Network Marketing - Change is the key!

It is normal to be uncomfortable with change. Most of us like our comfort zone, and we get nervous when we have to leave it. But unless we do something different, leave our comfort zone, nothing different will happen. We want things to change, more money, lose weight, better job, better relationship, but we don't make any changes to make it happen. Change is scary for most, and sometimes we just don't know what change, to adjust... but doing the same thing is not going to get the result you want.

     I found that baby steps, "the slight edge" is the best way to go      when you are wanting to make a change but not sure of                yourself. If you go for completely rearranging your life, you      are more likely to not be able to keep it up. Small changes made and kept for 30 days will form a new habit and from that new habit you will find other things to change, one at a time, and 6 months later you will be surprised at how much you have changed, and how many changes you have kept!

That is not to say that if you make the change and 30 days later you see that it was not what you wanted, after all you can adjust, the theme here is change, review the change, and adjust if necessary, and do it over and over again until you get what you want.

Is it slow? Not at all... because the changes you make are more permanent and lasting. So the changes stick. Don't spend a month trying to decide to change... change one thing and evaluate the results, ten adjust, and repeat the process.  If you spend too long thinking about it,
nothing will change.

Network Marketing - There are plenty of prospects out there for us all!

I recently had a comment from a friend on my facebook page asking me to not post comments about my company on her page, since she is a friend my posts will appear on her page automatically.  I am still a bit of a novice at Facebook but this was a little surprising.  She was obviously feeling a bit threatened that her contacts would come to me and she would lose them.

When I first started doing MLM I also felt this way.  I felt like I had to guard my prospects from being "stolen" from some other entity. Luckily I have grown to understand that no one can "steal" my prospects, if they go to someone else they weren't mine to begin with!  This is actually a salesman mentality.  And network marketing isn't a sales business, it is a relationship business. So my contacts that have come to have a relationship with me will choose me all else being equal because we have cultivated the friendship and collaborated together to find what works best for them.

The big guys, the real great mentors in this business all give their information and help for free. I know because I have met several of them and they truly do want to give what they can to the people they are helping because they know it will come back to them in spades.  From a philosophy standpoint, I have always believed you get what you give, basically if you give of yourself, you will prosper and there will be friends there for you when you need it, because you have been a friend to someone else.

So as you work on your business, remember that we are cultivating friends and colleagues, not "marks".  I remember being told by one of my sponsors from a company a long time ago that when I talk to someone to think of them as dollar bills because that is what they are worth to you.... wow, what a way to treat someone!  No wonder I couldn't do anything with that company!  The golden rule is the way to grow both yourself and your business, so just think how would you like to be treated if you were in the other persons shoes, and you will find like minded people to join you and you will prosper!

Network Marketing - Things I Wish My Sponsor Had Told Me... BEFORE I Spent the Money!

Most of us who have been doing Network Marketing for very long have had some similar experiences, most  were not positive. Unfortuneately, some will quit with the idea that the business model doesn't work. But it is kind of like if you went to play baseball, and gave you a bat and said to step up to the plate and hit the ball... with no instruction or practice or ever having seen anyone do it, you have very little chance of hitting the home run!  To hit a home run in Network Marketing, it doe's take some skill and some training, but unlike baseball, anyone can step up to the plate with the right training and hit that home run consistantly.

You do need some basics. As in baseball, you need the correct bat. That is a stick off a tree, will not allow you to hit the ball well enough to get it out of the park! You need a regulation bat, and the pitcher needs to use the correct baseball, if they are throwing you a basketball instead... how far do you think it will go!

So when we look at a company the first thing I now know I have to see is not the flashy fun website or

signup page, or the rah rah meeting where they show you all the people that are making 6 figure incomes in just a few months, but my contract. If I am going to interview for a job, I want to know what I have to do and what I can't do if I decide to work for them to make my money. I don't want to know if I am 'good' and come in everyday, I may be able to make $1000 dollars a day, I want to know my base rate and  what the commissions are and what I have to do to earn them. I want to hit that home run but I want to know it is possible and just what the pitfalls are, if any. I WANT TO MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION, NOT A EMOTIONAL ONE!

So the next time you are looking at a company, look at the POLICIES AND PROCEDURES, AND THE PAYPLAN.  There should be a pdf, word document or a webpage that spells it out in black and white without the videos and hype. If the contact can't provide it, it should be a red flag! Chances are the contact is  a honest person, but uninformed and they just don't know. Make them find out, you may make a friend that you can help get into the company that you do find that provides the correct bats and uses the regulation baseball, and provides a path that is not filled with pot holes so you can run all those bases when you hit your home run, and you will both win the game!

If you need some help evaluating the companies you are interested in, you can contact Mentoring for Free,

They will help you at no cost to you. All training is generic and no companies or products are mentioned in any of thier training calls. If you are new to the game, or if you just never have looked these documents, you may want to get another paid of eyes to make sure you understand, they should NOT be 30 pages of lawyer talk, it should be in plain english. Don't agree to somethng you don't understand. Give it the same attention you would if you were interviewing a company that wants you. You are worth the extra effort to make sure you have a company that is there for it's distributors, not the other way around!

Network Marketing - Keep it positive!

When you post comments on your face book page or you blog, one cardinal rule is to not use personal information or situations, UNLESS it is a positive experience. It does your image no good to complain about the last time your business obligations made you miss something you wanted to do or got in the way of a family happening. We all make sacrifices for our business but making the point with the negative is not a good choice. If you want to convey the idea that we do have to make time and sometimes sacrifice something now for the advantages and rewards of a successful business, you need to keep it on the positive side.


Judy Narum, from Diamond Dream Builders has this to say about posting personal information... "Never EVER post on your network marketing blog or face book forum about personal issues unless they relate to your business in a positive manner. For example, posting that you were able to attend your daughters baseball game today because of the flexibility of your job is fine. Posting that your wife/husband is leaving you because you're a penniless hack is NOT. Watch what you say on line, it's there forever."


For example, your son or daughter had a baseball game or played in a concert and you missed it because you had a meeting that took you away at that time... instead of saying how disappointed your kids were that you missed something because you are taking your business seriously, you could say how proud you are of the kids for supporting you in your new business, and how they are learning valuable lessons as you gain both monetary and personal growth while building your business. You want to show a positive attitude and really share the best of what you are learning as you grow your business.

We all have our doubts and there is a place to discuss them but not when you are talking to potential customers or partners. Hopefully you have a mastermind group that you can discuss any problems you are having and get advice from those that have been there. If you are looking for a forum, check out Mentoring for Free. They have free training calls and a great forum on Saturdays nites where you can get questions answered without being pitched. 

It is good for people to know some personal information about you, it helps them to identify with you.  Network marketing is a relationship business, and while you don't have to paint an unrealistic picture, you do want to show how you are growing and changing, and profiting personally as well as financially from your involvement in this great business model.

Network Marketing - Are We Still a Land of Opportunity?

I just happened to hear a blurb on tv that a couple of our politicians were questioning the ability of people that have less than ideal situations growing up to rise above their beginnings and make a life for themselves. Our country has been called the 'land of opportunity' ever since I can remember. It was more important what you did with what you had than where you started from. The journey was the thing and the prize was getting there and starting your next great journey!

It would be a sad place to be if you were destined to be what you started with. I was not impoverished or terribly mistreated as a child but I still struggle with a lot of things internally. I have an internal 'life should be fair' monitor and even though I know that a lot of time it doesn't look that way I believe it usually is. We make choices every day that determine our outcome later in life, most are small things but they all add up to what we have and where we are now.  I always loved seeing the stories where someone gets to do a 'do-over' and see if they can make a better outcome if they just did or said something different. We can' t do that in real life but if we just paused for a second to consider what we are about to do or say, it could make the biggest difference down the road.

I believe this IS the land of opportunity, we have the ability to make great changes in small ways.  One kind word to someone that is not being considerate could make his or her change their attitude just enough to not say the next cross word to someone that is at the end of their rope, and instead of a fight they can do the same to calm someone else, and the chain reaction would continue to be positive, not negative.  Just one kind word can really make a difference to someone ready to take a desperate act. If the right words would have reached that horribly disturbed boy that killed all those kids at Sandy Hook, would they still be here?  I don't know but isn't it worth the effort to choose being kind over being right? We know what happens when you leave someone alone that is unhappy, never is the outcome good. Isn't it worth the chance to make the effort to let then know as soon as you notice them that they have options other than striking with in thier pain  before they reach that horrible end?

I know it is idealist thinking. So I am an idealist. I think that anyone can change their life for the good, and network marketing is the one place where anyone can make it with a little effort and the right support system to aid them. I used Mentoring for Free, because of the personal developement attached but you can use whatever resource you find to help you. But you need help and support to make it. A good idea can either die without ever getting off the ground, or can be improved on and be brought to the world to make a great change, maybe all someone needs is a little encouragement to believe they can do it! Just one kind word can turn a decision to do good or bad.

As a network marketer you have a tool that can really change lives, but you do it by making relationships. Your 'prospect' most likely needs to believe he or she can do it! Most of us are greatly lacking the belief in ourselves more than anything, so that once the excitement wears down and we are met with obstacles we have the belief in ourselves to continue. Many people stop just short of the gold, if we just would have gone one to dig a few more feet, we would have found what we were looking for. If we don't every quit we will get there.

So help someone to believe in themselves and you will have a star. They will go on and you will both prosper. Remember Zig Zigler's famous quote, 'If you help other get what they want, you will get what you want'. It is true, the way to pay your bills or get that trip you want to win is to help someone else to do the same, your problems will disappear along with the people you help.The land of opportunity is here, and it lives in you and me, in our willingness to help and support each other.

Network Marketing - Success or Failure, whose fault is it?

I get many different kinds of ideas and pictures on my face book page as many people do, and once in a while I find a really good idea, not new one mind you but something said in such a way that it sparks a recognition, and seems to be sent to me as reminder to help me in what ever I am working on at the time.  The sender has no idea they are sending me a much needed nudge, but I do believe that we all get what we need when we need it, we just sometimes don't pay enough attention to notice it.  

This time I noticed and this is what I saw.

I have been feeling a bit inadequate lately. I am taking care of my aged mother, working a close to full time job, working on a vitamin and nutrition business, and working my crafts and artwork when I can. Yet all I do, never seems to be enough for everyone and I have been feeling 'not good enough' at my many hats.  It has been pointed out to me by many people that I am doing the best I can, and trying to be everything to everybody is plain impossible. I know it in my head but my heart has not been agreeing! The 'shoulds' have been taking over!

When I read this it was perfectly clear to me that I was thinking only of me, not of other people... even though I FELT I was somewhat of a saint and must the able to provide for everyone and if they didn't get what they needed or didn't succeed at whatever I was helping them with, I was inadequate... WRONG!  I am human.. and as this saying says, what other people do even with your help is what they want to do. You are not responsible for anyone else's success. You are responsible for being the best you can be, and that is enough. It is enough for God, so it is enough for you. NO ONE WILL FAIL BECAUSE OF YOUR EFFORTS, NOR WILL THEY SUCCEED. They will do what they do because of themselves.

Wow, does that take the load off or what!  I know, easy to say, not so easy to feel, especially if you are coming from a negative feeling, guilt maybe or fear...?

I will relate this to business, all of us have had that person we sponsor that we have such hopes for and want to help so bad, we try to do it all for them, and then blame ourselves when they do nothing and quit, sometimes blaming us in the process. But some people are still learning, not everyone is ready to succeed. We have to be ready for success, and I believe  that as we grow personally, we will grow financially as well. They weren't ready, or they would have done it in spite of anything we do, because no one succeeds because of us or fails because of us, it is because of themselves. So if you find yourself looking at yourself in the critical light, think about this quote. You are a perfect creation of God, and you are on a never ending and exciting journey, and you will get there as long as you keep working at it. Just be responsible for your success and the people you are helping will be responsible for theirs.  I believe in you, and ME!

network marketing - Policies and procedurs... why is it important?

As a Network Marketer building a buisness, I have several ads out in some of the social networks looking for people that are interested in educating themselves about the great industry we are working in. Periodiacally I get calls from someone trying to recruit me into thier business. They almost always tell me how successful they are and that they can train me to be successful too.  Sometimes I listen but always tell them up front that I am not a prospect. some don't believe me and still try, mostly the 'red' personalities.  

Just a few days ago I got one of these calls, and it struck me that even though this person was one of the successful ones, he admitted he didn't understand why Mentoring for Free would train people for free. He continued to tell me that if I sign up with him I would get the benefit of his training and experience. It all sounded very exciting and site he took me to looked nice, but when I asked him for the the policies and procedures he said he was surprised that I asked and admitted he hadn't read them himself!

To his credit he did direct me to a link, and I read them.  This is his contract, this document tells him what he can and can't do to build his business, and in that 30 min of time that we talked, I saw that he had violated the policies and procedures at least twice.  He did a quick overview of the binary pay plan, something I know will not pay me for all the volume my organization generates, so I don't get paid for all of my work, and left out the fact that I can never retire, because his CONTRACT says he must have so many customers and so many new people sponsored EVERY MONTH to earn a check.  This I found out just by reading something he should have known before he even talked to me.

I write this because I have heard from several people that did just what this person is doing, they built a big organization, made a nice income, only to have the company come back to them AFTER they are getting a decent size check and take it away because they violated the policies and procedures, and they did it because they DIDN'T READ THEM! 

So please, know what you are getting into.  READ your contract, you would want to know what is expected of you if you were applying for a job, know what the company rules are before you build it. Save yourself failure and frustration by being educated, know what to look for and what to avoid so you stay successful!

Listen to this training call, no one will recruit you, but it will educate you on knowing what is legal and what is not. I invite you to be my guest... call me or email me Sat. 2/2/2013 before 10:30 est 

and I will get you on the call. 

ECUCATE YOURSELF... the truth will set you free!  LITERALLY!

Network Marketing - Low Cost, No Cost Prospecting Ideas

Everywhere you go, you see ads for someone wanting to help you get leads... for a price, and then you don't know what you are going to get.  Thing is, you can generate your own leads/ prospects better and cheaper than any company ever could. After all, you know what kind of person you want to work with and what you have to offer, and remember, people join people, not companies.

That's right, rule number one, people you meet may be asking how to make money on line, but the final decision is based on the prospect thinking "can I do this and can you show me how".  If they like and believe you can help them, they will be the best prospect for you, and that only happens if you start a relationship with them, something that doesn't happen with an ad or website.

You are creating a warm market, you are making friends. One way to make them is to ask for advice, that's right, ask what they think about something, preferably about your business.  Everyone likes to talk and most like to talk about what they know, so getting an opinion is a great icebreaker.

Idea 1:  How about making up several difference business cards, each one featuring a benefit you offer. Ask your possible prospect what do you like better and show him maybe 3 different cards. He is sure to tell you what he thinks and while he is looking at them just might ask for more information. Now you have a prospect and he came to you... zero rejection!

Idea 2:  How about making up a quiz, everyone likes to test their knowledge and if you do one for network marketing, you will attract people that already have an interest or they probably wouldn't take the quiz. When you make up answers do multple choice so they can choose and make some of the answers fun, like Who makes the best network marketers.... A. houswives,  B. businessmen,   C. comedians   When you give them the answer you can explain why that is the best answer, but don't give it to them right away.  If you are posting it online, give them their score as a percentage of right answers with some fun  facts or something that will make them smile. Everyone is more open when they are smiling, it is much easier to get someone to listen to you in this frame of mind. Then ask for contact info with the answers, they will most likely wnat to talk to you anyway and give it to you. This can work at a fair or convention, you can even have a contest for product for the highest grade!

There are many more, if you have something you would like to add, please comment below and let us see what you are doing. There are as many ways to find people and get them to open up and talk as there are people, so don't  think of yourself as a salesman, think of yourself as a good will ambassador. You will have much more fun, meet some super people and have much more success.

Network Marketing - How to get followers... and friends!

I have been guilty of alot of things lately, and one of them has been wondering where all the leads went. Why is no one clicking thru to get my info?  I have myself planted out there, I am branded, I have sent out good feelings and have visited my social networks once in a while.. so where is everybody?

Well, I have to blame myself. People come to see what you have to say, and if you stop having anything new they move on. I put out my name on the social networks, made up ads that run continually, and would visit with much irregularity the sites and blogs I have set up including this one, but would not have anything to say.  I was looking for some inspiration, something that would bring people around to what I thought was obvious, that is I can help them to be successful in network marketing!  I know what to do... but don't do it with regularity. I listened to all the positive thinking tapes and would do some of the exercises I was told to do but didn't follow thru with consistancy on anything I did. 

I had a good reason... life and family got in the way.  I was still telling myself that people would find me anyway and I could step it up anytime I wanted. But when you stop, you don't start from where you left off, you start from the beginning. I have found it is ok to stop or slow down... sometimes you have to, just don't let it stop you from getting up again and moving on. As long as you don't quit, you will succeed.

Because the good news is, no matter what you have done in the beginning, or the last year, month or week... you can start again and be even more successful the next time around.  Listen to this video now....  http://www.maniacworld.com/are-you-going-to-finish-strong.html

If you stop and give up, you will fail. But isn't it a great country we live in where we can always begin again?  No matter where you stopped, years ago, months ago or even days ago, you can get back up and go again. As he says in the video, it matters how you finish.  You can finish strong no matter how you began or how long it's been since you fell down, as long as you keep getting up!

I am getting up again.  I have been on a weight loss journey which I am going to finish and I still have a passion for network marketing. It is still the best way for anyone to build a business with little to no experience or capital and it is by far the best way to self improvement as you work, no job I ever had included a course in self developement like I have received from my network marketing company.  I have the knowledge to build it and I now have to commit to doing the things I need to grow the business. 

So stay tuned... and learn how to build a life, not just a business. Build it so it lasts and you don't have to do it again!  Build relationships first, and business will follow. We are here to help each other. Alone any task is difficult to complete, but together we can do anything we set our minds to!  Check back or contact me and we will get up and get going... together!  Let's finish strong!