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 - What is Network Marketing?

Bet you have heard "I don't want to do 'network marketing', that is an illegal pyramid! Or I can't sell stuff, or I don't know anyone that makes money at that! There are so many incorrect ideas about this industry that it can be difficult for the person new to the industry. But when it comes down to it, WE ALL DO NETWORK MARKETING, SOME OF US JUST DON'T GET PAID FOR IT!

 So, just what is Network Marketing?!

Network marketing is just promoting and recommending products and services that you like to other people.  We have been doing this since about age 5, when we told a friend what kind of candy to get our parents to buy or what tv show to see. Network marketing is just doing something right one time, and getting paid for it over and over again. J K Rowling, wrote her Harry Potter series of books once, did it right and now gets paid for it when other people promote the books and movies. If you told anyone about the last movie you saw and told them to see it too, you were promoting the movie for the actors, directors and writers that made it. Did you get a check in the mail for you help?  Of course not, BUT YOU WERE DOING NETWORK MARKETING, YOU JUST WEREN'T GETTING PAID FOR IT!  If you explain it to people properly, they will see and understand the concept and can't help wanting to get involved!

Pyramid you say... how about this picture.  The large corporation has the owner at the top. the ceo and his secretary under him, department managers under him, more department heads under each to those, more employees under them and so on.  Familiar shape isn't it?

Use stories to tell people what you want them to understand, with a story they will put themselves as the star character and see your point without you 'selling' them on it. Remember no one wants to be sold. You are building a relationship and you are teaching a marketing system to those that are unfamiliar with it.

Start with questions about them. The theme should be "How can I help you?", not how much can you spend so I can make money. Remember the old quote, help other people get what they want, and you will have everything you want!

I love this business, it is the only level playing field no matter what kind of education you have, what kind of background you come from, or what you have been doing for a living. A company CEO has the same chance that a grocery store clerk has or a construction worker, or a kid just out of college! We can all be successful and build an income with this business model no matter what our background or education, or financial situation.

network marketing - We all have a mastermind group, just didn't choose them consciously... But we NEED TO!

We all have a mastermind group, several I think. We just don't always choose it consciously.  A mastermind group is people that you hang out with, people that share a common goal, have similar wants and desires, and participate in the same activities.  Their thoughts and attitudes combine with yours and form a power to get whatever the group seems to be going after. A football team works together to form a winning team, they work together on a common goal. They work together in harmony to win a game, and band together even off the field many times as friends, participating in the same activities. They form a mastermind group just as a company of people do that are working for any common goal. 


Take a look at your circle of friends growing up, if you hung out with kids that got in trouble, you probably did too. Growing up I was crazy about horses and art and generally not interested in the dances and the popular crowd, when the prom came around we had our own party and celebrated without the crowds. My friends were the animal lovers, the ones that were more prone to go camping than to dances. We had similar interests and participated in the same kind of activities. They were my mastermind group, they gave me power to pursue my interests in art just by supporting me and giving me positive reinforcement when I needed it. They gave me energy.  


When it came to money we had the same idea in art school, nobody thought we could ever get rich. Worse when I went to art school, most of us shared the same starving artist mentality. I don't think any of us ever got rich and famous, now I think because we didn't think we could. After all there are wealthy artist, wealth can come in any profession, and not necessarily to the most talented one, I went to school with many very talented people, and none of them that I know of have gotten past a middle class income, even though they truly were creative people.  Money only came to those that sold out and didn't stay true to their art, they went commercial, we stayed pure. What egos!


I participated in an outward bound climbing class for 14 days when I was in my late 20's, we climbed mountains and camped out in the Rocky Mountains. I was generally the last one to get anywhere because of my weight and not so great physical shape. But I persevered and caught up to them at the end of each hike. The last thing we did was a seven mile run (in my case a walk). I was so tired and sore, I just kept putting one foot in front of another, setting my sites on the next five minutes or the next tree to get thru it. Even the person that waited 3 hours to leave and make sure no one was lost passed me up... but when I was almost there, I spied my group, my mastermind group there ahead of me. They came out to meet me as I hobbled into view. They came to walk/run with me the last mile. All of a sudden I had energy I didn't know was there and I actually trotted the last mile with them, something I couldn't do by myself. I was really touched and empowered by them. That is the power of a mastermind group.


I think one of the greatest thing a mastermind group can do is give you energy, fuel that burning desire for success. When everyone is working towards that common goal, working as a team to get where they want to be, the universe responds just like it did when we were telling ourselves we would be starving artists for the rest of our lives, and gives us what we want. The mastermind group fills that physic river with positive energy if we can just align ourselves with it and gives us power that we can't get alone. We need each other to get the energy, the power we need to be really successful. We need to consciously choose this group, not just take whoever comes along. We need to get the best 'batteries' we can to help power our dreams.


You need to consciously and with purpose pick your mastermind group. Pick people that you look up to, that will inspire you.


I found is mentoring for free and they tell me I can own my life, I can make lots of money if I just believe I can and I can fulfill my dreams. I never thought I liked money, I have the same negative ideas given to me by my past mastermind groups from the past that I just fell into. I now consciously choose who I am hanging out with and most importantly listening to, and when I hear well meaning friends and family both past and present, sometimes just in my head, tell me I am not supposed to have money and my dreams are just wishes that I will never see fullfilled,  I know to tell them and me they are wrong, I own my life and will get what I am after.  


The power of prayer is a great example. It has been prooven that when many minds gather to pray for the same thing, it creates a real powerful force. When we get together and all start to work to a common goal, we form one powerful mind, with more energy than one can ever produce by themselves. It's true you can't get what you want alone, we need each other, we need our mastermind group to succeed.


So think about it, think about what you really want, what your goals are. You need to pick a group of people that will uplift you. Leave the negative people behind, as hard as it may be, they just drag you down and you will stay where you are.  You can do it if I can and I am doing it.


See you there!

network marketing - Staying positive in a negative world!

Sometimes it seems like all we hear is how the glass if half empty. We know we need to view the glass half full but how do you keep your mind focused on the full side if all about you are talking about the empty side!

It isn't easy but you can beat them and show a good example in the process. They are part of your 'self talk' but you can drown them out and just refuse to join them!  You can decide if you want to embrace any idea, take it as truth or reject it and give your mind what you believe or want to believe as truth. If you do this enough, the half full glass will be what your subconscious remembers, not the half empty one.

Here are some ways to do this.

1. Use affirmations, say them at least 100 times a day.  This amounts to maybe 15 or 20 minutes a day, a small investment in yourself that will really payoff! 

2. Find a group of people that you keep in regular contact with, people that are positive, like minded and have similar goals as yourself that you can go to to talk IDEAS with. If they talk about people, find another group! Gossip has no place in your mastermind group. 

3. READ BOOKS that are positive. They should be about people that have grown and been successful in what ever they are working in. If you are a mechanic you don't have to read just about successful mechanics, anyone that has reached their goals and is sharing how they did it may have an important idea in it for you. Be a critical thinker and don't take any ones word for absolute truth. Ideas are what you will grow with, sometimes they are opposing but as a critical thinker, you can also grow from rejecting them. An idea never challenged will never grow strong. The more you have to stick to your guns, the stronger you will get and the more desire you will have to reach your goals so don't be afraid to encounter an opposing viewpoint.

4. Stay with the positive emotions. Most of the downtrodden you hear are coming from the negative emotions, they just see the half empty glass. If you can keep the half full glass in your mind, not only can you keep their negativity from invading your mind, you can uplift them. Remember if you focus on the negative, it tends to build more negative. All you have to do is to think the opposite, positive emotion until you feel it. Visualize, mind pictures are a strong replacement for the negativity of someones words. Make up your perfect day and use it when confronted with a situation where you can't get away from a flood of negative talk. You can be sympathetic without joining in. Our thoughts are things, so make sure you are armed with all the good things you can think of when faced with someone that is not as strong, They can feel your state of mind, so keep it in the positive as much as possible and you will feel the results and so will they! Be a 'Mentor with a Servants Heart' and a voice for the good in life.  Everyone has it, sometimes they just have to be reminded of it. 

5. Find a positive meaning in what you see and hear. Rethinking adverse events in a positive light and giving ordinary happenings a positive value will lift you and everyone around you. Pursue realistic goals, you do yourself no good to reach for something that is so big you can't see it. Having a big goal is ok but you need to break any large undertaking into attainable steps. Be mindful of the positive in your life, look for it, it is ALWAYS there!

6. Do something you love. Take time for you and enjoy yourself. Playing a game with friends, drawing, painting, playing and listening to positive music... these are all things that will keep you happy and relaxed.

7. Smile even if you don't feel like it. Your brain doesn't know the difference between a genuine smile or a fake one, the fake one can do the same job of getting those positive chemicals working in your brain. Fake it till you make it works in this case!

So next time you feel like the negativity around you is closing in. keep these strategies in mind. They work! You can make a difference in you and when people see it they will be positively affected as well. You can make a difference in your life and everyone around you just by being positive, by keeping that half FULL glass in your mind all the time!

MLM Networking - You need more than knowledge to be successful!

I have been struggling with what to write about for a while. When I was stuck before I would find someone that wrote something that I really like and put it in my words.  Doing that now seems pretty dry and boring, maybe because that is how I have been feeling, a bit dry and boring!  I have been asking why would anyone want to listen to me, much less follow me?  I have had some success but it always goes away, my followers always seem to go away.

It all seems to come down to relationships.  If I write an article or this blog and just borrow other people's ideas, is that interesting to someone else, or more important, will that get someone to get to KNOW ME any better?  People join people, and people follow people, so it stands to reason if there is not a lot of me in what I write, people reading will not feel anything.  If they can't feel anything, why would they want to get to know me better by following me?

So this is what I have come up with.  When you are 'prospecting'... an awful word that we use all the time for looking for PEOPLE to join us, you have to put some of you out there for someone to identify with, so they feel something that will make then want to know more about YOU and what you are doing!  So instead of prospecting, try making FRIENDS. Try saying this is me and this is what I have learned, this is what I can teach you.  This is where I am going and I want to bring you along and learn from you as well.

How many of you feel good when you can help someone, and are grateful when a FRIEND shows you a kindness or just seems to understand when you are facing a challenge.  If someone is challenged. they generally feel comfort knowing that someone else has been there, and not necessarily want to be helped but just want some understanding at first.  There are self help groups for losing weight, for alcoholics, for almost anything,

For us network marketers that have been through the ringer, our self help group is our mastermind group.  To participate and really get something out of it you have to share some of yourself, something I have a hard time doing.  I have worked in this industry off and on for probably 20 yrs. I have had a little success along the way but never anything really great. I continue to struggle and have been asking why, now that I have a group to help me?

Well, I have not been sharing me. I listen but don't participate and still keep a little of me locked away,  My mastermind group has stuck by me all this time. Mentoring for Free is an amazing group that is always there.  Even when I take a vacation, they are there.  So this is me. I am a struggling network marketer dealing with negativity and looking for ways to combat it both in myself and my family.  I don't have all the answers, but I have information that I can share that can help people.  I have a belief in the system, in the business model.  I know this is the single best way for the average person like me to get more than social security and a gold watch, and be dependent on others for my well being when and if I can't care for myself.  I am scared silly of success, but know if I keep working with these people I will figure out why and be successful in spite of my fear.  I know I have something that is worthwhile that can help people. and I know that I am not the only one that feels this way.  I know that I can't do this alone and I need my friends.  I know I can love my negative friends and still love myself enough to honor my mind by limiting the negative talk that seems to happen around me.  I can say I am not interested in hearing about the awful things someone has done to someone else, I want to hear about ideas, not people.  I want to be inspired and inspiring and only positive thoughts can do that.

I still have some grudges, I still judge on occasion but catch myself much more now than I ever did before.  I am still struggling with my weight and get defensive when I hear other well meaning people tell me what I need to do to lose weight.  They are right, but it hurts to hear it because I know they are right, and I haven't been able to do it. I am still scared... in spite of my fear, I have to do what I know is necessary. I just have to DO IT! (Take a look at the just  'do it' video) I know I have to decide what I am to do with my life and take action to make it happen, in spite of my fears... yes I have more than one!

In spite of me and because of me, I know I will get where I want to go.  My belief may not be strong enough yet, yes I have doubts, but not in the system, in me.  I know using network marketing I will have the financial wealth I want and Mentoring for Free will prepare me for it if I don't give up and I won't...  I will own my life!