Send Out Cards is a network marketing company which provides postcards and cards which can be ordered online, yet physically delivered.  I like Send Out Cards because they have a retailable, in demand product at a reasonable retail price...not something all companies can claim.

So, when I received an email about a teleseminar by Alex Mandossian called "Postcard Autoresponders", I suspected tha that Send Out Cards might be behind it.  What I found intriguing about this is the fact that a well-known Internet Marketer would be promoting a network marketing company.  While many marketers are MLM members, few mention it publically.  Networkers are seen as the bane of society it seems!

So, I had to tune in to the call and see how Alex was going to position Send Out Cards. Was he going to tell people to take out a sheet of paper and draw circles?  I was really interested in seeing how he was going to move people to action without them becoming negative about Send Out Cards when they learned it was MLM.

Below are my notes.  Now, if you are NOT a network marketer, you will probably read this and say, "So What?"  But if you are in an MLM, study how Alex has positions himself, the company, the system he is using to push his prospects through the pipeline and how he's set up a system to be able to provide backend products.

I think it's brilliant.

NOTE: This is not an endorsement of ANY Send Out Card team.

I want to call your attention to a few things before sending you to the page to study how they introduce Send Out Cards. Then, when you get there, think of how you can incorporate some of these things in your own businesses.

1. Attendees on the teleconference call were list members of Alex, Tellman Knudson and Russell Brunson, who are all Internet Marketers. The call was free to attend.

2. If Attendees wanted more information about Send Out Cards, they had to QUALIFY THEMSELVES by paying $1 to attend a training call. This immediately eliminated the freebie seekers AND verified that they owned a credit card.

3. From the "training call" they were directed to a lead capture page , where you entered your name, email, phone, and answered a question. This page had an auto-play audio from Alex reiterating the benefits listed on the page.

4. Once you opted in, you were taken to another lead capture page that requested all your contact info (including address) and offered to send you a card from Send Out Cards so you could try out the system. You did have the option to decline and go directly to the sales page.

NOTE: Wait to you hear what happens with this second opt-in.

5. You're now at the sales page. Unlike the Send Out Cards corporate site, notice the sales copy with headlines, bullets, etc.

* 7 Most Important Reasons You Should Use Postcards
* 8 Ways You Could Apply Postcard Marketing to Your Business Today

All of this is covered - uncovering the need - before Send Out Cards is even mentioned.

8. More bullets - more audio testimonials. We are now more than halfway thru the sales page and you dont' know Send Out Cards is an mlm. And this is a l-o-n-g sales letter!

9. Send Out cards is introduced as having a "referral program". Internet marketers are very familiar with that terminology because it's used for affiliate marketing. In fact, I don't think the word nwm or mlm is in the entire sales letter.

10. The letter then moves on to branding their "team" by providing an overview of what you'll receive if you sign up for Send Out Cards through their link.  (Now I don't know if this is really corporate training they are referring to or if these guys are actually doing the training). I'll let you read about their niche lead capture pages there.

If you remember, the replicated site was three parts -
Name Squeeze Page to opt in
Name Squeeze Page to receive a card (optional); and
Sales Page

All of their associates get these replicated pages free of charge. And, Alex, Russell and Tellman will even send a card from Send Out Cards out to your prospect for you (if they opt in on that page).

Do you see how brilliant that is? Sure, he's sending it out for free. But YOUR prospect is now in HIS database. Do you think that prospect might be interested in Alex's $197 course called "Marketing With Postcards" or any of the thousands of other things he promotes? Would you be willing to spend around $1 to acquire a targeted lead (ie someone who active and interested in marketing their business)??

Brilliant on his part!

Unlike the Send Out Cards corporate site, he follows up with FAQ's and then leads into the BONUS section (yeah...year...what would an Internet Marketer be without a Bonus Section?), where you'll receive $1924 in bonuses:

100% lifetime access to the PostcardAutoresponder.com referral system - $1527
Access to the PostcardAutoresponder.com training center $397

Funny how you can just arbitrarily pull some number out of a hat, huh?

Finally they mention the No Risk Guarantee, then lead into their own order page (not that of Send Out Cards).  Why are they doing this instead of forwarding them to the SOC site?

Here's my guess:

1. So far, I'd guess most people don't know Send Out Cards is a network marketing company. They don't want to lose the sale if someone has a negative connotation of the industry. Notice that there was also no drawing of circles!

2. The ONLY purchase option the prospect has is Send Out Card's $299 level. (This is the business builder level, as opposed to the customer level.)  If you want to play with them, you have to come in at that level.

3.  It would lose the continuing going from a sales letter of one style to the corporate site. You can't keep the blinders on and keep prospects focused on the goal. Once they hit the Send Out Cards corporate site, they'll be clicking on all kinds of links and get totally distracted from the task at hand.

This is very product focused. There is no "we're all going to get rich together" and the details of Send Out Card's compensation plan are played down.

If you want to study the site yourself, it's at http://postcardautoresponder.com .

I hope it will give you some ideas on positioning your company to those outside the biz op arena - especially in relation to your products and services.