Another major advantage of a turn key, automated home based business is you don't have to risk your time and money on something that hasn't yet been tested. Imagine starting an online crafts store. You work hard to design your website, invest in promotions, stock craft-related inventory, set up order processing, and install a customer service phone line. Then after about a year, you discover the business is just not going to work out. It's not bringing enough profit to carry on. You've just wasted a year's time (and money) on something that doesn't work.

With a turn key business, the testing period is usually over even before you get started. Someone else has gone before you to see what works and what sells. From the Web presentation to the closing of the sale, the entire pathway to success has already been explored. All you have to do is get on the right pathway and start promoting.

Many business opportunities do require a start-up investment, but this if often minimal when compared to normal business start-up costs. You may risk a small amount of money, but you can work hard to promote and earn that money back plus a healthy residual income without future risk. Once you get started making sales and find out what works, you can do it again and again. Many MLM companies will also provide you with a plan of promotion that has already been tested, which is an added bonus.

Looking to the Future

The potential of a turn key, automated home based business is amazing. Once you find a few advertising methods that bring a good response rate, you can roll out larger campaigns for more sales. You'll have a team of experts to help you sell the product, so all you'll have to worry about is finding effective ways to get new people to your website. You can make money from home while leveraging the skills of others. And, of course, those who work to help you will receive benefits from every sale. It's a win-win opportunity.

Also, you'll have the flexibility to work on your business any time of the day. The Internet is not limited to certain hours, so you can start promotions early in the morning or late in the evening. You'd be surprised at the number of people surfing the Web during wee hours of the night looking for a home business opportunity.

With a turn key, automated home based business, you'll be able to enjoy wealth from home without the many headaches of starting your own business. Start realizing your home business dreams today!

We could say that Unlock The Game™ actually takes the "middle ground" between passive and aggressive by being authentically unassuming, yet effective - and that this is the most stress-free and effective way to sell.

What do I mean?

I mean that you have to shift away from assuming that every prospect is a fit for your solution.

It's sort of like the legal concept of "being innocent until proven guilty."

We can't afford to make any assumptions about "fit" until our conversation with the prospect indicates that we've mutually arrived at that conclusion.

The aggressiveness that turns off prospects sets in when you assume, every time you pick up the phone, that you have a solution for them.

Your tone of voice and language gives them that message long before they've even had a chance to agree that they have a problem you might be able to help them solve.

But if you can manage to find that middle ground of not assuming anything while also communicating in a low-key, unassuming manner, you'll discover a whole new effectiveness you could never have imagined.

Can prospects sense when you're assuming too much?

Sure they can -- because most of us have been conditioned to present or talk about our solution as a way to engage prospects so they'll reveal their problems to us.

But that logic is completely flawed, because when you launch into your solution to someone who doesn't trust you yet, all you do is allow them to pigeonhole you as a stereotyped "salesperson."

So how do you make this concept of being unassuming but effective a reality?

First, learn to start conversations by focusing 100 percent on generating discussions around prospects' problems, rather than pitching your solution the second you hear an opening.

Second, learn to begin those conversations by converting the benefits of your solution into problems that your solution can solve.

Third, after you and your prospects have identified a problem or problems, you can then engage in a discussion about whether fixing those problems is a priority.

It's only at that point that prospects have finally given you implicit permission to share your solution with them.

Jumping in with solutions prematurely will only land you back in the trap of being perceived as "aggressive."

I knew right away that he was using a structured sales script, and that triggered the negative "salesperson" stereotype in my mind.

I didn’t want to hurt his feelings so I let him continue with his pitch for a few minutes. Then I gently said, "Hi, Steve." He was so startled that he completely stopped speaking. He had no idea how to react to my simple, normal greeting.

Why? Because he was totally focused on his selling script and not on my reaction to it.

If you’ve been selling for a while, chances are you’ve been asked to use sales scripts to make cold calls. And even if you feel scripts are unnatural and impersonal, you’ve probably used them anyway because they were the only way you knew to start a conversation with prospects.

Maybe you’ve even made some sales using scripts.

But here are some questions you need to ask yourself.

How do you really feel when you use a script?

How do your prospects feel when they know you’re using a script? (And they do know.)

Most important, how many sales are you losing because you’re using a script?

When people call me and ask how they can throw out their scripts and cold call the natural way, the first thing I do is ask them whether they’re willing to role-play with me using their script.

As soon as they start reading their script, a couple of things happen. I hear their voices go up in volume so they sound enthusiastic. They also talk faster, and their voice takes on a canned, robotic quality. All these things trigger the negative "salesperson" stereotype.

After a few moments, I gently stop them and tell them they’re sounding like a totally different person from the one who called me and talked with me so naturally about their sales issues.

You know what they always say? "Ari, you are so right. When I use a script, I feel as if I can’t be myself. I feel like a robot or an actor, and it’s very awkward and uncomfortable. Is there any way I can be myself again?"

Here are 5 ways to throw out your linear selling script and be yourself again:

1. Admit that scripts make you sound "scripted."

When you begin your sales script, prospects detect the very subtle change from your natural voice to your unnatural scripted voice within seconds. "Fine," you might say, "I’ll just work on making myself sound natural." But that in itself creates a conflict.

The first step is to realize and admit that you can’t "work at" being natural. However, you can let go of your script as a crutch. The idea may sound scary at first because you’ve been programmed to believe you have to have a script to make a successful cold call. It is possible to learn another way to make calls without a linear step-by-step script.

2. Start your cold call as a conversation, not a one-way pitch.

If you’re used to scripts, you’re probably shaking your head and wondering, "How the heck will I know what to say without a script?" You might want to ask yourself why you think you won’t know what to say, because the reason for that is important. It means you’re basing your call on what you have to offer -- and not on what’s important to the prospect, because you haven’t found that out yet.

Pitching your solution as soon as you begin a call is one of the biggest problems with linear sales scripts because you trigger sales pressure and cause prospects to react with defensiveness or even abrupt, immediate rejection.

Here’s another option. Write down 2 or 3 core issues or real problems (not benefits or features) that your product or service solves. Then take that "problem statement," as I call it, and put it into words your prospect can understand. In fact, the wording should be so familiar to your prospects (because those are the words they use every day in their business) that when you start discussing the issue, they’ll feel a sense of comfort knowing that your mental focus is on helping them solve problems, not on making the sale.

3. Create openings rather than forcing a "yes."

Selling scripts are designed to be linear and step by step so you can move calls in the direction you want them to go. From the traditional selling point of view, that direction is toward a "yes," because if you don’t get a "yes" at the beginning of the cold call, you’re not "selling." But that’s the biggest problem with scripts. They give you only one path to follow.

If you can start a conversation that triggers a "What do you mean?" response from your prospect, you’ll find you can explain yourself in a natural way that creates a two-way dialogue, which in turn lets you learn what you need to find out by flowing with the conversation, without feeling you’re getting off-track. Developing your problem statement makes this much easier.

4. Tape-record yourself talking with someone you know. Then record yourself reading your script.

Have you ever heard yourself calling a prospect and reading your script? Probably not. That’s why most people who use scripts think they sound natural. They’ve never heard themselves. But if you do this simple exercise, you’ll hear the same kinds of differences I hear when people role-play with me.

In our day-to-day personal relationships, we simply want to get to know and communicate with others. But when we go into sales situations using scripts, we have an agenda -- to make the sale. And because scripts trigger the perception that that’s all we want, the people you talk with sense this immediately and put up their guard. Between our hidden agenda and their reaction, there’s no chance to build trust through communication. Also, because we've been taught for so long that we have to control the process, we never stop to think that scripts make it impossible for us to be flexible in how we communicate and build trust.

5. Set a new goal for your calls. Focus on simply opening the conversation rather than trying to control it, so prospects will feel comfortable telling you the truth about their situation.

Does surrendering your use of a script seem scary? Try this alternative and see how it feels. Begin the conversation with "Hi, maybe you can help me out for a moment..." Most people will respond with something like, "Sure, how can I help?" You can say, "I’m just calling to see if (problem statement)...," which makes it easy for the prospect to reply, "What do you mean?" or "Tell me more." And after that, the possibilities of your conversation are endless.

What do I mean by this? If you target their issues, create a conversation around the problems or issues you know they’re facing, and explain how your solution solves those problems -- in a conversation that is completely void of sales pressure -- prospects will share their truth with you. They’ll tell you whether solving the issue is a priority, whether they have the resources to commit to it, and everything else you need to know.

When you let go of a linear script, you’ll find that you’ll no longer fumble for words if prospects get "off track" by taking the conversation away from your sales process and into their buying process. In fact, that’s exactly what you hope they’ll do, because that means they’re telling you the truth.

Now that you understand why linear step-by-step scripts create the negative "salesperson" stereotype by making it impossible for you to be your natural self, you can begin learning how to engage total strangers on the phone in ways that feel as comfortable as calling a friend.

Yes, it’s possible, and don’t let anyone tell you it’s not.