affiliates that are placed below you in the Tnet by your efforts
or from "spill over" from your upline will be gone. This will be a complete waste of your
time and effort.
If you are not EA today go back to step 2
and read why this is so important.
Step 3 (sort of)
Find and sponsor some prospects who show an interest in SFI
The reason this is called Step 3 (sort of) is because this is the step that is the most difficult.
It is difficult for a couple of reasons:
- This step requires dedicated consistent quality effort
- This step can require some financial investment
- Results may not be as fast as you would like at first as you learn.
For these reasons before we get started on Step 3 I want to take some time and take a
look at some of the costs involved in running your business.
Let's start with required costs.
Internet Access.
If you are using dial up, I recommend that you use the veriuni internet service.
It is less expensive than most and you earn SVP by using it. It is also very reliable.
Average cost of Internet Access: $14.95 to $21.45
Sales Webpages.
Most affiliate programs include a one or two page website for free. Many that
"give" you a store front and more than 10 pages or so cost $19.95 to $39.95 per month.
If you are doing your own with affiliate links, it will cost you a monthly fee for
hosting, $3.95 to $29.95 a month depending on the size of your site and the
bandwidth used. SFI provides you with a v-store
and several gateway pages for FREE.
Cost for SFI webpages: Free
Computer.
The prices have come down quite a bit. They range from below $300 to over $5,000.
You already have one, or you wouldn't be reading this, so we will list this as
zero additional cost.
Cost: Zero
Ok, let's see what the required costs are. Looks like it is just the monthly cost
of your internet, which you are already paying. But now it is a tax deduction!
$14.95 - $21.45 per month!
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OK, now we get into the optional costs.
The first is a standing order to qualify for EA. Why a standing order? Because, as explained in
step 2
you want to become and remain an Executive Affiliate and if you have a standing order,
you won't forget and miss any deadlines. For this we will use the cost of IAHBE,
since it is what I recommend for the reasons mentioned on the previous step.
Cost: $29.95 per month.
Ok, now that's the basics for cost. Let's discuss this "free" thing. There is no
such thing. "Free" just means spending lots of time instead of lots of money.
I recommend a little of both. How much is your time worth? Minimum wage is somewhere
around $7 per hour depending on where you live. I recommend budgeting at least
$50 per month in advertising money and another $50 to $80 for leads purchasing.
You may be asking, why do i need to purchase leads. You need a steady flow of
affiliates to build excitement in your T-Net. The best source of affiliates is
always your own advertising. The purchased leads are just to get you started
while you are learning to advertise effectively and they can also keep things
moving when you hit a dry spell.
I also recommend that you will also need a domain name and web hosting.
I will go into detail about the importance of this later in the training. It is
not important at this stage in your SFI development but it will be a key to your
long term success. I just wanted to make sure you budget for this now vs being surprised
later.
Domain names will run you anywhere from $4.95 to $29.95 per year, depending on where
you buy it. You can buy one from your own store, Great Domainia,
for $19.95 or two years for $31.95. Where else could you buy a domain name and
get 6 or 10 SVP for doing so? Those prices as low as $4.95 are not always available,
but I have seen them. Web hosting will most likely cost you somewhere in the range
of $5 to $10 per month, depending on what you want. I will show you where you can
get a domain name and hosting for $8/month later in this training.
If you don't know how to build a website? That's ok, there are tools available
with that IAHBE subscription to help you with that. Also, I will show you
a great resource developed by Erich Winnecke (the 2005 Top Sponsor in SFI) that will
give you a full working website for free that will promote SFI - but more on that later.
So we are looking at somewhere between $100 and $150 per month in optional costs.
Where else can you start a thriving business on $3-$5 per day?
This includes staying EA qualified with a standing order to IAHBE, a private
website with domain name, a monthly leads purchase, and paid advertising. Once again,
remember that none of these are required purchases or costs, they will make your
life a bit easier though, if you do this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can spend more, or less and still be successful, it is all up to you! I will
provide you both free and paid ways to promote your SFI business. I suggest a mix
of both methods to be successful.
Remember that SFI has already reduced your costs by providing you with a
professional website that you can use to sell products and to recruit other affiliates.
Spend the next 2 days seriously looking at your budget and determining what you can afford.
At this point I often hear the "I have no money" response. I understand this feeling, I
was there too. But, if you are serious about this business you can find money. I found
$7/day by "brown bagging" my lunch to work everyday. I took leftovers from dinner the night
before as lunch. By doing that I saved $35/week or $140/month. This was all it took to get
my business started. Take a good hard look at what you spend money on today and see if you
can find your start up money.
Your friend in success,
Chris Stirling