Issue #3  |  December 2002 

Direct Sales Colleagues,

"It's all about the delivery." When talking about effective communication, this phrase comes up a lot. It's not necessarily what is said or written that matters most, but how your message is conveyed.

You'll notice this issue deals mostly with delivering messages to others. This season is a time of sending all kinds of greetings to people who matter most in your lives and in your businesses. When doing so online, I hope the information in this newsletter proves useful to you.

Take special notice of the news about email marketing. I hope to speak with you more about this and how we can help your business use it effectively. Call me with any questions.

In the meantime, Happy Holidays to each of you. My best to you in the New Year!

Regards,

Dave Christiansen
Sales Manager, ARRAY
(800) 407-9711

> News: Permission-based email marketing continues to show results

Marketing products via permission-based email continues to be effective. According to a recent survey conducted by DoubleClick, Inc., 78% of online shoppers made an immediate purchase as a result of an email. A significant number of recipients also made offline purchases as a result of receiving an email advertisement (see graph).

Additionally, 44% reported repeat purchases—either online or offline—following the initial purchase.

The main factor in an effective response seems to be trust between the sender and the recipient. For over half of the recipients (60%), the motivating factor in opening email was the "From" line, while 35% opened due to the subject line.

Despite concerns about unsolicited email, 75% of consumers point to email as the preferred method of contact from retailers, followed by postal mail (25%) and telemarketing (0%).

Source: doubleclick.com

Is your company's current Internet strategy falling short? You're not the only one. That's why over a dozen major direct sales companies have turned to ARRAY to provide their sales force with a rock-solid Internet strategy.

This guide contains the information you need to understand how ARRAY can revitalize your Internet strategy. Includes client testimonials, a CD-Rom, samples of our design work, and more! Get your FREE guide now

> Tip: Help your distributors write convincing testimonials

Over the past five years that we've worked with direct sales organizations, we've seen many network marketers that have mastered the art of telling their story.

We thought we'd share with you some of the things we've learned from these marketers. Feel free to share and implement these ideas with the distributors in your organization.

Successful network marketers share their story in a short period of time by being simple and by inviting the listener to find out more. These same principles apply to the story distributors write for their websites. Listed below are a few tips for writing a powerful website story or testimonial.

1. Keep it simple. If a person can't read a story in less than 90 seconds (approx 200 words) then it's too long. In this short amount of time you can easily say who you are, what you do, what your experience was and how to get more information.

2. Keep it personal. The testimonial or story should be about your experience with the product or opportunity. If you don't have your own story yet, share why you became involved in the business or what your favorite product is. But, whatever you say, be real.

3. Use a THEN/NOW approach. The THEN/NOW approach is simple. You relate how your life used to be (THEN) with how your life is today (NOW). This approach works especially well if you have a success story about an increase in income, an improvement in health, or an improvement in overall life satisfaction.

4. Invite the reader to contact you. Sharing your story without a call to action is like forgetting a period on a sentence. After sharing your personal story, invite your reader to find out more about the product or opportunity. You can direct them to a specific product featured on your website, or allow them to request a free video or audio about the opportunity by calling or emailing you.

5. Ask for feedback. After you've written new copy (text), ask your friends and family to read it and to provide honest feedback. It's easy to become so familiar with our own writing that we overlook simple mistakes or maybe what we think is clear isn't clear to someone else. Plus, having a close friend review your site is a great way to subtly share information about your business.

Here's a sample story using these tips:

Welcome to my Nature's Planet website. A few years ago I was struggling with my health. A friend introduced me to the Nature's Planet NatureAll Product and in less than one year I had fully regained my health as a result of using the products. Friends and family noticed the improvements in my health, and I found myself referring Nature's Planet products to everyone. That is when I decided to become a Nature's Plant distributor. My business has turned into a part time business with an income that now allows me to be a stay-at-home mom. And next year, my husband and I will be taking a two-week vacation to Hawaii. Our lives have truly changed and we owe it all to the great products and opportunity from Nature's Planet.

I invite you to explore my website or to contact me if you have any questions about the products. Or, if you want to get on the road to financial independence, give me a call and I can show you how I did it.

Karen Jones
Independent Distributor

Best of luck to you and your distributors in writing convincing testimonials.

> Testimonials: ARRAY users finding success

The primary focus of ARRAY is to help individual sales force members to increase the success of their business. Check out what some current ARRAY users are saying:

"I am beginning to build a large data base of customers, primarily outside of my local reach. The benefit of this is that I can continue to build these distant relationships online and receive sales credit and commissions. This is all incremental, above and beyond anything I do locally through my Party business."

– Sarah L.
Surprise, AZ

"I think this technology is great! It's not replacing the face-to-face contact with my customers--it's enhancing it, by giving me more opportunities and avenues to contact them. It just makes sense to use every channel possible to reach out and build your business with new recruits and more sales."

– Cecily N.
Holly Hill, FL

Copyright © 2002 Internet Development Inc (IDI).