Have you ever thought of something and felt like a fool for not
having thought of it earlier? If so, then you know what I felt
like one day not so far in the past.

Brande and I decided to try some local promoting. So, we made up
some telephone pole signs, yard signs, drop cards, etc. with a
catchy message and our telephone number.

We went all about town handing this stuff out, sticking up signs,
and putting things on windshields. We even discovered one
competing network marketing company's Atlanta convention and put
windshield circulars on all the cars on the parking lot.

We spent about two weeks doing this. Everywhere we went we would
leave drop cards and circulars. Brande would hop out of the
truck, dash across several lanes of traffic dodging horn blowing
automobiles, hold a sign up against a telephone pole.. whack it
with a hammer tacker (a staple gun that works like a hammer)..
and dodge back through the traffic and jump into the truck
hollering "GO! GO!" (Kids, don't try that at home.) (Parents,
get your kids to do this for you. They are quicker and smaller
targets.)

What was the result of our hard effort and life-threatening
antics? A handful of phone calls.. not counting the three calls
from local police departments politely urging us, under threat of
prosecution and imprisonment, not to hang signs on telephone
poles in their jurisdictions again. We were very disappointed.

A few days later I was driving down the road with my mind deep in
thought trying to figure out two important issues. First, did I
want Wendy's or Burger King for lunch? Secondly, why did our
local prospecting campaign flop?

I knew the problem wasn't the message on the signs and hand-outs.
I composed the messages myself. Ya'll know what great composition
skills I have. (ugh!)

I also knew it wasn't our voice-mail message. Very few ever heard
it because no-one was bothering to dial the number. So what could
it possibly be?

Then, as I was driving past a new car lot and thinking of
stopping in to look at the latest pickemup trucks, but thinking
better of it because I did not want to be eaten by the sharks
(salespersons) in the parking lot, a spark ignited in my head.
The problem with our local prospecting campaign was simply the
lack of two words in my otherwise perfectly and elegantly
composed message: "pre-recorded message."

People want information. They do not want to be bothered with
someone giving them a hard-sell when they are just looking. Ask
any furniture salesperson. Nine out of ten times when they ask
someone who is lying on the couch in the showroom with their hand
down their britches "May I help you?", the answer is "Naw, I am
just looking."

People want to "just look", and they will ask for help when they
want it! So, I added the words "pre-recorded message" to the
message on our materials, and Brande and I went to work again.

This time the response was overwhelming! We were getting 10 to 20
calls each day, and a number of them were leaving us messages to
call them back! We hit the gold-mine!

Today, we contract with a local answering service to handle our
calls. Callers are played a sales-pitch that lasts a little more
than 5 minutes. At the end of the message they are given the
option to 1) hang up now, 2) press zero for a live operator (who
asks them some pre-qualifying questions and forwards them to
Brande's cell phone if she is available), and 3) to leave their
name and phone number and Brande will call them back. If you wish
hear our message, call 1-800-887-2093 toll free.

By using the answering service, we are able to post ads anywhere
and everywhere we want, and home business opportunity seekers are
able to call the number 24 hours a day - seven days a week, and
hear what the opportunity is about. Lately we have even been
posting ads on internet sites with the toll-free number, leaving
off our URL and e-mail address. The response we get is
surprising.

The pre-recorded message also serves as a pre-qualifier. In our
message we tell them that an investment is required, that they
must have a checking account or charge card, and they will need
to work hard at least 5 to 10 hours a week. If they leave their
name and number then they are dead serious about earning an
income from home. Thus, we do not waste our time trying to weed
out the suspects from the prospects. Our pre-recorded message
does it for us. All we have to do is feed callers into it.

If you want a great prospecting tool that works 24 hours a day -
seven days a week, give voice mail a try. You will be glad you
did.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brande and Chris Bradford are active participants in a home based
business opportunity and are the publishers of GREAT HEIGHTS, a
monthly newsletter focused on home based business issues.
To subscribe to their newsleter, send a blank e-mail to:
Great-Heights-Subscribe@yahoogroups.com
or visit:
http://www.brandebradford.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


[-END-]


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]