Frank and Cathy  

When we buy into an online opportunity, we usually do so because we believe we can be successful in that business, that we can make money with it. Therefore, by definition, we believe that our opportunity is the mother of all businesses, and the ultimate answer to all of our prospects needs, as well, of course, as our own.

It is a very short step from that point to the idea that our business is everything, and that we represent that opportunity. It is important to resist that mindset, first because it does not have a lot of validity, and second because it can be harmful. It does not have a lot of validity because your business will not sell itself no matter what you have been told. Ultimately, sales should be conducted person to person.

With the promises of instant wealth that are constantly made to any prospect, it strikes me that anyone who is considering an online business would need that personal contact before enough trust can be built to commit money to the opportunity. I know that was true for Cathy and I.
There is another aspect to personal contact, in that it sets the marketer who uses it apart from those who do actually relay on the website and the auto responders to do the selling for them. Please do not misunderstand, those are valuable, necessary tools and an important part of many sales process. In some cases, those tools will be enough to actually close the sale. However, if this is the limit of your sales effort, your sales will indeed be limited.

There are a large number of prospects who would be willing to buy if they could just contact a real person, someone who they can get to know and trust, someone who they can turn to if things are not working out as planned, which happens more often then not. In that case, In that case, that new marketer wants to deal with a real person, not some nameless faceless company whom that new marketer WANTS to trust, but isn't quite sure at that point if the trust is justified.

You want that new marketer to keep their enthusiasm, and show that person how to direct that enthusiasm into a co-coordinated and comprehensive sales effort, rather then amplify their confusion and disappointment.

Therefore, in both respects, both before and after the sale, it is important that the prospect or the new marketer see YOU as the representative rather then the company. I have touched on this point before, but it bears repeating....ALWAYS remember that there will probably be other ideas, products, and opportunities that you will be selling in the future. When you get to that point, you will want your list to trust you, and not your company. It is quite likely that you will be offering more then one business, and besides, anything can happen suddenly and without warning to your online opportunity.

Let me go to the bottom line on this topic. I am skeptical of automated systems in the first place. I believe that there are aspects on online marketing that can and should be automated, but I cannot escape the idea that when it comes to actually selling to the customer, there is no substitute for, and nothing as effective as, personal contact.

Once that personal contact has been established, it needs to be expanded and amplified until that prospect sees YOU as a friend, genuinely interested in the prospect and their welfare. When that happens, you will find yourself with a growing and responsive list, which is the absolute key to long-term success in the online marketing world.