| In the 1960s and 1970s, most recruiting and training was done around the kitchentable. Cassette tapes were starting to come into use. In the 1980s, companieslike Forever Living, Herbalife, Nuskin, Fund America, and others mastered theart of large, weekly recruiting and training meetings on a national basis. Inthe mid-80s, United Sciences of America was the first to make a major impactwith massive mailings of videotapes. In the 1990s, as the cost of long distancedropped and 3-way calling was introduced, conference calling became an importanttool in recruiting. With the technology advances in conference bridges, therewas a surge in conference calls. As companies expand rapidly and globally, we find 3-way calling and conference calling, as well as hotel meetings, increasingly expensive. People are looking for a way to get that "around the kitchen table" feeling and effectiveness without all the time and expense of travel. Distributors and companies are turning to the Internet. (Yeah, yeah. I know you've heard this song before.) But in network marketing, the most important contribution of the Internet to companies is the lowering of the cost of transactions, such as ordering, enrolling, and customer service. However, the biggest contribution to the sales force will be in recruiting, training, and motivating. Most top sales leaders at least use the Internet for email. Some are discovering the power of Instant Messaging, through free services like Yahoo, AOL, or MSN. Just starting to emerge is the concept of putting still pictures and slides to the 3-way and conference calls. This multimedia enhancement to the conference call will lead to full multimedia, interactive web meetings. These can be small and intimate, like around the kitchen table, or they can be with thousands of people all over the world participating in real time. In looking to this next history making technology, I have developed a set of questions to consider to get the most from your tools: PRICE QUESTIONS 1. Cost per listener? With conference calling, price goes up as the numberof listeners goes up. 2. Cost per minute? Ranges from as high as 32 cents to as low as 2 cents perminute. 3. Host fees? Set up fees can range from 0 to $2600.00. Per conference feesalso range from 0 to $750.00. CONFERENCE CALLS or WEB MEETINGS 1. Consider your audience. How many have access to the web? About 50% of U.S. households have access to a computer. 2. Will using web conferencing add to the convenience and access for your distributors? Access to a phone is still the most available. However, being able to listen to archive calls at your convenience and for prospecting can add value. 3. Will the web product work over a variety of connection speeds? About 1% of U.S. households connect with a 14.4K modem. About 15% connect with a 28.8 or a 36.6 K modem. Connection speed can make use of web based products difficult to use. Usually the less complexity to the visual image the wider range of users can access. 4. What visuals are supported? HTML slides, JPEGS, URLs, PowerPoint, and video are used by different webbased systems. 5. Are calls archived? Some archives allow you to listen to voice and then link to the visuals. Others allow you to access the voice and the actual visuals. One big difference can be in how the archive is accessed. Is it downloaded and buffered, ordoes it stream live the same as a call? 6. What player is needed? Most players are proprietary, Real Player™, Media Player™, and others.
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