Network Marketing Training

Exclusive MLM Lead Generation - Because Exclusive Leads Are the Only Kind Worth Having

2009-11-16T17:33:00.000-08:00

Exclusive MLM lead generation is vital to the network marketing industry today. If you've been in network marketing a while, you probably look back in disgust at the overt sales training you were taught back then. But what exactly is an exclusive MLM lead, and how do you get one?

An exclusive lead is a lead that belongs solely to you. This is in stark contrast to the kind you buy from a lead generation company, which is sold many, many times. It's the best MLM lead you can get, simply because you generated it yourself. Why does that make it the best?

Because you generate these exclusive leads by posting articles and videos, sometimes even giving away a free ebook. By the time this person contacts you, they already view you as somewhat of an expert. They've already received value from you, and it didn't cost them a dime. You've built some level of trust and, because of this, these kinds of leads are the most qualified MLM leads you'll find anywhere.

In the early days of network marketing, most of us didn't know anything about how to generate an exclusive MLM lead. I still have nightmares when I think about trying to overcome people's objections and memorizing sales scripts. I cringe when I remember those dark nights, calling strangers on the phone who had no reason to talk to me.

Telling someone that I was a network marketer was something I couldn't do without some measure of guilt.

Treating people like numbers, as I was taught to do, is a surefire way to network marketing failure. The good news is that you don't have to do it that way. Using attraction marketing techniques, the prospects actually call you. Now doesn't that sound easier than picking up the dreaded 700 pound phone night after night?

There are three major benefits to using attraction marketing techniques and generating your own exclusive MLM leads:

Your leads are pre-qualified

You're not looking for someone who has no time, money, or motivation to build a business. Before a prospect approaches you, he or she will know exactly what's expected of them, if you're doing it right. This means they've already read some of your articles, maybe seen some of your videos, and in a very real sense, know you.

You don't feel like a salesman

If you're using attraction marketing techniques to generate your own exclusive MLM leads, sales will be the last thing on your mind. What you're looking to do is to provide real value to others. Ironically, when you provide value, you develop a following of people who not only view you as an expert, but also as a trusted friend. Since people prefer to do business with their friends, well, you do the math.

How do you overcome an objection when somebody tells you they don't have 2 hours a week to work a business? Or if your prospect had to borrow money from his parents just to pay the rent this month? Yet, that's exactly what I was doing in the Dark Ages. I did it because my upline told me to.

You make money even when they don't join your business

Most people you meet are not going to join your business. Yes, I know that your company probably told you that a person would be crazy not to join you, but let me tell you a little secret: There are a lot of crazy people out there. Accept it and move on.

This does not mean you can't make money from those people, however. Using attraction marketing techniques, you'll have a whole arsenal of information products that you use and recommend that will help others build their business. You, of course, get a commission for the sales of these products.

If you truly focus on helping others, you cannot help but to succeed beyond your wildest dreams.

A Home Based Internet Marketing Business - How to Build a Successful One

2009-11-15T13:35:00.000-08:00

A home based internet marketing business can be a complicated venture. There are just so many things to keep in mind. The trick is to develop a consistent routine and stick with it.

A routine does you no good, however, if it's not an effective one. In addition to working hard, you've got to know what to work on. With that in mind, here's what you want to be doing.

Content Is King

To qualify this statement, I'll say that keyword-rich content is king. After all, what good is creating the greatest content in the world if nobody can find it. If your home based internet marketing business is going to be successful, you've got to be seen. Which brings me to my second point.

Before You Do Anything, Do Keyword Research

Yes, it's that important. By the way, keyword research doesn't mean guessing which keywords sound good and you think will rank high in the search engines. From my experience, those are usually the worst ranking keywords. Anyone successful at building a home based internet marketing business knows keyword research is a must.

You'll want to use the Google AdWords keyword tool to find out how many searches are done each month on your keywords. Then, do a search to gauge your competition. This needs to be done before you even think of a title for your content.

Use Your Keyword In Your Domain

If possible, purchase a domain name that incorporates one of your profitable keywords. This usually costs less than $10 a year and will boost your rankings in the search engines enormously.

Backlinks Are The Life Blood Of Your Site

Don't just take my word for it. Ask anybody who's running a successful home based internet marketing business. Without backlinks, your site doesn't exist. So why are backlinks important, and how do you get them?

When the search engines see a link from a site to your site, they count that as a vote for your site. If you have many backlinks, then the search engines see your site as an important one. They then rank your site higher in the listings.

So how do you get backlinks? There are several ways, actually. One of the most popular is to write articles, submit them to article submission sites while including a link to your site in the author resource box. Write enough of these, and you'll have an abundance of quality backlinks to your site.

Another way is to bookmark your site. There are hundreds of social bookmarking sites online, many of whom have a very high page ranking. By the way, the higher the page rank, the more valuable the link coming from that page.

These are just a few ideas to keep in mind when marketing your home based internet marketing business. They're not difficult, but ignoring them might just mean failure.

MLM Lead Generation - 3 Ways to Generate Your Own Network Marketing Leads

2009-11-14T16:50:00.000-08:00

Network marketing or MLM lead generation is a relatively new concept. In the old days, generating your own leads took a lot of money. Today, however, the best lead generation techniques are absolutely free.

Here are some top lead generation methods that will bring you tons of high quality, targeted network marketing leads:

Smile for the camera

Yes, I know video scares a lot of people, but it's probably the top lead generation method ever devised. If you can speak for a few minutes about a subject you've studied, others will not only view you as an expert on the subject, but will gain a sense of familiarity with who you are.

Video lets others both see and hear you. You've moved beyond a static picture or a few paragraphs from an article or blog post. You are a living, breathing human being, just like your prospects. It's quickly becoming the norm in MLM. Lead generation techniques from the past that cost thousands of dollars don't even come close to the power of video. You're a TV star!

The mighty power of the pen (or the keyboard)

Article writing stands as the most popular MLM lead generation method today. A properly placed, well written article can net you hundreds or even thousands of network marketing leads in a very short period of time.

Not a good writer? Not even an issue. These days you can hire writing services to write your articles for you for a very reasonable price. These articles bear your name, and you can change and distribute them as you see fit.

There are several places you can distribute your articles. Many times, the place where you submit your articles will allow ezine publishers to publish them in their ezines, keeping all your contact information and giving you full credit for the article. This is a great way for your articles to spread virally.

Channel your inner blogger

Blogs have been used for everything from journaling personal thoughts to electing a US President. Their role in effective MLM lead generation, however, is vital.

Most blogs are super simple, and can be updated as often as you like. You can post articles, news, or small tidbits of advice. On your blog, be sure to place a form of some kind, in case one of your readers wants to subscribe to your list. Subscriber to list equals lead.

3 Steps To Network Marketing Success

2009-11-13T08:54:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I get overwhelmed.

I mean, so many people send me emails these days telling me how I can become a network marketing success. They talk about autoresponders and email marketing, PPC and SEO, capture pages and anchor text. Sometimes it feels more like nuclear physics than network marketing.

But then I remember that network marketing success is actually very simple. By keeping that in mind, I can breathe again. I know that there are only 3 things you really need to do to become successful in network marketing today.

Attitude=Altitude

The very first thing you need to do to become a network marketing success is to make up your mind that this is what you're going to do. I know it sounds incredibly simple, but without this level of commitment, you simply won't make it.

There are so many disappointments and setbacks you'll be facing, if you're not 100% committed, you'll be tempted to quit. You've got to eliminate that as an option.

Like Josh Billings says, "Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there." If you don't have a burning desire to achieve network marketing success, no tool, trick or technique will get you there.

Learn to Earn

The next thing you've got to do to be successful is to educate yourself. If you're planning to market your business online, you've got to know about things like autoresponders and capture pages. You also need to know a thing or two about copywriting.

So many marketers I talk to tell me how they just can't afford to pay $200 for an internet marketing course. People like this usually treat their business like a hobby, not a business. In the long run, they spend much more and make much less than marketers who realize that, for their business to make it, they've got to put both time and money into it.

Look at it this way. If you ran a brick and mortar business, there may come a time when you might want to take a business course or two from your local community college. Keeping up to date with current trends and techniques is essential in every business, and doing network marketing online is certainly no exception.

In all honesty, however, there are ways to educate yourself for free, depending on how much value you place on your time. Network marketing and internet marketing forums can teach you loads about SEO and PPC, how to get backlinks and how to set up your web site. A focused course, however, can get you there faster.

Hard Work

Learning what to do, however, is only half the battle. To be a network marketing success, you've actually got to go out and do it. Again, this doesn't mean working an hour or two whenever you have a spare minute. Massive results only can come from massive action.

Treat your business like a business, and it will pay off big time. Treat it like a hobby, and it will cost you a lot of money.

Why Network Marketers Are So Hated

2009-11-12T10:44:00.000-08:00

Are they just trying to make people mad?

Years ago, when I was a struggling hypnotherapist trying to make a name for myself, I sometimes marketed my services to sales individuals and organizations. Typically, I'd scan the Nashville job classifieds, looking for ads having to do with sales.

I'd call the number, schedule an interview, and a week or so later I'd do a presentation before a group of sales men and women. I actually netted quite a few clients that way. Then one day . . .

The ad said a position was open for an experienced sales professional. I called the number, explained what I did to the very nice lady who answered the phone, and she gave me an address to meet an interviewer at 1:30 that afternoon. She didn't tell me what was really going on at that address.

After I donned my finest black suit and tie, doing my best to look as corporate as possible, I reported to the Greer building, room 302, in Downtown Nashville. It was 1:29pm.

A speaker was on a small stage speaking to about 20 people or so. I sat at the back of the room, trying to assess what was going on. This was not what I'd expected.

The speaker showed slides of water purification products and nutritional supplements. He said he made $5000.00 his first month selling this stuff. I almost felt sorry for him, as nobody in the room believed his obvious lie.

It didn't take me long to realize that I'd been duped. Because of this deception, I wasted what could have been a productive afternoon. To say I was angry would be like saying Mt. Everest is a hill.

There was nothing anybody could have said that would have convinced me to join this company or buy its products. They seemed like vampires, and I was their potential prey. They would either devour me, or turn me to one of them.

I remember this story whenever somebody rolls their eyes after finding out what I do for a living. There was a dark time in our history when network marketers were to be avoided.

Thankfully, most of us have evolved past the point of pushing our business or products on our friends and family, cold-calling opportunity leads, and tricking people into attending sales presentations disguised as something else.

Attraction Marketing Techniques

2009-11-11T13:58:00.000-08:00

Attraction marketing techniques are vital to the network marketing industry today. If you’ve been in network marketing a while, you probably look back in disgust at the overt sales training you were taught back then.

I still have nightmares when I think about trying to overcome people’s objections and memorizing sales scripts. I cringe when I remember those dark nights, calling strangers on the phone who had reason to talk to me. Telling someone that I was a network marketer was something I couldn’t do without some measure of guilt.

Treating people like numbers, as I was taught to do, is a surefire way to network marketing failure. The good news is that you don’t have to do it that way. Using attraction marketing techniques, the prospects actually call you. Now doesn’t that sound easier than picking up the dreaded 700 pound phone night after night?

There are three major benefits to using attraction marketing techniques:

Your leads are pre-qualified
You’re not looking for someone who has no time, money, or motivation to build a business. Before a prospect approaches you, he or she will know exactly what’s expected of them, if you’re doing it right. This means they’ve already read some of your articles, maybe seen some of your videos, and in a very real sense, know you.

You don’t feel like a salesman

If you’re using attraction marketing techniques correctly, sales will be the last thing on your mind. What you’re looking to do is to provide real value to others. Ironically, when you provide value, you develop a following of people who not only view you as an expert, but also as a trusted friend. Since people prefer to do business with their friends, well, you do the math.

How do you overcome an objection when somebody tells you they don’t have 2 hours a week to work a business? Or if your prospect had to borrow money from his parents just to pay the rent this month? Yet, that’s exactly what I was doing in the Dark Ages. I did it because my upline told me to.

You make money even when they don’t join your business

Most people you meet are not going to join your business. Yes, I know that your company probably told you that a person would be crazy not to join you, but let me tell you a little secret: There are a lot of crazy people out there. Accept it and move on.

This does not mean you can’t make money from those people, however. Using attraction marketing techniques, you’ll have a whole arsenal of information products that you use and recommend that will help others build their business. You, of course, get a commission for the sales of these products.

If you truly focus on helping others, you cannot help but to succeed beyond your wildest dreams.

Make Money at Home Online With This Fool-Proof Method

2009-11-10T05:40:00.000-08:00

Most people, when setting out to make money at home online, don't have a clue where to start. Many fall for scams that promise almost instant wealth without much effort. In fact, I'd say most so-called opportunities out there today are far less than profitable, and that most people involved in these ventures are losing money.

This is not to say that there aren't real money-making opportunities out there, however. Just the opposite is actually true. As much as we hate to admit it, though, all of these legitimate opportunities have a catch. They all require hard work.

Yes, that's right; you heard it here first. Just when you think you're safe from all that nastiness, and that you can rest in the fact that you'll be making $2000 a day in the next 72 hours while taking 12 hour naps on the beach, that four letter word we all so despise seeps back into our reality. You can't make money at home online without it.

Not many ads you see online these days tout the fact that to make money at home online, you simply must work your butt off. Don't believe me? Ask anybody who's made a decent amount of money online how they got there. If they're honest (and most of them are brutally so), they'll tell you how hard it was, and how much they had to fight to make it happen.

The truth is, however, that in order to make money at home online, working hard is only half the battle. I mean, I used to work very hard when I first got into network marketing. I made at least 15 cold calls every day, went to all the hotel meetings I could stomach, and placed flyers on car windshields until the wee hours of the morning.

My friends and family stopped taking my phone calls and dreaded my visits. My conversations consisted of mildly disguised business presentations, and nobody wanted to sit through more than one of those.

Yes, I worked hard. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough. You see, back then, I really didn't know what to work on. I expended a lot of energy on activities that brought me almost nothing.

To make money at home online you've got to know what to work on. Today, that means doing things like writing articles, making videos, and learning backlinking strategies. These take time, patience, and yes, hard work.

Network Marketing Success: How To Get It

2009-08-27T05:39:00.000-07:00

As obvious as this might seem, too many marketers fail to do this.

You need to make up your mind to succeed, and don't look up until you're there. Understand that when you first join an opportunity, things are new and exiting. Soon, however, that newness goes away. It's what you do after that that determines your success or failure.

You need to understand that things aren't always going to go smoothly. Network marketing is, after all a people business, and people can be unpredictable. Some are going to make you mad. Some will let you down. Upline members you thought you could count on turn out to be flakey.

The system you were taught has flaws in it, and suddenly people are dropping like flies. None of this should cause you to veer from your course. These are all just examples of a typical day at the office for a network marketer.

Your resolve to succeed, more than anything else, determines your destiny. Looking at it this way, there really are no excuses for not succeeding.

You might say, "I can't succeed because I don't know anything about SEO." My response would be, "Learn." To which you might reply, "But I don't have any money to invest in those expensive SEO courses."

To which I would say, "You don't need them." I've gained so much knowledge just from internet marketing forums and blogs that I could probably write my own SEO course by now, and I haven't invested a dime.

What's more, is that many of the creators of these SEO courses are active members of many forums, and they're giving their information away for free.

So there really are no excuses for not being successful. If you come up against a roadblock, resolve to find a way around it or to blast right through it. It's as simple as that.

If you have any questions, please contact me, or visit http://www.GregoryMcGuire.ws.

The Cayenne Pepper Diet: My Own Experience

2009-08-25T09:27:00.000-07:00

The Cayenne Pepper Diet consists of fresh-squeezed lemon juice, grade B maple syrup, and cayenne pepper mixed with mineral or distilled water. I first learned of this diet about 10 years ago when I ran across this little book, called the Master Cleanse by a guy named Stanley Burroughs.

The Cayenne Pepper Diet immediately fascinated me, as I'm always looking for ways to improve my health, and have tried many detox diets and fasts in the past.

Ideally, the diet lasts for 10 days. During these 10 days you consume nothing other than 6 glasses of this mixture. Supposedly, this supplies enough nutrients to make it survivable.

My first go at the Cayenne Pepper Diet lasted about 3 days. Even though I'd fasted before, this time seemed extremely difficult.

At then end of the first day, I felt slightly irritable and dizzy. This is to be expected, but the next day was a work day, and I wondered how I'd fare on the job. Well, it wasn't pretty.

Driving to work that day, I sometimes saw tiny white spots. A guy cut into my lane on short notice and I honked and yelled, not typical of me at all. I missed my turn and got extremely angry at myself. I pounded on my dashboard.

At work, nothing was right. Even though I held my tongue, meaningless conversations annoyed me to no end. I mostly kept to myself that day. After work I immediately went to bed. I just wanted it to be over.

The third day the bottom fell out. Facing my first glass of the lemonade stuff, I almost vomited. I managed to choke it down, though, and packed a couple more for lunch.

The drive to work that day was an angry blur. My stomach let me know this was unacceptable. I felt nauseous the whole day, and my head hurt. At work, people thought I was doing drugs. Once, my supervisor said something that really made me mad, but I kept it together long enough for work to be over.

After work that day, I drove straight to the closest burger joint and devoured a quarter pounder with cheese. It was the tastiest meal I'd ever eaten.

Recently, however, a friend of mine called and said she was going on this diet/fast thing, and wanted to know if I would do it with her. After hearing a little more about what she was doing, I realized she was talking about the Cayenne Pepper Diet.

When I told her my experience with it, she kind of laughed and said that she couldn't believe I actually tried to do it that way. She said there's a new way to do the Cayenne Pepper Diet that's supposedly much more doable.

I was skeptical, but also curious. I agreed to meet with her to find out what she was talking about.

Sure enough, my friend had discovered this system that gives a realistic approach to the Cayenne Pepper Diet. She and I both started it about a week later. How'd we do?

Well, my friend, who had always been overweight, lost 26 pounds in 10 days. I lost 7, and my acid reflux, which had been with me daily for the last couple years or so, vanished.

So, do I think the Cayenne Pepper Diet works? Absolutely. Is it for everybody? The old way? No. The way my friend showed me? I have no doubt anybody can do this with awesome results.

Attraction Marketing Is A Myth

2009-08-21T03:39:00.000-07:00

Attraction marketing is bull.

Well, at least the way most gurus talk about it. The current "big thing" is to teach you that if you put enough quality content online that people will somehow just find you and follow you. Now, that sounds really nice, but there's a lot more to it than that.

I talk more about what underlies attraction in my video. The truth is, if you don't have the right mindset, no amount of quality content is going to bring you any closer to your goals, financial or otherwise.

One limiting factor many of us face is our beliefs. I think of when Pavlov performed one of his experiments on dogs.

The dogs were placed in a topless cage in which they could easily jump out, but would receive an electric jolt if they tried. After trying a few times and receiving the jolt, the dogs stopped trying, even when the electricity was shut off.

Too often, our experiences early in life cause us to stop trying. We form beliefs that limit everything we do. The crazy thing is that many times we're not even aware of our beliefs.

Is An Internet Home Business Opportunity The Right Move For You?

2009-08-05T22:13:00.000-07:00

When you first look at an Internet home business opportunity, you’ll probably be overwhelmed with all the hype that’s out there. It seems like everybody promises you riches, and all you’ve got to do is pay them 25 bucks a month.

Because of all the exaggerated claims of infinite wealth on the Internet, most people are initially turned off and walk away. Then they start hearing real stories about people who started with nothing doing quite well with an Internet home business opportunity, and decide to give it a try.

If you’re one of these people, as I was, keep in mind that it’s natural to be skeptical. In fact, with all the junk that’s out there today, your skepticism might just save your life someday. In fact, if you’re not skeptical, you’re just plain stupid.

That being the case, there’s much to be said about starting your own online business. Firstly, it’s a much more viable alternative for most people who want to start a business. Let me explain.

With an Internet home business opportunity, you’re instantly global. Your store is open 24/7, and people from China might purchase from you while you’re asleep. Compare that to a brick and mortar, 9 to 5 business, where most of your business is local, and not everyone who needs what you’ve got can meet your hours.

There’s also the cost factor. With an Internet home business opportunity you have little or no overhead. No rent, staff, or even inventory in most cases. There are tons of ways to effectively advertise your online business for free.

Also, with today’s technology, expensive communication is a thing of the past. Imagine calling China 20 years ago. Chances are, it would have cost a fortune. Today, with email and even Skype, we can reach people across the globe for next to nothing.

If you do your homework, and Internet home business opportunity is a real no-brainer. Most successful internet marketers simply set up a blog, learn how to generate tons of traffic to that blog, then experiment with affiliate product links until they find some that work. All they then do is sit back and reap the profits.

Yes, the initial work on the front end is pretty tough. Your first task when thinking about an Internet home business opportunity is to learn what you don’t know. Things like traffic generation, list building, and copywriting are just some of the things you’ll want to study.

After your initial period of hard work, however, momentum kicks in and you’re living the life you’ve heard so many others talk about. You work a couple hours a day, mostly answering emails and tweaking your website.

If you haven’t seriously looked into an Internet home business opportunity, you’re really cheating yourself these days. There’s a lot of money to be made online, even in this economy.

When Pain Is A Good Thing

2009-07-14T05:03:00.000-07:00

In 1996, I needed a change.

I hated my job. I lived in a small apartment because it was all I could afford. I drove a piece of crap car for the same reason.

In short, I was in pain. My pain stemmed from the fact that others controlled my life. I felt like a slave. I worked my butt off just to pay the rent and feed myself. What kind of life is that?

My pain, however, propelled me to something better. The minute a friend of mine brought up network marketing, I jumped on it. I didn’t know you could make that much money without being a real estate mogul or an investment genius.

Like most marketers, I failed miserably at first. I made every mistake a network marketer can possible make. Yet, the alternative kept me going. I knew that if I didn’t succeed in network marketing, I faced a life of slavery.

That was enough for me.

I literally marketed as if my life depended on it because, in a very real sense, it did. Whenever I felt like quitting (which was quite often at first), I’d picture my boss’ scowling face, saying, “I need you to work a double today.” I can think of no greater motivator.

They say we’re either motivated by pain or pleasure. If either the pain of your current situation or the pleasure of making a change is not great enough, you’ll probably have a difficult time finding the necessary motivation.

Of the two, I think pain motivates me more. Sure, sitting on a beach sipping a cool drink while working a couple hours a day on my laptop would be nice, but it’s nothing compared to avoiding the gray, lifeless existence that comes with working for someone else.

If you want to change, find your pain.

Only 2 Steps to Success

2009-07-13T03:31:00.000-07:00

I read an article recently that said success consists of only 2 things.

These two things are very basic, and can be broken down into several subcategories, depending on how complicated you wanted to make it. I like to keep it simple, so let's look at these two things.

The first quality of success is hard work. This should be obvious, but the number of sites that promise you millions of dollars for doing nothing tells me that this is a step a lot of people don't see as necessary.

Do yourself a favor. If somebody tells you to plug into their system for 25 bucks a month and collect your million dollars next week, just walk away. Don't ponder how it's possible; forget that it defies all logic. Take a hike.

If you want to be successful, you'll have to work hard. There's no way around it.

The other quality, possibly even more important than the first, is knowing WHAT to work on. This is a lesson network marketers need to pay close attention to. When I first started in network marketing back in 1996, I worked hard.

I did everything my upline told me to, and then some. I made my list, called my friends and family, struck up conversations in the grocery market checkout lines, and even called opportunity leads for hours on end.

Nobody told me how to generate targeted traffic, or that building relationships with people FIRST was the best way to build an effective downline.

The net result from all my hard work? Zero.

Like many network marketers today, I only had half the equation. I was ready to do it, but I didn't know exactly what to do.

The good news is that once you know what to do, even if you work at it all day, it's not really hard. I actually find it enjoyable.

RIP Steve McNair

2009-07-05T08:29:00.000-07:00

Even though I live just outside of Nashville, I've never really considered myself a Tennessee Titans fan.

I guess it's because my wife has always loved the Indianapolis Colts, especially Peyton Manning. Now, I'm not near as into football as she is, but I do enjoy watching a good game.

I remember the year the Titans went to the Super Bowl. I think the entire state of Tennessee was on fire that day. I was in college, and worked part time at a local convenience store. The man who owned the store had tickets to the game and was taking his son.

Even though they lost, the game was awesome. Just one yard short of winning the Super Bowl, and that was their first year in Tennessee.

Steve McNair was a huge part of that.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing and seeing yesterday afternoon when I turned on the local news. McNair was dead.

They didn't give many details, except that it was a shooting. He retired from football last year and had just opened up a restaurant in Nashville, planning to settle down here. He was 36 years old.

I must admit, I didn't really know what an awesome player he was. Former teammates and even opponents described him as a super-intense, but cool headed quarterback who was not afraid to run the ball.

Nashville is numb today. Steve will be missed.

Getting Traffic To Your Site

2009-07-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

You want people to see your website.

Assuming that’s true, how do you make it happen? Is there maybe a traffic genie you can call? How come some sites get thousands of hits a day, and yours averages about 15? Is there something others know that you don’t?

The good news is that getting traffic to your site is simple. It’s not always easy, and it’s not always cheap, but it’s simple.

Some methods I’ve used have included traffic exchanges, safelists, and solo ads. These are all relatively inexpensive, but there’s something you need to keep in mind . . .

Nothing is really free. Even the “free” traffic exchanges and safelists will cost you many hours of viewing or submitting ads.

The most organic, natural way to generate traffic and leads is by using attraction marketing. I know, these days attraction marketing is more popular than Brangelina’s twins, but there’s really not that much to it.

Attraction marketing simply focuses on building relationships first. You realize that most people you build relationships with are not going to do business with you, but many will. Plus, the time you spend building these relationships is enjoyable. It’s just like making friends. Compare that to spending hours cold-calling people who have little or no interest in what you have to say.

The downright easiest way to get traffic to your site is to just pay for it. For about fifty bucks, you can get 10,000 or more semi-targeted leads to your site. You can spend a lot more, depending on your budget, and a lot more results.

The Renegade Network Marketer

2009-06-25T10:30:00.000-07:00

Why do I still use The Renegade Network Marketer? Interesting you should ask . . .

Firstly, I was in a company with Ann Sieg where she would occasionally speak on our weekly calls. I loved her philosophy, although I sensed she was holding back, not telling the whole story. Still, she was sponsoring 25 to 30 people into her business every month. If only she would share how she did it!

My wait ended with the release of The Renegade Network Marketer. Upon its release, I also discovered why she was holding back before. The company wouldn’t let her tell the whole truth. Possibly because they sold opportunity leads.

Ann’s system, of course, teaches you how to get your own, and they’re much higher quality than anything you can buy.

I’m not sure exactly why, but there was a huge falling out over the issue, and lots of feelings were hurt. Some people claimed the company unjustly withheld due payments.

But the truth was out! Renegade tells it just like it is. When I first read it, I felt chills and couldn’t wait to start implementing these techniques. I couldn’t believe somebody in network marketing actually came out and said it.

That was a couple years ago. Since that time Mike Klingler and Ann teamed up to create the current incarnation of Renegade Professional, which is The Renegade Network Marketer put into motion. This is network marketing training at its finest. Today, I direct all my downline to Renegade Pro.

Success in MLM?

2009-06-24T17:53:00.001-07:00

I've been thinking a lot about what it really takes to succeed in network marketing, and I think I've boiled it down to 3 crucial components.

The first is building relationships. I mean, let's face it. "Networking" means meeting people. Without this foundation, you really have no business. Nowhere is this more true than in network marketing.

The second indispensible component is a workable system. Yes, I've seen all those "systems" out there who say that if you send them fifty bucks a month, all you've got to do is plug into their system and get rich. This is definitely not what I'm talking about here.

I'm talking about a set of actions that you teach your downline to take on a consistent basis. The key here is to keep the focus on the individual and not the system. This is still hard work.

The third component is training. Without ongoing training, your team will fall apart. This can be in the form of weekly training calls or webinars, or maybe a training website that you set up.

Network Marketing Prospecting

2009-05-08T10:30:00.000-07:00

Back in the olden days of network marketing, prospecting caused most of us a lot of grief. If it didn't cause you a lot of grief, it's either because A) You had a sales mentality and rhino-thick skin, or B) You were lying.

This was because of the methods that were available to us. Honestly, most people were not cut out for doing those kinds of things.

When I think of prospecting, the first thing that comes to mind is the old gold prospectors. I see them wading in a stream panning for gold, or maybe digging into a side of a mountain with a pick and shovel. Hard, hard work.

These guys had to sift through tons of worthless rocks, pebbles and sand in the hopes of finding just one or two gold nuggets.

Why did they do it? They had a dream, a goal. They knew that gold was not going to come knocking on their door. They had to go out and get it.

This is very similar to the old school network marketing methods. You had to tell people, everybody you could, about your company, products, etc. There was no way to target your market back then, so we just accepted and taught that everybody is a prospect.

Here's some of the stuff I actually did:

I made 2 to 3 trips to the grocery store every day, just to prospect. How many gold nuggets did I find that way? Zero

Whenever possible, I'd put flyers on cars. I remember sneaking around at 2 o'clock in the morning putting flyers on car windshields that were parked at apartment buildings. Gold nuggets? Zero.

The very first thing most companies tell you to do is to make a list of all the people you've ever spoken to, look them up, and pitch your business. I actually did this. You want to talk about uncomfortable? Gold nuggets? Zero.

Another method, probably the most popular, was calling prospects from a leads list. This list was typically a list of names and numbers of people who had requested more information about starting a home based business. I called dozens of these every day. I got hung up on, cussed out, and ignored. Gold nuggets? Zero.

So I started thinking to myself: Why am I not having any results? What am I doing wrong?

Not long after that I discovered that my upline was doing only marginally better than I was. The stuff he was teaching me wasn't even working for him. So, I knew there had to be a better way, only nobody was talking about it.

Instead, everybody I talked to told me the same thing: Just go out and talk to people, which was exactly what I was doing with zero results. This was insanity!

It wasn't until I discovered Internet marketing that it all started to fall into place. Ann Sieg's, Renegade Network Marketer opened my eyes to how things really were in the network marketing industry. Then I came upon Mike Dillard's Magnetic Sponsoring, and that book helped me grow my business to the next level.

Rather than prospecting, today it's more like fishing. With attraction marketing, instead of going out and finding people, you cast your line and watch them come to you.

Actually, you'll want to use several lines.

Fake It Til You Make It

2009-05-06T05:29:00.000-07:00

As attraction marketers, we're taught to provide value to others, and to present ourselves as experts. How do you do this, however, if you're brand new to network marketing. I created a video, which you can access here, that explains one possible action you can take.

Why Personal Development Training Is So Essential

2009-05-05T12:22:00.000-07:00

My Own Experience With Personal Development Training

The first time I listened to a Zig Ziglar CD I felt jazzed.

A natural, organic optimism came over me and I honestly can't say why. I wanted to do something to improve my situation. Even though I only remembered bits and pieces of Mr. Ziglar's speech, somehow I was motivated to take action.

So, what's the point of Personal Development Training? Is there something more to it than just making us feel good?

These are questions I asked myself when I heard a speaker talking about how our brains are like an empty glass. They'll accept whatever we pour into them. Unfortunately, we're exposed to dirty water every day, in the form of television, billboards, nasty people, etc.

How Do You Use It?

We can choose to let our glasses remain full of dirty water, or we can flush them out. We can hold our glasses full of dirty water under a stream of clean, clear water until the dirty is flushed away.

The true power in Personal Development Training comes from repetition. Just surrounding yourself with books, CD's, and videos can make a huge difference in your life.

This is similar to how we expose ourselves to negativity all day. If your television is on, you don't have to really pay attention to it for it to bring you down. The negativity is still there. You can still hear the tones of the people telling you about the fire that killed the family of three, or how the economy is on the brink of collapse.

Find Out For Yourself

But don't believe me. Do your own research and try this experiment:

For two weeks, do nothing while home except watch and listen to TV. Keep a journal and record how you feel, your attitudes, and interactions with others. Then go another two weeks playing nothing but Personal Development Training CD's and reading books, maintaining the same journal. Note the differences.

Also, keep in mind that all successful people who were not taught these skills at childhood took the time and energy to learn them as adults.

Some Lead Generation Methods

2009-04-08T20:28:00.000-07:00

In the Dark Ages, network marketers couldn't afford to generate their own leads. With the Internet, however, the marketer who educates him/herself into the ways of online lead generation can generate tons of leads for absolutely free.

Here are some lead generation techniques that bring awesome results:

Video
If you're not doing video, you're missing out on a boatload of traffic and high quality leads. People want to see and hear who they're dealing with, and video gives them a good look at your face and personality. After all, network marketing is still a people business.

Aritcles
With all the resources available today, there is absolutely no reason you should not be doing article marketing. Even if you can't write, there are services that will write articles for you at very reasonable rates. There are sites you can submit your articles to that will give them huge exposure.

Blogging
If you blog regularly and provide your visitors with solid content, you will be appreciated. Even a couple paragraphs every few days would be enough. Alternatively, some people use their blog as their main site, and update it almost daily.

Generating Leads For Your Network Marketing Business

2009-04-07T20:07:00.000-07:00

It used to be that the only network marketers who generated their own leads were the ones with lots of money. These guys placed ads in magazines, and took out full-page ads in newspapers, and even ran some radio spots. Generating leads in those days meant spending a lot of money--money that the beginning network marketer didn't have.

For most of us, our leads came from lists we bought from companies who generated opportunity leads. Typically, you'd buy 500 or so leads a month.

Or, you could throw "parties" and invite your soon-to-be-former friends over and surprise them with a presentation from your upline. Those were always fun. Everybody thought it was just a bunch of friends getting together for a good time, and suddenly they're being hit with a sales pitch. Oh, the embarassment.

Today, however, all successful network marketers generate their own leads. That's just how it's done. Sure, you occasionally run upon a dinosaur still making his names list or cold calling people, but the truly successful have taken the time to learn how to do it themselves.

The good news is that there is a ton of information online about the correct way to generate high quality leads.

Attraction Marketing Techniques: What Network Marketing Has Needed For a Long Time

2009-03-31T23:07:00.000-07:00

Attraction marketing techniques take network marketing to a whole new level. If you’re familiar with the old school methods of cold calling, approaching strangers in grocery store checkout lines, and hounding your family and friends, then you’ll welcome the new way things are done.

I still get that sick feeling in my stomach when I think of picking up the phone and calling people who were less qualified to be in my downline than Brittney Spears is to be a NASA engineer. I’d make every excuse possible not to start dialing those numbers. I remember being ashamed to tell people I was a network marketer.

Now, using attraction marketing techniques, that feeling is gone. Once again, network marketers can hold our heads high and be proud of what it is we do. And what is it we do?

In the new world, we have become purveyors of much-needed information. We provide value in the form of ebooks, videos, and articles. We offer these free of charge for all interested.

Ironically, the more we do this without expectation, the more our business grows.

Explode Your Business With Social Media

2009-03-23T14:53:00.000-07:00

When I first heard about social media, I got excited. You see, I'd done network marketing the old fashioned way for years. Yes, I cold-called leads, placed flyers on cars, and even approached strangers in grocery store checkout lines. Then I discovered the Internet.

The Internet, while much more effective than traditional methods, still didn't quite do it for me. I mean, yes, I was able to build a decent-sized downline using only traffic exchanges and email marketing, but there was that coldness that persisted. Even though I recruited people, I also lost them almost as fast. Something was missing.

I found that "something" in social media. Social media, you see, allows us to do network marketing the way it was meant to be done, only on a much larger scale. Let me explain.

Originally, network marketers would tell their friends and family about their products and their business. Bear in mind, these were people who trusted you and believed in what you had to say. They would then tell their network of friends, and so on. Huge downlines were built this way, and fortunes were made.

This beautiful simplicity didn't last long, however. When marketers exhausted their warm market, most adopted the belief that "everybody is a prospect." Network marketers began deserving their reputation as the most obnoxious people on the planet. But that's not all . . .

Advertising itself displayed a lack of integrity, and people stopped believing what they were being told. Couple that with some ethically-challenged network marketers who scammed a lot of people, and you can see why many people mistrust you the instant they find out you're a network marketer.

With social media, we create our warm market. We do this by providing valuable content and establishing relationships. There are several ways to do this.

Writing articles is just one way to provide value. You can also make videos, comment on others' blog posts, or release an ebook. The key is to make sure your intentions are pure. If you come off as a salesperson in any way, you'll get shut down, and your credibility will be blown.

Your mindset needs to be one of giving. Instead of focusing on generating leads for your business, focus on getting as much value out there as possible. Ironically, this generates more leads than ever. Plus, they're super, high-quality, pre-sold leads.

This is how you create a warm market.

Why do I say this is how network marketing was meant to be in the first place? Well, think about it. In the old days, you told people who trusted you about your products and business. Once you build a warm market with social media, you're doing the exact same thing.

Social media is the future of network marketing. If you're not doing it, your business is doomed. If you are doing it, and doing it right, I'll see you at the top.

The New Network Marketing Gold Rush

2009-03-16T22:16:00.000-07:00

Very recently, more than 11 million Americans discovered job security is a myth. Many of these people now look elsewhere for security and, with the global power of the Internet, most are finding they no longer need an employer. Leading the way in this newly-discovered paradigm is network marketing.

Yes, network marketing’s been around since the 1950’s. So what’s the big deal about it now? Well, back then you sold your products to your neighbor, your family, or your friends, and if they liked the product (and you) enough they would tell their friends about it, and some of these people would eventually become interested in the business end as well.

In one sense, network marketing has become easier and, in another, much more difficult. It’s difficult, because most of us are immune to most forms of traditional advertising. The average person in the US sees or hears 5,000 ads every single day. Is it any wonder people ignore you when you try to tell them how great your product is? They’ve heard it all before!

It’s easier now than it ever has been thanks to the Internet. We don’t have to approach strangers in grocery stores, place flyers on cars, or call strangers to sell them on our business. The Internet killed all that. I say good riddance.

To effectively market network marketing on the Internet, however, you need a light touch. If you come out selling, today’s market will shut you down and turn you off. The days of commercial interruptions are over. Even the geniuses behind television don’t know it yet. Who needs commercials when there’s TIVO?

In today’s market, content is king. You’ve got to educate yourself, effectively increasing your value, and then pass that value on to others. Today, people will only follow you if they sense you have something of value to offer.

So how do others know you have value? Easy. You give it away. After you’ve taken some courses, you simply give away that knowledge to others in the form of articles, videos, or even ebooks. If you do this in exchange for people’s contact information, you can build a sizeable list fairly quickly.

This list consists of people who are no longer unfamiliar with you. They’ve read your work, probably view you as an expert on your subject, and have received value from you. They are no longer cold prospects.

So, what kind of emails do you send to your list?

Well, if you try to sell them on your business, they’ll probably opt-out of your list. No, you’ll want to continue to provide them with value. When they’re ready to make the move to join your business, they’ll contact you. This is the essence of attraction marketing.

With more people today than ever before looking to start a home based business, and with the ability to reach millions of people across the planet 24/7, the future has never brighter for network marketing.

Those who realize this today will be tomorrow’s millionaires. Bank on it.

The Ugly Truth About Network Marketing Success

2009-03-10T22:25:00.000-07:00

So you’ve decided the old-school network marketing techniques don’t work anymore, and you’re ready to take your marketing online. Great! Now, what do you do?

Now, before you start blogging about how awesome your company and products are, there are some things you need to keep in mind. These will keep your expectations realistic, and that will insure you’re not one of the 95% of all network marketers who never make any real money doing it.

The first thing you need to realize is that network marketing on the Internet is hard work. Honestly, if you can’t devote a minimum of 3 to 4 hours a day/night on your business, your results are going to be slow coming. Just like everything else in life, you get back what you put in, and 30 minutes every other night just won’t cut it.

You’ve also got to think about educating yourself. Unless you’re already familiar with blogs, autoresponders, YouTube, social media, and the like, you’re going to have to do your due diligence and learn about the tools of the trade. This will take time, energy, and some money.

Am I trying to scare you away? In a sense, yes I am. You see, I’ve been doing this a while, and there’s always a chance that if you like what I’m saying that you will want to become a member of my downline. If you’re lazy and have unrealistic expectations, you’re wasting my time as well as yours.

I know you’re used to seeing all the eye-popping ads that promise to make you three thousand dollars a week in 90 days. Come on, do you really believe that crap?

Which brings me to my second point: If you’re in a program you like, stay there. Why? Because jumping from program to program kills your credibility as a marketer. Focus on your primary business and resolve to make it happen NO MATTER WHAT.

If you’re like most of us, you’ve quit companies before, believing it was somehow the company’s fault you weren’t successful. Well, here’s a news flash: You can be successful in virtually ANY network marketing company if you have the skills.

So the next time you want to quit your company, don’t. Ask yourself what you’re not doing to be successful and then make the necessary changes.

Don’t get me wrong. There are some crappy uplines out there. If you find yourself in one of those, you’ll have to look outside your company for support. The good news is that there are generic teams that provide excellent training. Some charge a small fee, while others are completely free.

Another point to keep in mind is that nobody is going to build your business for you. I know there are many ads out there that claim the opposite, but if you really believe them, I invite you to join their program and write the expense off as a “stupid tax.”

As if all this were not enough to discourage you, here’s one more fact you should know: If you’re looking to get rich quick, then network marketing is probably not for you.

For instance, my company offers a 14-day free trial period which is mostly in place so people can sample our products, become familiar with the team, and decide if our opportunity is a fit for them. Too often, however, people mistakenly believe that they’re somehow going to start making big bucks before their free trial is over.

Ain’t gonna happen.

To be honest, I wouldn’t even expect a check from the company for at least 90 days, and then it probably would be a tiny one. My point is that it takes time to set up a business and be profitable. If anybody tells you otherwise, they’re lying to you.

If you’re out of work and can’t pay the rent next month, you don’t need a business. What you need is a job, and then a business.

Anybody who has ever been successful in network marketing has taken the time to educate themselves, for the most part has stuck with the same company, and built their business themselves. It’s hard work, and there are no shortcuts. Progress is sometimes painfully slow.

If you exercise patience, however, you have the power to make every dream you ever had a reality. Only you can decide if the price is truly worth it. You can always choose to stay where you are. Is that acceptable to you?

Practical Manifestion--How It's Done

2009-01-09T21:54:00.000-08:00

A client of mine asked me today about the law of attraction.

She told me she'd read a bunch of books about it, seen some movies, but somehow it just didn't seem to work for her. She kept thinking positive thoughts, saying dozens of affirmations every day but, after six months of doing those things, nothing in her life had changed. She wanted to know what she was doing wrong.

With so much stuff out there these days, it's almost impossible to separate what's real from what's just plain crap.

Let me first just say that the law of attraction, or whatever you choose to call it, is real. I know this because I've seen it work in my own life and in the lives of my clients. But it's working constantly, even when you don't want it to. If you don't consciously attract, then you unconsciously attract. This can be a very bad thing.

I'm not going to get into the science behind all this in this article, however. Instead, I'm going to give you a practical exercise, the one I use on a daily basis, to create the life you've always wanted. No fluff, no theory. Time to lock and load.

The first thing you need to do is to learn to relax. Relaxing the body is a necessity if you're going to reach your subconscious mind, which is what we're going to do. I've practiced in lying, sitting, and reclining positions, and find reclining to be the most effective. Try each position yourself, and find which one suits you the best.

After you find a comfortable position, you'll need to do some sort of progressive relaxation exercise, usually accompanied with some deep breathing. You can find these types of exercises on books about hypnosis, or just do a Google search for progressive relaxation. As long as your body is relaxed, almost any method will do.

After you're completely relaxed, you then imagine what life will be like when your goal is achieved. Now, when I say imagine, most people think of only using their vision, but that's only a small part of it. You see, we're trying to fool your subconscious mind into believing this is a real experience. To do that, you've got to use all five of your senses.

How do you do that? Well, to be honest, it sometimes takes some practice. There are some daily exercises you might do, like imagine you're walking on a beach. You feel your bare feet touching the hot sand. You see the yellow sun lighting a blue sky. You taste the salt on your upper lip. You hear the gulls flying overhead. You smell the moisture from the waves.

When you do this kind of exercise to manifest things in your life, you've also got to feel emotion. If you can't get emotionally worked up over your goal, then you really don't desire it enough to manifest it. You either need to change it in some way, or drop it altogether.

Lots of times, people tell me they lose their concentration when trying to do this kind of work. And, so I've read, the average attention span is about six seconds. To this, I have two things to say.

First of all, with continued practice, your attention span will increase. Because you are embedding yourself in the scene you are imagining, you sometimes even forget where you are physically. This is the desired state. This is where the magic truly happens.

Secondly, if you find your mind wandering aimlessly, you might record your voice and play that while visualizing. For instance, on the tape you might say, "You feel the breeze from the ocean blowing your hair, and hear the gulls above you." I've made hundreds of tapes like these for my clients, and they work beautifully.

Also, you will need to watch your food intake when doing this kind of exercise. Too much food in your stomach could cause problems, as can too little. If you're hungry beforehand, maybe have a piece of cheese or a couple crackers.

It's important to keep in mind that manifestation exercises are limited, in that they only bring you opportunities to achieve your goals. They do not manifest the goals themselves.

For instance, if you're doing exercises to manifest a new love in your life, yet you never leave your apartment, the chances of your dream mate showing up at your door are almost nil. You've got to do the leg work. You've got to educate yourself in the area of your choosing, and trust that the Universe will provide those opportunities that will lead to the realization of your goal.

Nothing is free. For everything, there is a price. Using the law of attraction is certainly no exception.

Be Honest: Wouldn't You Rather Chop Off A Pinkie With A Meat Cleaver Than Do This?

2008-12-31T18:05:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago, I did something I hadn't done in a while. I bought leads. Not just any leads, mind you, these were good leads. Expensive leads. What they call "Real time leads." I guess they call them that because as soon as the lead responds to an ad, fills out a form, or whatever, they contact me. It was perfect. Or so it seemed . . .

Now, I know there are some out there who have had tremendous success calling leads. Friends of mine who are super successful today got there by calling leads. I guess they have some magic that I neither possess nor understand, because I've never had one bit of success calling leads. None.

In fact, most leads I've called fit into one of three categories, none of which helped my self esteem or built my business.The first category is the largest. About 80% of the phone numbers I called gave me voicemail. This was no big deal. My company had given me a voicemail script. It was short, to the point, and was easy to deliver. I started getting tired of voicemail, though. Well, at least until I had my first person answer . . .

The second category is when somebody actually does pick up the phone. In my experience, this is rarely pretty. About half the time the person who answers pretends to be someone else, even though they are the person you're trying to reach. Sometimes they'll come clean and tell you who they really are (now that they know you're not a bill collector or the FBI), but that they're no longer interested. Some don't even remember filling out a form. And those are the nice ones . . .

Others that fit into this category surely belong somewhere in Dante's Inferno. They are the darkest of the dark; the ones you dread when you try and lift that 800 pound phone. They usually say something like, "Yes, this is John, and I want you people to just leave me alone! Take me off your bleeping list right now!", just before the line goes dead.

Still another in this category is the nice person who seems interested, promises to look at your website, and call you if she has any questions. When you try and follow up, however, she's disappeared.

The third category, of course, is the wrong number, fax machine, or the non-answer. After some of the other responses, sometimes this one is a relief. This time would be different, however. After all, these were "Real Time" leads . . .

So I got home from work, signaled to the lead company that I was ready to receive my leads. I was to receive a maximum of 10 leads a day, which I felt would be appropriate. If these leads were as hot as I imagined, surely at least half would be receptive. This could be a gold mine!

My heart jumped into my throat when the first 4 leads appeared, complete with phone number an email address. Here it comes . . .I lifted the phone, dialed the number. My prospect's name was Valerie.

The phone rang twice before an older man answered the phone."Hi. May I speak with Valerie?"

"Who?" the man said loudly, as if he could barely hear me.

"Valerie!" I repeated loudly.

"Ain't no Valerie here . . ." I could hear him speaking with a woman in the background. Then her voice came on the line.

"Who is this?" she said, somewhat rudely.

I explained who I was and why I was calling.

"Valerie ain't lived here in 6 months! She done moved to Mississippi."

I thanked her for her time and hung up. Unfortunately, none of the other calls I made from my "Real Time" leads turned out much differently.

Honestly, this is how I've spent most of my network marketing career. Well, until recently, anyway.

After experiencing network marketing online with solo ads, list builders, and traffic exchanges, and after recruiting an enormous number of people this way, I don't understand how anyone can keep using the old techniques. I mean, most days I reach more than 10,000 people, and I face zero rejection.

I shudder when I hear companies teaching that everybody is a prospect, and how you should keep adding names to your list. Undoubtedly, these are the same people who still attend Thursday night hotel meetings. No thanks. I'd rather surf MySpace, Facebook, or Yuwie. In my experience, it's much more profitable.

Not to mention, more comfortable.

The Language Of The Subconscious Mind

2008-12-30T15:33:00.000-08:00

As a hypnotherapist, many people ask me about visualization. Most want to know how it works, while others have tried it without any results. To be sure, there are a lot of books out there that make it seem much easier than what it really is. Still, it's far from difficult, and if you want something bad enough, I guarantee you that it will work for you.

Firstly, though, I just want to say that I have trouble with the word, "visualization." Mostly because that word suggests that you're using only your vision. That's not at all true, as you're about to find out.

The purpose of visualization is to create a change in your subconscious mind, that part of your mind which runs in the background. It's responsible for beating your heart, breathing, healing, and a lot of other things. You're seldom aware of it, yet it controls your entire being.

To influence your subconscious mind, however, you must know it's language. Words and numbers mean nothing to it. Logic is foreign to it. It's the realm of emotion and creativity. Rational thought doesn't exist in the subconscious.

At first glance, this presents a problem, especially if you're trying to build wealth using visualization.Your first challenge, then, is to be very specific about what you want to manifest. Instead of just saying, "I want to be wealthy," say, "I want to make $50,000 a month in residual income within the next 12 months." See the difference?

That presents the next problem. How do we communicate this to the subconscious? $50,000 means nothing to it.Your task then becomes to determine what that $50,000 a month will look like? Sound like? Smell like? Taste like? Feel like?

For instance, $50,000 a month to you might mean walking on the beach with the person of your dreams. You feel the sand under your feet. Is it warm, or cooler? Moist, or dry?You feel a breeze through your hair, and smell the salt from the waves. You hear the waves crashing on the beach, and taste the salt on your upper lip. Emotionally, you feel an immense sense of gratification at achieving your goal.

These are the ways you tell your subconscious mind what you're really after. The more you submerse yourself in your imagination, the more real you make your vision to your subconscious mind. If you do this 5 to 10 minutes a day, you'll be surprised at how your life will change.

What you're doing when you visualize like this is creating a false memory. Your subconscious, you see, can only act on what it knows. If there's no reference to your being successful in your past, it's got nothing to draw on.

The remedy for this is to give it that something, which is why false memories are so potent.

A word of warning: Don't expect instant results. Your subconscious needs at least 21 to 30 consecutive days of this kind of visualizing before it starts to sink in. Until then, just have fun with it. When it kicks in, you'll know it, believe me.

Remembering The Network In Network Marketing

2008-12-18T16:38:00.000-08:00

Everywhere we look these days we hear about networking. It's been said that networking is all we can do to prepare for the economic train wreck up ahead.

In the corporate world we now see positions with titles like Chief Networking Officer (CNO). The ability to build alliances, negotiate, and communicate effectively is a primary prerequisite for most top level government jobs.

So, what exactly is networking, and should you be doing it? Why do so many people think it's important?

Yes, you definitely should network. After all, you are involved in NETWORK marketing, aren't you? What does it mean, to network?

Networking is simply meeting other people for the purpose of creating mutual beneficial relationships. These relationships can be professional, personal, or both.

Why is networking a good idea? For one, the more people you know, the more options are available to you. For instance, let's say you lost your job. You could scour the want ads, post your resume, even visit potential employers to find out if they're hiring.

But, let's say you also network on a regular basis, and that you've developed amicable relationships with many people. Since they both know and like you, they're likely to keep their eyes and ears open for any job openings they might come across. Even better, maybe some are even in a position to hire you themselves.

So how is it done? Do you just call somebody up and start chatting? Are there certain protocols to follow?

Well, I've been a therapist now going on 14 years, and my first response when getting to know someone is to ask questions. People love to talk about themselves. In networking, you have to give before you receive. This means really listening to the answers you get, then asking for clarification.

For instance, if somebody says, "I don't like network marketing," ask what they don't like about it. Maybe they were with a company that insisted they go to weekly meetings. Maybe their sponsor was a jerk. Maybe they're just saying that because they heard someone else say it.

Also, make sure the person you're talking with knows you understand what they're saying. Unfortunately, listening has become a lost art, and most people don't feel heard when they speak. If you can demonstrate that you do hear and understand, you'll gain a lot of points.

Dale Carnegie said it best: "To be interesting, be interested." If you do this enough, not only will you have won friends and influenced people, but you'll become quite wealthy.

Choosing The Right Network Marketing Company

2008-12-01T16:04:00.000-08:00

With things the way they are today, having an alternative source of income is no longer an option. Network marketing is the obvious choice. It's an easy, inexpensive way to start a business that can be very lucrative. With so many companies out there today, however, how do you decide which one is the best fit for your situation?

If I had to use one word to describe all the stuff that's out there today when I do a Google search on network marketing companies, it would have to be "hype." It's literally everywhere. Thousands of opportunities scream at me. Some make ridiculous claims. Others sound like they might be doable. How do you decide?

Firstly, ask yourself if this opportunity is a real opportunity, or just another scammer. I usually check it out with www.work-at-home-forum.com. There, you can usually get an unbiased review from someone who's actually experienced this company.

Another consideration is cost. If you're struggling to pay the rent, can you really afford a $250.00 a month autoship? Also, there are hidden costs like autoresponders, websites, and marketing budget.

I shouldn't have to even say this, but your upline is extremely important. Unless you are highly self-motivated, your success depends a lot on the support of your team. So many people join awesome companies, only to fail due to faulty upline support. Put simply: Nobody even tells them what to do!

How do you know if a potential sponsor or team is worth considering? Ask your upline how long they've been in the company, and how many personal enrollments they have under their belt. Call every upline member you can. If they are solid, they'll answer your questions truthfully.
If they hem and haw, on the other hand, you might want to start looking elsewhere. Network marketing is no place for ambiguity.

Your success ultimately boils down to you. I've honestly seen people with atrocious uplines and crappy companies succeed beyond their wildest dreams. Most successful network marketers agree that you can be successful with almost any legitimate company, provided you're willing to do what you have to do.

Why Consistency Is King

2008-11-30T08:17:00.000-08:00

A few months ago, Jeff, who is in my upline told me that he had received 29 autoresponders without a single sign-up. Now, our team average is 1 sign-up for every 7 autoresponders, so he was due.

He said he wasn't doing anything differently. Still working the same safelists, traffic exchanges, and list builders, but without the usual results.

Had it been me, I would have tried something different. Different ads, different lists, do more stuff. I would have been buying marketing tools left and right, trying to fix whatever it was that was wrong.

Not Jeff. He kept on doing the same old things. Then it happened.

A couple weeks ago, Jeff recruited 5 premium members in one day! How is it possible? Nobody does that. I wanted to know his secret. So, he told me.

No, he used no new technique. He didn't find a new ezine that had super-responsive solo ads. He didn't buy any new marketing tools or ebooks. He didn't even increase his efforts. He told me his secret with just one word: Consistency.

Jeff did the same thing the day he signed 5 people that he did during the weeks he signed nobody. He knew eventually the law of averages had to kick in, and boy did it ever.

The lesson I learned was this: You cannot control how many members you enroll today. It's impossible. It's out of your reach. It's kind of like fishing.

The fisherman doesn't go out on the lake knowing he's going to bring home 13 fish. He sets his bait and hook, does the best he can, and realizes there's only so much he can control.

But also, kind of like fishing, you can control how many hooks you have in the water. And, like fishing, you can control how many hours a week you go out on the lake.

If you keep 5 hooks in the water for 40 hours a week, eventually you'll be able to calculate an average number of fish that will bring in. Barring some unforeseen event (the lake being poisoned), you can count on the law of averages every time.

The exact same thing holds true with your marketing. If you consistently place quality ads, write quality articles, and follow up with your downline, those actions will produce predictable results over time.

If you can identify the actions that make money for you, and do them on a consistent basis, there's absolutely no way you can fail.

Should You Start a Home Based Business?

2008-11-29T09:46:00.000-08:00

Job insecurity is a fact in today's economy. Still, people are reluctant to own a home-based business. Why is this? Many are addicted to the paycheck mentality. They'd rather look for a job that pays them steadily, if somewhat dismally, than take a chance on a much bigger, brighter future.

Any self-made millionaire will tell you that the key to wealth is leverage. Leverage is simply making more money by doing less work. This is impossible as an employee, regardless of your salary. With a home-based business, you even earn while you sleep, especially with the enormous power of the Internet at your disposal.

Never before in history have we been able to connect to billions of people worldwide. Not only that, but we stay connected 24/7! Take a moment and imagine the implications of this.
In just 5 minutes, you could be set up to offer your products to customers anywhere on this planet. You have a store whose open sign is always on.

Compare that to working a job. If you're on salary, you probably work more than 40 hours a week, and still bring home the same pay. If you are hourly, you only get paid while you're on the clock. No surprises. You already know what your next week's check is going to be. There's not much you can do to change it.

Why do we keep trudging along then? Why don't more of us kick the 9 to 5 and go out on our own? I think it's fear. Not only that, but I think the fear is both created and promoted by big business. I mean, if all of us had our own business, who would they get to make the widgets, sweep the floors, or take out the trash?

You want to talk about fear? What could be scarier than to be at the whims of the people running Wall Street right now? With the swipe of a pen you can be downsized, like a non-person. You become just another number, a statistic.

While most of us have bought in to the whole master/slave mindset, I'm finding more and more people are questioning its validity. If you're reading this, you're probably one of those people.

When you first contemplate going out on your own, it can indeed be scary. Breaking the paycheck mentality addiction takes guts, and if you're going to do it you need a plan. I would highly recommend investing in some personal development or growth before making the jump. Remember, you're not only changing your lifestyle, you're also changing your mindset.

In today's economy, however, jumping may be much safer than staying aboard a sinking ship. Thousands of people, pink slips in hand, are finding this out on a daily basis. Unfortunately, most addicts don't change until they hit rock bottom, which is where Wall Street appears to be headed right now.

In the long term, owning a home-based business provides much more security, as more of us are learning every day.

Why Do It Any Other Way?

2008-11-28T08:11:00.000-08:00

As a network marketer, I do about 99.9% of all my marketing online. With the Internet, it's just a no-brainer. Network marketing is a people business, and where can you reach more people than the Internet?

Offline marketing is just so time consuming. I remember the hours spent on the phone calling numbers from a list I'd purchased. If I did get through to the person I was trying to reach, which happened about 3% of the time, they were usually rude, said they hadn't requested any information, and would appreciate it if I took them off my list.

What a waste of time!

Another offline technique I'd used was the 3-foot-rule. You know, that's the one where you strike up a conversation with anyone coming within 3 feet of you, and snaking your business message in there somehow. I used to go to the grocery store, solely for that purpose. Oh yeah, that one really brought me a lot of business (not!).

Still another tactic was placing or handing out flyers. I was taught to go to apartment building parking lots at 2am and put flyers on all the cars. This one felt sneaky, almost dirty, like I was ashamed of what I was doing. No wonder so many of us quit this business.

The discomfort factor really plays into it, as well. Unless you have incredibly thick skin and a "sales" personality, offline marketing can be quite intimidating. You experience it the very first time you try to make a cold call. If you're like I was, your mouth becomes the Sahara, and the phone suddenly weighs 700 pounds. You make every excuse you can think of to put this off until another day.

With offline marketing, it's also difficult to target prospects. Face it, handing out flyers at Walmart is not going to net you many serious prospects. Neither will placing an ad in your local newspaper.

Another downside to offline marketing is their training, or lack thereof. Training usually consists of going to meetings, either in a hotel room or somebody's home. If the meetings are held Thursdays at 7pm and you work from noon until 8pm, then where does that put you?

That's a double whammy, because offline marketers tend to get beat down more than online marketers. Because of this, they actually need that training, just to stay focused and motivated.

If you're thinking about marketing online, you will need at least some training in online advertising and marketing. If you don't know much about autoresponders and capture pages, for instance, those are two aspects of online marketing you will need to become familiar with.

One very positive aspect of online marketing is that it's very easy to target your prospects. Safelists, traffic exchanges, and keywords for search engines provide just some ways to take aim at your market.

Probably the biggest selling point for me, however, is that online marketing doesn't require any sales skills or outgoing personality. And honestly, network marketing is not set up for just those kinds of people. It's all about duplication, and just because you might be a sales type, doesn't mean that everybody in your downline has that type of personality. How, then, would they duplicate your success?

As far as training goes, you can train and motivate your downline daily, with all the online methods available. Is a downline member struggling? Shoot her an email with a link to a motivating website, or maybe to some training she needs to overcome a problem.

Personally, I see little reason to market any other way.

The Death of Rejection, The Dawn of a New Age

2008-11-25T19:32:00.000-08:00

I remember how terrified I was the first time I tried to cold call from a leads list. The first time a very rude woman told me to take her name off my list and never call back, I thought I'd never recover.

The truth is, most network marketers fear prospecting because of the rejection factor. And even though I eventually overcame my fear, I know many marketers who didn't, and subsequently quit the business because of it.

Now for the good news: The old ways are dead. Yep, you heard it first here. Cold calling, hotel meetings, hounding family and friends, and the 3-foot-rule died a slow but welcomed death.

Gone are the days when the preferred action was to buy lead lists for hundreds of dollars a month and cold calling, fishing for that one soul who could see the big picture.

Good riddance, I say.

And what mongrel murdered the dreaded tactics we so despised. Why, his name is Internet, of course.

Think about it: Network marketing is a people business. Where can you reach more people than the Internet? People all over the world, 24/7, are surfing somewhere.

The Internet has removed the rejection factor. No longer do we network marketers need fear picking up the telephone. We don't need to feel guilty because we missed the Thursday hotel meeting, or went to the supermarket today and didn't pitch our business to a single soul.

Imagine that.

No, now our websites handle all the rejection. That's OK, because they're emotionless creatures. You can call them names, they don't care. You can tell them their products suck, and still they're unaffected. Best of all, they keep at it, 24/7, and need no breaks of any kind.

Now, like everything else, there is a right way and a wrong way to use the Internet. The wrong way is to put up a website, list your products or try to sell your opportunity, and expect success. "Build it and they will come" is the motto of the Internet fool.

There are many right ways to use the Internet, but all of them revolve around generating traffic, that is, visitors, to your site. Traffic has been called the life blood of a website. Without it, the website serves no purpose.

There are some purists who argue that Internet marketing is inferior to face-to-face methods because it's difficult to build relationships. I couldn't disagree more.

I personally have made many, many more friends on the Internet than I ever could by going to some hotel meeting or handing out flyers at Walmart. The key is to remember that the Internet is only a tool.

Yes, you still need to develop relationships, and yes network marketing is still very much a people business, but that initial contact is much more comfortable when it occurs online. At least, that's been my own experience.

In days past, marketers had little choice but to attend meetings and cold call. Nowadays, we have webinars and teleconferencing, where you can talk to people on the other side of the world without leaving your home. How awesome is that?

I for one am glad to see the old ways disappear. My phone weighs a lot less, I don't feel guilty because I didn't ask Uncle Fred to do a 3-way call with my upline, and I'm making a lot more money since my downline has no problem duplicating what I'm doing.

Life is good.

Who's Your Target Market?

2008-11-19T22:04:00.000-08:00

Like most, my first few attempts at network marketing failed miserably. Looking back, I now realize this is because of how I was taught. The most poisonous of the crap your upline tells has got to be that everybody is a prospect.

This idea alone is probably responsible for more failures in this business than anything else. You want to lower your self-esteem a couple notches? Try using the 3 foot rule more than a few minutes.

So if everybody is not your prospect, then who is? Many these days are focusing on people looking for home based businesses, but is this really going far enough? My own experience with this has shown me that many people looking for legitimate home businesses consider network marketing taboo.

I’ve seriously had people ask me, “Is this MLM?” When I say it is, more often than not, the line goes dead. They have their reasons, many of them valid, but that’s a whole nother subject.

I’ve also encountered people who were looking for business opportunities who wanted nothing to do with selling. What? Show me one business that stays afloat without selling. Too many of these people believe the hype that’s out there. You know, like “No selling involved?” This alone makes them less than ideal candidates to be considered a target market for network marketers.

Who then? Who understands network marketing requires work and discipline? Who has made their names list, done business presentations for their families and friends and, because they were taught to find a way to snake their business opportunity into every conversation, now find themselves not being invited to family gatherings and such?

Well, considering more than 95% of network marketers fail within three to four months, the answer should be somewhat obvious. The target market for network marketers is fellow network marketers.

I’m not saying to persuade those in other companies to join your opportunity. More than likely, that would also end in frustration. However, with a 95% failure rate, there are a whole lot of people out there who believe in network marketing but haven’t been given the proper support or training. This is where you come in.

If you target these disillusioned, but motivated souls, you’ll find a gold mine. By teaching them solid, no nonsense marketing techniques, many are likely to succeed, which translates into more success for you.

Taking The Focus Off Yourself

2008-11-19T10:50:00.000-08:00

Not too long ago, my network marketing business struggled. My marketing budget was almost zero, and I hadn't recruited anyone in a long time. It hurt.

Then Eric, who was in my downline, called me with a problem more serious than mine. His wife was leaving, and, in addition to the emotional stress he felt at the time, he didn't know how he could make ends meet without her income.He was thinking about quitting the business.

Eric had been one of my top producers. Losing him would be devastating. He became my focus.The next couple weeks I helped him find every free advertising source we could find. Safelists, traffic exchanges, traffic bars, posting video to YouTube, press releases, blogs . . . You name it, we did it. Oh, and along the way, I did these same techniques.

What happened? Within a month Eric sponsored 5 new premium members, advanced in rank, and was able to generate enough additional income to stay afloat! Not only that, but I was able to sponsor 3 new premiums myself that month. How did that happen?

Zig Ziglar is famous for many things, but one of his most famous sayings goes like this: "If you can help enough people get what they want, then you can have whatever it is that you want."Nowhere does this saying apply more than in network marketing.

In reality, you are nothing without your downline. Think about this for a moment. If every member of your downline were to drop out right now, where would you be?And yet, so many times I've heard about how difficult it is to reach your upline. Reach your upline? A truly supportive upline should be calling you at least twice a week.

If you don't communicate with your downline, how do you expect to succeed? They are literally the air in your balloon.

I can guarantee you that if you take the focus off yourself and your business and put it where it belongs, on your downline and their business, that yours will take care of itself. Yes, you'll still have to prospect and recruit new members, but when you focus on others, a kind of magic clicks in, and it seems to happen almost effortlessly.You can call it karma, reaping what you sow, or Universal backlash, but it's all the same.

It's kind of like when you watch someone else's back, someone else automatically watches yours. I've done this several times now, and it's always the same. If I start getting frustrated or worried about my business, I'll simply focus more time on one of my downline who might be struggling. Without fail, when I check my numbers again, they're up. It's really the strangest thing.

Not Getting Enough Traffic? Try Giving A Little.

2008-11-18T21:53:00.000-08:00

When I get online, I usually look for information. Yea, I buy some things here and there, and do business online. But when I'm surfing on my own time, it's usually to find new recipes for salmon, how to upload a video to my blog, or who was the winning general in the Battle of the Bulge.

I know I'm not alone. People are hungry for information and, with the Internet, almost anything they want to know awaits a click of the mouse. What an age we live in!

The exciting thing about this is that the marketers who fully understand this and constantly give away free, valuable content now make very lucrative incomes. Nowhere else has it ever been more obvious that the more you give, the more you receive.

And all this giving translates to long term income. For instance, articles that I wrote over a year ago and posted on some submission sites still bring me large amounts of traffic even today.

How do you get in on the action? There are several things you can do. Firstly, do what I just did. Write articles, post them to submission sites (there are several out there), and watch your traffic soar.

Article submission sites allow you to post your contact information, including your website address, in the author resource box. Ezines, blogs, etc. can then use your article, free of charge, as long as the resource box remains intact.

This creates a win-win for everybody. The ezine or blog gets free content, and you get your name and website out there for all interested parties to see. What's more, is that you are establishing yourself as an expert in your field.

A second way to give away free content is much simpler. After you've written a number of articles, compile those with a common theme into an ebook, or a report. You can then use the ebook or report to bribe visitors to give you their names and email addresses, thus building your ever-important list.

So, what if you're not a good writer, or if you just hate to write? No problem. You can hire ghost writers fairly cheap to write 10 or so articles for you at a time. Posting 10 articles a month comes to 120 a year. Not bad, eh?

Doing business this way is probably the best way to create long term growth for your business. What's more, this growth is viral, meaning it grows almost exponentially. Imagine exponential growth combined with continued input. Sounds unstoppable, doesn't it?

With all the talk about the economy these days, one thing that will never go down in value is good information. If you're on a budget, you'd be a fool not to use this method to promote your business. After all, it's free, and the dividends are outstanding.

Imagine Ozzy Osborne Pumping Gas . . .

2008-11-01T02:33:00.000-07:00

In 1981, I pumped gas at a full service gas station in Ohio.

Well, during the day anyway. At night I played in a rock and roll band named Warrior. We rehearsed just a few blocks from where I worked. I was 19.

I remember the smell of the gasoline when it got on my hands. Worse, in the winter I wore gloves under the misconceived notion that they would keep my hands warmer. When drenched in gasoline, however, their smell became unbearable.

My hands sometimes became numb. Keep in mind, this was when most gas caps were metal, and without feeling in your hands it was easy to cut yourself and not even know it until later.

One day, I was extremely hung over. I fell asleep under the hood of a car while checking the oil. It was an Audi, I believe, and its dipstick was hard to find. The lady was nice enough to show me where it was. I'm still not sure she knew that she'd interrupted a dream.

Working there taught me a lot. I learned that companies expect a lot from their employees, even when they pay you next to nothing. I learned that customers, regardless of how nice and helpful you try to be, will sometimes just be jerks.

One day a man and his wife parked next to our office and came inside. They dressed like they had just left church, and I was expecting an invitation to the cathedral down the road.

Surprisingly, however, they weren't thumping bibles. They were pushing Amway.

Now, at the time, I'd only seen Amway in passing. In those days, if it didn't have something to do with rock and roll, I didn't pay it much attention. This couple seemed convinced, however, that Amway would change our lives.

The way these people talked convinced me that Amway was their religion. It could solve any problem confronted by man.

They told us they could teach us how to be wealthy . . . that we could have success beyond out wildest dreams.

Well, success to me meant only one thing: Rock Stardom. It certainly didn't include driving around to gas stations and talking to minimum wage workers who could barely afford to eat.

Such was my very first experience with network marketing.

In all fairness, I've peddled my business to the wrong crowd as well. I did it mostly because my upline taught me to do it that way.

I've spent endless hours on the phone trying to get Bubba the truck driver to take a look at my business. I've bought lead lists from every company out there. I've memorized scripts, tracked my results (zero), and even paid for coaching.

Sponsoring even one person became my Holy Grail.

Even though it wasn't that long ago, just a few months, actually, today I look at those days and laugh.

I've now built a sizeable downline with hungry, motivated people. My duplication is through the roof, as my team's system is simple to teach and execute.

And guess what? I didn't call one prospect. I didn't pitch my business to anybody.

What changed for me? I was lucky enough to find a team of individuals that developed a system that is super-effective.

Gone are the days when duplicating my upline means handing out flyers or approaching strangers in Walmart.

If you're serious about financial independence, this might be your lucky day.

You Create Your Own World

2008-10-01T05:27:00.000-07:00

You know it's true. You've seen it in those you admire, and in those you pity. If you could hear the conversations in their heads, you can bet they'd be drastically different from each other. It's like they travel in opposite directions. But there's more.

Your thoughts create your reality. All philosophies and religions teach this one basic truth. You become what you think about most of the time.

My friend Jim always had the worst luck with women. It was always the same: The first month or so would be awesome. Then according to him, the woman became psycho. Several of these women Jim saw abused drugs. At least one had outstanding felony warrants and was looking for a place to hide out. Most were abusive in some way.

"Why do I attract all the nut cases?" Jim asked me after a particularly dramatic episode. After all, he was a nice guy, good-looking, and made a decent amount of money.

My gut told me to find out more about Jim's relationship with his mother, the first woman in his life. What he told me made perfect sense.

Jim's mother was 16 when he was born. She abused drugs and alcohol, and passed young Jim off on friends and family whenever she could. He felt unwanted everywhere, and admits today that he thinks his mother was crazy. Unfortunately, this mindset now affects all his relations with women. Until Jim changes his way of thinking, he's doomed to repeat the same scenario indefinitely.

So, what do successful people think about that unsuccessful people do not? Why does success seem to come so easily for some, and so hard for the rest of us?

Stanford University posed these questions to many thousands of successful people, and their answers are all the same. Successful people think about what they want and how to get it. That's it. That's the big secret.

Unsuccessful people, on the other hand, think and talk about what they don't want most of the time. They talk about their worries and fears. By doing so, they bring many of these things to pass.

Unsuccessful people tend to blame others for their woes. They seldom have clear goals. Because of this, their energies are scattered, and they never seem to accomplish much.

To succeed, you must have written, well thought-out goals. The reason those who succeed seem to do so almost effortlessly is because, well, they do! Let me explain.

Having clear goals is about 85% of the battle. If you know where you're going, getting there is just a matter of following a few simple steps.

Clear goals focus your mind on what you want, and how you're going to get it. If you write them down and review them often, your success is virtually assured.

The Two Main Ingredients For Success

2008-09-21T17:33:00.000-07:00

I woke up early this morning and checked my email. I always get these "How to Get Rich" messages. You know, the ones that tell you if you enroll in their program for only $30 a month you'll learn the secrets of the masters.

After wading through tons of stuff about SEO's, autoresponders, and affiliate programs, it hit me that you really only need to do two things to be really successful.

The first one should be obvious. It's deceptively simple, but it's no means easy. If you do this, however, you're about 85% of the way to being as successful as you want to be. What is it? Well, you must know exactly what it is you want.

When I say "exactly," I mean just that. "I want to be rich" is not good enough. "I want to have $50,000 in my bank account by January 15," however, comes a lot closer.

Without knowing exactly what you want, you'll most certainly not get it. Hopes and wishes won't get you there. You've got to develop laser focus. There can be no vagueness, no maybe this or maybe that.

To be effective, your goals must be written down. This solidifies your commitment to seeing them through. Writing your goals also forces you to visualize them. In essence, when you write down your goals, you are creating a roadmap to your future. After writing them down, it's important to review them daily, just to keep you on course.

The second thing you need to do to be successful is to determine the price you'll have to pay for what you want, then get busy paying it. Don't be fooled. Nothing, and I repeat, NOTHING is free. There is a price you'll have to pay for being successful.

Say, for instance, you want to write and sell an ebook online, using affiliate programs. The first thing you would have to do is to learn how to write an ebook. Then you'd need to research affiliate programs, how they work, how you're paid, etc.

You would have to invest money in a PDF creator, to allow you to create your ebook in that format. To look professional, you might want to hire a graphic designer to design electronic cover graphics. Then, unless you're a really good copywriter, you'd need to hire somebody to write professional copy and design your splash page.

Sounds like a lot, doesn't it? Only you can decide if the price is worth the reward.

So, the next time you're surfing, and you read about systems, programs, and techniques designed to make you rich, remember that it all boils down to these two concepts. Sure, there are a lot of tools out there that can help you get there, but without these two basics, nothing much will happen.

Personal Brainwashing--Creating Success From The Inside Out

2008-09-18T22:53:00.000-07:00

Private Kirk seemed like the last person you'd want in your army.

He was overweight and out of shape. He smelled. The kind of guy other guys like to poke fun at. Not what I expected to see at US Army Basic Training.

It took my friends and me by surprise when our drill sergeant named Private Kirk as our squad leader. Heck, lots of guys in our squad were more qualified. Did the sergeant see something in Kirk that we didn't?

We soon learned the logic. The first thing I personally noticed was that his body odor vanished. He became more focused. Within a couple weeks, he took on a swagger.

Nobody wanted to laugh at him anymore. By the end of Basic Training, I would have been proud to fight next to this guy.

What changed? How did Private Kirk go from a geek to a fighting machine, almost overnight?

Simple. He was forced to play a role. Our drill sergeant gave him no choice. So Kirk pretended to be a top-notch soldier. After pretending for so long, eventually he started to believe it. He made everyone else believe it, too.

So what does this have to do with network marketing? Just that if you're afraid of failure, then your thoughts become major obstacles. You convince yourself you can't succeed, and fulfill your own prophecy.

Aren't we all afraid, at least a little bit, when we first get involved with network marketing? I know I was. So how do we defeat these obstacles?

Following Private Kirk's lead, we can pretend we're already successful. As if we've already made it. This is the "fake it until you make it" mentality, and it's extremely effective.

When you first start acting successful, it feels very much like you're lying. To yourself and others. Eventually, though, you turn a corner, and something magic happens.

Not only do you believe you're successful, others believe it, too. And in this business, like no other, success attracts success. Others will want to be in your downline simply because you're successful, and you must know what you're talking about.

Pretending to be a successful network marketer forces you to do things you wouldn't ordinarily do. You stay up an extra hour to get things done, make that call to your downline, or place another solo ad.

Ironically, these actions lead to outward success as well. If you do the things successful people do, then there is absolutely no way you'll not be successful.

Your tone even changes when you talk business. You now possess authority. Others find that appealing and reassuring, and you're sure to attract many people.

The bottom line is this: You won't be successful until you believe you're successful. The really cool thing is that if you believe it on the inside, the outside must follow suit as day follows night. It can be no other way.

Napoleon Hill, in "Think and Grow Rich," says that "Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve." It's like planting a seed inside of you that grows from the inside out.

Like Private Kirk, you can turn yourself into a force to be reckoned with. All it takes is a little imagination, a little pretending, and a lot of desire.

How Burning Bridges Can Set You On Fire

2008-09-17T23:04:00.000-07:00

I got high a couple days ago.

No, it didn’t involve Colombian herbs, bongs, or munchies. I didn’t sit and stare at my hand for 20 minutes. But I felt like I could do anything. Let me explain.

My wife and I took one of our cars to a local dealership to sell it. When we exited our car, I immediately felt defensive. I’ve seen places like this before, and if you’re not careful, these shifty-eyed piranhas will eat you alive. Imagine my shock when . . .

My demeanor changed completely when a young man named Roger walked up and introduced himself. He asked us questions—What were we looking for? Where did we live? Do we have any kids?

It wasn’t so much what he asked, but that you could tell he was genuinely interested in us. Well, that, or he was playing his role extremely well.

I found his optimism contagious. He was sure something good was going to happen for us today, and he was going to do all he could to make sure of it. At least that’s how he made me feel.

At that point, I think I would have bought almost anything from him, and at any price. He was that good. I felt empowered and important. But that’s not all.

We sold the car that day, and we were happy about it. But that wasn’t the best part. My hands tingled slightly, and I felt a smile on my face. Selling the car became an afterthought. I wanted to know Roger’s magic. How did he make customers feel so comfortable?

According to Brian Tracy, “Ambitious people dream big dreams and the only behavior they accept from themselves is to make those dreams come true.” Call it tunnel vision, one-track mind, or whatever. They become experts at burning bridges.

Burning bridges leaves you with no other option but to succeed. Like Alexander the Great when he burned all of his army's ships, to ensure there would be no retreat. His men would either be victorious or they would die. They won.

It’s called commitment.

Being committed doesn’t mean you won’t fail. It does mean that when you fall on your face, you’ll pick your bloodied self back up, guns a’blazin’. It means you’re optimistic enough to see failure as an opportunity to learn how not to achieve your goals.

It means that regardless of what happens to you, you’ll continue to look for ways to get what you want.

Committed people don’t look back, second guess themselves, or look for shortcuts. They know they’ve got to pay a price to get where they want to go. They continually educate themselves.

They understand that applied knowledge and consistent action are the keys to realizing their dreams. They won’t veer from their chosen path.

Commitment does not mean wishing or hoping. Pipedreams and idle talk are for losers. The truly successful know that dreams are important, but planning and doing make these dreams reality.

As for Roger the car salesman, it came as no surprise to me to find out that he was the top salesman on the lot. I’ve no doubt this young man will go far in life.

You will too if you first decide to act, and then take action. Burning bridges pushes you onward, away from your toxic comfort zone.

Accept nothing short of greatness.

The Enemy Within--3 Steps to Victory Over Yourself

2008-09-16T05:57:00.000-07:00

My client Connie gave up.

Her life was a disaster--financially, emotionally, and now legally. Worse, even after months of therapy, she still couldn't see how she caused almost all her problems.

If her husband would communicate, her life would be perfect. Well, that, and if her mother would be more supportive--and then her supervisor at work . . .

Unfortunately, Connie's not alone.

Lots of people I see these days try and solve their problems by looking outside themselves. Doing this ensures you will never resolve those issues.

On the other hand, if you focus on improving yourself, many times you'll find the outside world follows suit.

Now, I'm not saying it's easy to do. In fact, owning up to your shortcomings and looking your demons square in the eye can be well . . . scary, if not downright painful.

If you feel up to the task, however, here's what you've got to do.

Identify

This seems obvious, but you'll be surprised how much in denial most of us keep ourselves. Victory over yourself, however, means identifying the enemy.

It takes courage to admit you talk too much, or that you're lazy. Worse, you may not even have a clue as to what others see as your major issues. What do you do then?

Simple . . . ask and listen. Ask your friends, family, bosses, bartender, or spouse what are your least tolerable traits. The answers may surprise you.

Modify

Modify means to change. Armed with the knowledge of who the enemy is, you now move into action. This takes time.

You don't want to try to modify everything all at once. Instead, pick one or two traits and put special emphasis on making changes in those areas.

For instance, let's say you're always late. For at least a month, make being punctual your number one priority.

Solidify

Why a month? Research shows that it takes 30 days to
form a habit. After that, it's almost automatic. Like brushing your teeth.

If you do this, within a year your life today will be virtually unrecognizable to you when you get there. I personally guarantee it. How can I be so sure?

Not only do I counsel people in ways to improve their lives, I actually practice what I preach. I've made some dramatic changes in my life using these techniques, and continue to do so.

If you've got the guts to "Dare Something Worthy," then I challenge you to look at yourself.

If You Don't Know Where You're Going, How Will You Get There?

2008-09-15T20:28:00.000-07:00

Sir Edmund Hillary did something huge. He climbed
Mt. Everest. In fact, he was the first person in history
to do so.

Imagine for a moment, a reporter waiting at the bottom
of Everest when Hillary finished.

"Sir Hillary! How did you do such a thing? Many people
tried to do what you've just done and most have died.
Why did you succeed when nobody else could?"

Hillary scratches his head. "Well, I was just walking
along and saw this hill. I figured I might try to climb it,
just to see what happened . . ."

As ridiculous as the above sounds, this is the exact way
many marketers approach their business. I'm amazed
at how many people have no idea what they want. And
those that do, usually think small.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret I learned while
becoming a clinical hypnotherapist. OK, 2 secrets.

Alright, you got me. Three secrets.

The first is that the subconscious mind creates your
entire reality. All of it. Look around you. Your job,
your car, your spouse, your health--all of this originated
in your subconscious mind.

Scary, isn't it?

The second secret is that the subconscious mind
doesn't know the difference between what's real and
what's imagined.

This means that as far as the subconscious mind knows,
your fantasies, dreams, and even your nightmares have
all happened.

Another secret is that the subconscious mind tends to
keep bringing you more of the same. For instance, if
you're always broke, the natural flow of things tends to
keep you that way.

So, if you're not satisfied with your life, how do you
disrupt that natural flow and change course?

It's been proven that if you keep an image in your mind
that, over a period of time, the subconscious mind picks
up on that image and acts on it.

There have been documented cases of people making
themselves wealthy this way. Even curing cancer.

As marketers, we can start by imagining huge things
for ourselves. Why settle for a measly $10,000 a month
when you could have millions? Why be satisfied with
Everest, when you could have the stars?

Practically, this should take between 2 and 3 sessions a
day. Each session should take about 5 to 10 minutes.

Now, I can hear all you busy marketers out there
moaning, "Great, another thing to squeeze into my
20-hour day!" But it's not like that.

In fact, if this imagining thing feels like work, then you're
doing it all wrong. This is play. Funtime. You should
be smiling, or even laughing while you envision your
wants.

If you do this enough on a consistent basis, your
subconscious will pick up on it. You are essentially
activating your mind to do the job for you.

How did Hillary do it? He became obsessed. He planned
and thought about what he wanted. His first attempt
at climbing Everest failed, but did he focus on that?

Nope.

He saw what he wanted, and I'm sure he imagined many
times how his victory would taste.

Likewise, if you plant the seed in your subconscious,
nothing short of greatness awaits.

The Demon in My Living Room

2008-09-12T07:55:00.000-07:00

I took a short break from marketing last night and turned on the EIR (Electronic Income Reducer).

Most people call it a television, but it's much more than that. It kills dreams, steals thoughts, and sucks you dry of any motivation you might have.

Anyway . . . I saw a pampered celebrity whining and moaning about how unfair life had treated her. She cried and her friends tried to console her, but none of them understood the pain she was going through.

I almost vomited.

This little tramp had no idea how cruel life can be. Try being homeless and sleeping in a park for two weeks. Try watching your apartment burn to the ground. You wanna talk about pain?

Just as I started to get all settled into a comfortable rant mode, I stopped myself. "That's it!" I said out loud. "That's how they get you!"

The disgust I felt for poor little DUI celebrity chick drew me closer. It felt like a magnet almost. By causing me to feel emotion, they were holding me hostage. Until I discovered their game.

I turned the EIR off and cranked up some Bach, sipped some hot tea, and closed my eyes.

Anyone who's had some success at marketing knows how important emotions are. Chances are, you've heard it said many times that we buy out of emotion, not reason or logic.

This is certainly not lost on the EIR industry. With this in mind, however, I'm confused at how many ads I see that give REASONS why their product/opportunity is the best.

Anybody can say "We're the best because . . ." Does that mean I believe it? Do you? Probably not.

You probably wouldn't believe me either if I told you that my team is the fastest growing team in GDI . . . so I'm not going to.

Some things you've just got to find out for yourself.

Why Free Crap is Just . . . Crappy

2008-09-03T08:05:00.000-07:00

For years my employer provided free soft drinks to its employees and customers. It seemed like a nice setup until people starting abusing it.

Now we've got a Coke machine. Seventy-five cents a pop. If I want a soft drink, now I've got to walk across the parking lot and spend my hard-earned cash. But you know what?

It tastes better. I know it sounds ridiculous. I mean, it's the exact same stuff, right? I don't think there's a separate formula for Mountain Dew that goes in a machine, and one that goes on a store shelf. Yet I can taste the difference.

I know this is purely psychological.

It reminds me of all the "Absolutely Free" programs out there. I've tried several of them, and have gotten exactly what I paid for them. That's why I have no trouble forking out good money for a program I feel has a solid potential. I look at it as an investment.

A couple such programs are Ann Sieg's The Renegade Network Marketer and Mike Dillard's Magnetic Sponsoring. They cost $67.00 and $40.00 respectively, but both have made me many times that amount. They continue bringing me money even today.

I've recently begun a project that at first glance appears to be "free." This project takes up a lot of time, however, so "free", in this instance, is a relative term. Still, I see a potential for profit, so I'll see how it goes. I'll keep you posted.

Clint Eastwood For Mayor

2008-09-02T05:22:00.000-07:00

In 1986 I watched Clint Eastwood give his inaugural
speech in Carmel, California.

I couldn't believe I was standing this close to one of my favorite actors, a real living legend. Dirty Harry himself.

How awesome to live in a town where Josie Wales was the mayor!

The entire area felt magical to me. And I think I've figured out why. Almost everybody I met in Carmel and the surrounding area had "made it." It was a community of retired actors, artists, and musicians. Nobody here struggled.

I never saw cigarette butts or gum wrappers on the streets and sidewalks. No rundown old buildings cluttered the rustic scenery of the downtown area. It was like everything was where it was supposed to be.

I saw lots of famous people's houses.

I had not made it, however. I was in the military and would be leaving California soon. The thought made me sick. I loved the culture, the atmosphere, and the weather. There wasn't a whole lot I didn't enjoy about Carmel.

You might say, "How come you didn't relocate there after you got out of the Army?"

Well, anybody who knows the area knows that the cost of living there is possibly the highest in the nation. Unless you're super-successful, living there is out of the question.

Ever since I began network marketing, about 10 years ago, when people asked me what my big "Why?" was, I always answered the same. To live comfortably in the Carmel area. That was my heaven; that was my dream.

Today, about all that has changed about my dream is that I'm closer to it than ever. After years of following wrong advice from the wrong people, I stumbled onto a system that works.

Now, I've read that there really are no more secrets. That's nothing but a bunch of bull. There are lots of secrets.

If you know how to do brain surgery, that's a secret I don't know. If you're the guy responsible for getting the Space Shuttle into orbit and back, then you definitely know a lot of secrets I don't know.

I know a HUGE secret. If you knew what I know you would become as successful as you want to be.

My team and I reveal these secrets to people every day, with truly amazing results.

If you want to discover the secret that will get you whatever you want, I invite you to be a part of our team.

Make my day, Punk.

I Felt Like a Scared Little Girl

2008-09-01T21:50:00.000-07:00

Do You Know Fear?

I thought I did until that day. It felt like a giant hand gripped my body, and I couldn't move. Not voluntarily, anyway . . . my hands shook like I was freezing, but this was July. Let me explain.

I was a soldier in basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. This particular day our Company Commander ordered us to climb a 60 foot platform, then repel down the other side. It looked like something you'd see on TV. It looked fun. And then the darker side . . .

The rungs on this platform consisted of 4 by 4's, about 5 feet apart. All the other soldiers flew up it like squirrels in trees. I made it to the second rung, and that's when it happened.

I reached for the third rung, but something in my gut pulled my arm back. More soldiers raced by me. I reached up again, but my arm trembled. Drill Sergeants stood directly below me. What was I to do?

I tried a third time, but found myself clinging to the rung like a scared little boy clinging to his mother's leg. I couldn't move.

A Drill Sergeant yelled and asked me if I was scared. At first, I couldn't say anything. Then I managed, "Yes, Drill Sergeant!"

He told me to climb down. Surprisingly, I was able to do so. He didn't yell anymore when I reached the ground, just told me to go stand in formation. I later learned that the scared ones are usually the ones who fall.

I didn't feel that degree of fear again until I tried phone prospecting. I remember making up excuses for not being able to make calls that evening. That fear literally paralyzed me.

I was able, however, to work through my fear of the phone. I wanted network marketing success so bad, I would have walked through fire if my upline told me it would help me build a downline. Little did I know . . .

Thank God I learned a system that lets me do all my marketing online. No scripts, no getting psyched to make calls, no handling objections. Just place ads and count the autoresponders. This is a dream.

Dog Days

2008-08-25T14:18:00.000-07:00

The whole Michael Vick episode makes me sick.

I bring this up because last night I watched a special the Animal Channel aired about the whole ordeal. I seldom watch TV, but I love dogs with a passion. How anyone could be so cruel to such awesome animals is beyond me.

I walked away with feelings of optimism and sadness. Let me explain . . .

The authorities treat high profile cases like this differently. They usually euthanize fighting dogs, no questions asked. In this case, however, they brought in animal control experts to assess the dogs. This is almost never done. But that's not what shocked me the most . . .

The experts expected to find vicious fighting dogs. What they found were cowering, whimpering, underfed and otherwise abused animals. But that's not all.

What surprised me the most was this: When they put these dogs with other dogs, they didn't fight. In fact, they behaved like most dogs I've seen. Some even played. It was also obvious that they craved human affection.

They behaved just the opposite of what we've been told. Ruined for life? Not hardly. A little scarred, maybe. In fact, of Vick's 53 living dogs, only 2 had to be euthanized. The rest now live with families. One works as a therapy dog in nursing homes! Imagine—a former killer sitting on Grandma's lap. And being quite loveable.

Maybe we can use the Vick case for some good. What if we focused on rehabilitating these dogs, and not just killing them outright?

There's Something In Them Georgia Hills

2008-08-23T18:51:00.000-07:00

Almost a week ago now, my wife called me at work. Now this wouldn't usually be a big deal, but this time she was almost screaming. "Turn the TV on CNN—NOW!!"

A gazillion things went through my head as to what I was about to see . . . Another terrorist attack, World War III declared, martial law imposed. But what I saw shocked me more than I could have imagined.

It was a news conference. The word "LIVE" at the top of the screen. The fellow speaking wasn't a politician, though. The caption at the bottom of the screen read, "Tom Biscardi—Bigfoot researcher."

It looked like a couple of good ole boys had found the body of a Bigfoot in the North Georgia Hills. Not only that, but three or four more of the creatures followed them out of the woods as they dragged the body. I was completely blown away.

Now, had this been on a lesser-known network, and the faces unfamiliar, I would have immediately written this off as a hoax. But this was Tom Biscardi, the world's foremost expert on Bigfoot, on CNN! And that wasn't all.

They were talking about DNA testing and autopsies, and even allowing journalists to view and report on the body. Biscardi went on and on about the integrity of the two men, and how he believed them wholeheartedly. And then . . .

The DNA tests came back. It was combination possum and human. Either there was a mistake, or some lonely redneck did it with a possum. No wonder the poor creature stayed hidden.

A few days passed, and nothing about Bigfoot came across the airwaves. Not a syllable.

So, the day before yesterday I Googled Bigfoot, and guess what? Unfortunately, my suspicions were confirmed.

Them Duke boys sure pulled one over on CNN, and the rest of us for that matter. "Bigfoot" was a rubber gorilla suit in a block of ice. What a letdown.

The two morons claimed they did nothing wrong, but they're being sued by the world's largest Bigfoot research organization. One of the men who was a police officer also lost his job because of this whole stupid mess.

It's downright scary that some things can seem so real, and turn out to be something else.

Today, for instance, I got an email with a link in it from someone I trusted, telling me that this would be the perfect job for me. It was all about writing for money, and it seemed like the perfect way to help fund my Success University business.

I was within a hair of entering my credit card information, when I decided I should do some research on this company first. I've been saved by www.work-at-home-forum.com so many times I feel like I should send them a donation or something. They saved my butt again today.

The company I was thinking about joining was a major ripoff.

They were charging people's credit cards without authorization, and were impossible to contact. Nobody who joined mentioned making a dime. I immediately deleted the email.

Just like Bigfoot, though, it seemed real. The website was top-notch, all with pictures of pretty girls and guys and lots of dollars.

So how do you keep from getting fooled and losing a lot of money without becoming cynical of everything? Yes, there are people out there who will rip you off. There are also legitimate programs that can make you lots of money.

If they all look the same, though, how do you tell them apart?

One way is the method I used today. Talk to those who have been there. Ask other people online about their experience with the program you're thinking about joining. You'll be surprised how honest and just out and out blunt your answers will be.

Another way is to look for contact information. Ideally, the site will list both a phone number and an email address, and hopefully provide you with the name of a live human being. If you can't at least find an email address, don't bother.

Make it a Great Day!