Top 10 Characteristics of Success
Filed under: building your business, entrepereneurs, learning network marketing, network marketing
At MM5, the MasterMind Event #5 in Houston, Ken Dunn (www.kendunn.com) spoke of how he researched successful people whom he greatly admired. He included Mother Theresa, Gandhi, Warren Buffet, Steve Jobs, John F. Kennedy, Bill Gates, and many others. He concluded that these successful people all shared 10 identical characteristics. He reasoned that if you apply those 10 characteristics to yourself, then you could be successful at network marketing.
- Rely heavily on mentorship. Find someone who has achieved success in your profession. Read everything you can about that person. Establish the relationship. Listen to her advice. Emulate him. Look at the world through the same lens. Be open to having several mentors. Choose mentors that have the same core beliefs as you.
- Incredible communicator. Learn how to get your point across. Practice talking to people. Know when to hit your off switch. Practice listening to people. Practice writing to people. Articulate the nuances of your point. Be clear. Don’t ramble. Listen. Focus. Inject humor.
- Solid self-confidence. Exude confidence. Confidence stems from belief. When prospecting, walk the person through the 5 levels of belief. What’s the #1 belief? Belief in YOU; belief in you as a sponsor. Next, shift to belief in the product, then belief in the profession, then belief in themselves.
More later!
Hey, I’ve been fired, Week 2
Filed under: building your business, dreams into reality, entrepereneurs, overcoming fear, positive attitude, time management, try try again
Surprisingly, now that I’ve been fired, Monday mornings are the worst day of the week. Usually, on Monday mornings, we ramp ourselves up for our work week. We drag ourselves out of bed and step into our workday routine. A lot of times, we hate Monday mornings. We feel like we’re heading back to confinement, after a weekend of freedom and doing exactly what we want to do.
So you would think that Monday mornings would be great, if you didn’t have to go into work. Freedom! That would probably be true, if there wasn’t a fear clamped firmly in my gut, settling wetly on my heart, a constant undertone of worry about the future, worry about how things are going to turn out, how does this movie end. . .
The loss of morning routines can be disconcerting and can aggravate worry and fear. So it follows that establishing an alternative morning routine can provide a sense of order and purpose to the day. Since I’m calling the shots now, I’ve decided to include things that I enjoy into my morning routine. But it’s also important to include things that maintain my self-discipline and increase my certainty of success.
On my list of enjoyable things: meditation, yoga postures, writing, hot bath, gazing into my cat’s adoring eyes, talking with my husband, watercolor, taking action. On my list of disciplined things: balanced breakfast, walking, catching up on emails, paying bills, waiting.
Taking action and waiting are a balancing act. I’ve signed up another 4 people in my business in the last few days, sent out a newsletter, written follow-up emails to everyone on the list, sent out samples and literature, gotten my downline pointed in the direction that’s best for each person. . . Taking action is the easy part for me. But it has to be balanced with waiting to be truly effective. I have to consciously make myself wait, wait for others to sift through the information in their brains in order to move forward; wait for the emails to be opened and read, absorbed; wait for the postal service to deliver the samples and literature; wait for the soup to simmer and be ready for lunch.
A friend told me: take care not to drive faster than your angels can fly. Last week, a couple of times, I drove too fast and splatted against the wall at the dead end because I missed the side street where the answer was patiently waiting for me. I put in motion a couple of projects that didn’t need doing. I left voice messages that were outdated after I opened my email and found the answers waiting for me there.
Progress is directional. If you have trouble taking action, then progress for you is convincing yourself to take action. If you’re doing too many things and spinning your wheels, then progress for you is slowing down and balancing your life. And when your life changes drastically, your directional progress may require a fresh look and evaluation of what’s really going on and what would be the best direction for your energy and focus.
So this Monday morning, I’m establishing a new routine, balanced yet active, thoughtful yet reaching out, generating a positive attitude, nurturing hope that turns into faith that turns into belief that turns into reality. I’m waiting yet taking action, balancing the two opposites perfectly in my heart, letting the joy blossom and grow, enveloping my day, guiding me toward the right thing to do.
How is your Monday?
Learn to communicate
Filed under: MLM, building your business, finding new prospects, learning network marketing, network marketing, overcoming fear, perfect business, positive attitude, prospecting, talking with friends
With any business, you have to learn how to communicate with others. If you make fabulous jewelry, you’ll have to wear it all, unless you can tell others all about it.
There are lots of options for getting the word out, and those options exist whether you’re an artisan, a dentist, a massage therapist, a CEO, or a network marketer.
So, if you want to move from the world of employees trading their time for some money, into the world of business owners, where your time and money expand while you sit on a beach, you have to learn to communicate.
Luckily, communication is a learned skill. I know, because I used to be lousy at it. I couldn’t think of what to say after “Hi, I’m Marilyn.” Most of my mind then switched to the theme of “How do I get out of this conversation without mortifying myself.” I was wooden; I was shifty-eyed, I was shallow, I was frozen.
Now, I can pretty much chat away with anyone I choose. It’s pretty cool. And a HUGE relief.
The key is to keep the focus of the conversation on the person to whom you’re speaking. If you can keep a person talking about himself, he will come away from the conversation thinking that you are fascinating. If you can keep a person talking about himself, you will come away knowing whether or not what you have to offer is a good fit for that person. Perfect.
Most of the time, the initial conversation isn’t about your business or product at all. It’s about establishing a connection. Some people only need a slight connection before they’re ready to talk business. Other people need a long long time before they can open their ears.
Follow their lead. If their need is strong, right there on the surface, they’ll bring it up long before you have to pry it out of them. If their need is minimal or doesn’t carry a relationship to what you have to offer, then you don’t need to talk business after all. It’s not the right time yet, or it’s just not for them. Either way, you know where to go, because you’re just following along after them, asking questions that let you know what’s up with THEM.
Practice where it’s easier. Tell the cashier that you like her earrings. See if the conversation has good energy around it. Then be on your way. Ask the couple in front of you in line if they’ve ever eaten here before, what’s their favorite on the menu. See if it goes anywhere. Follow their lead.
Practice every day, in small ways. Then when the right opportunity for a business conversation comes along, you’ll be a well-oiled machine. You’ll be open to the possibilities each person presents to you, and it will all be natural and fun.
If it’s fun, you’ll do it more often. The first dozen might be awkward, but soon you’ll get to the fun level, and then you’ll be on your way. You’ll have crossed another hurdle, and you won’t need to look back.
Hurray for you!
Too busy?
Filed under: MLM, building your business, direct sales, entrepereneurs, learning network marketing, network marketing, perfect business, talking with friends, time management, women entrepreneurs
What are you doing right now, that is going to gain you more time a year from now?
Of course you’re busy; everyone is. Is that ever going to change, given the course you’re on now?
Everyone has 24 hours each and every day. Most people spend all of their time making all of their money. The treadmill loops around and around, and they can never get off.
Some people leverage their time, so that a year from now, they’re not working so hard; five years from now, they’re kicking back; ten years from now they’re sitting pretty.
If you work harder at what you’re already doing in your job, you’re just going to keep working longer and longer hours. Jobs can eat us alive, especially those of us who are motivated to do a GREAT job.
But do the GREAT job for yourself, and for your family, and for your friends. Don’t do it for some corporate board of directors, or the neighborhood hardware store. Do it for yourself and the people who are important in your life.
Network marketing lets you train yourself and learn from your leader, then train and lead others, who then train and lead others, who then train and lead others. The harder you work, the less you have to work next year or the year after that, and that trend just keeps on going.
Network marketing is the PERFECT business for people who are too busy, who have no time. Because it gives you the gift of time. It gives you back your life, so you can spend it with your kids with your wife, with your husband, with your friends.
Hey, I’ve been fired; week 1
Filed under: building your business, dreams into reality, entrepereneurs, learning network marketing, overcoming fear, overcoming obstacles, positive attitude
Many things change when you’ve lost your job. Routine is one of the changes that rears up in front of you immediately. Here it is, Monday morning, and I’m home with no real agenda in front of me. It’s tempting to go back to bed, curl up with a good book or engrossing video, talk to my cat or call a friend and chat for an hour or two. Escape can be very inviting.
But that’s not going to get me where I want to go. Sometimes you have to just give in and indulge your fear, but I’m determined not to let that become a habit. The best antidote for fear and uncertainty is taking action. I’ve generated some very strong leads, and I’m going to follow up on them today, with confidence and genuine friendliness.
The business and products that I have to offer people are the best that I’ve ever found. I’m crazy about my products, and the people who have tried them are now crazy about them, too. My company is headed up by the best business people around, and I love working with them. I have so much to offer people, and I’m using that knowledge to feed my enthusiasm and take charge of my attitude, my world view.
In parallel with this, I’m opening up communication about some consulting work that I can do on the side, a few hours a week, to help pay the bills while my business continues to grow. I know that this will give me some breathing room and help me to feel a bit safer financially.
This is a bit tricky, because it would be easy to spread too thin, putting energy into consulting rather than focusing completely on building my business. But you can’t build a business with confidence if you’re working from a platform of fear. It’s important to make your present reality one that you can live in with an open heart, so that that’s what you show the world, rather than an underlying edge of fear.
To manage both of these endeavors, I’m committing to taking care of MY business FIRST, then turning to the consulting sideline to keep it flowing along. I’m keeping my priorities very clear in my mind and in my heart, so the universe knows how it’s supposed to respond to help me move forward into my new reality.
I’m enjoying the journey, while I move toward my destination.
In at the beginning
Filed under: MLM, building your business, direct sales, earn money from home, learning network marketing, make money online, network marketing, perfect business, timing
Do you have to get in at the beginning???
NO!!!
Amway and Mary Kay are still producing millionaires, and look how long they’ve been around?
I got in on the ground floor of one company and no one, NO ONE helped me build my downline.
The important thing is to get in early on the TREND. How early join the company isn’t the issue.
The concept of “get in early” applies to the investment industry. There, you want to buy stock or property before it comes to other people’s attention, and then sell when everyone else is talking about it and trying to get a piece of the action.
In network marketing, it’s important to pay attention to the trends. Take the wellness industry; baby boomers are just now starting to feel their age, and looking around for ways to feel young, to stay young, so they can continue their active lifestyle. If you wait another 30 years, funeral homes and cemetery plots will be the hot commodity.
I mean, look at real estate. Thirty years ago, the baby boomers were starting their careers and looking around to settle down and raise their families. Thirty years ago, I bought a 3-bedroom condo for $29,000. Five years later, I sold it for $79,000. My initial investment was $2,000. My monthly overhead was $300. My friends gave me a LOT of grief over that one, because they couldn’t imagine paying $300 a month for housing.
Do you think that you could invest $2,000 today and make $50,000 in five years, in real estate? You know why not? The boomers already own their houses. They’ve moved on.
Get in on the trend. Stay ahead of the boomers, and you’ll ride the wave, all the way home.
I’ve been fired! Day 2
Filed under: MLM, building your business, dreams into reality, entrepereneurs, giving up, network marketing, overcoming obstacles, perfect business, positive attitude, solving problems, try try again
The aftermath of being fired can start to set in a day or two after the main event. I’m focusing on all of the positive things that come to mind. Like, it’s a gorgeous blue-skied day out there, and I’m not stuck in a cubicle, oblivious. I’m still sitting at a computer, but it’s my computer, and I’m working on MY business.
My business partner and I planned a big meeting for tomorrow. We planned it last week, got the room reserved, checked our slide shows and music mix, printed out fliers and put in motion all of the little details that ensure a successful meeting.
I was planning on taking the day off anyway, to really focus on the meeting, but now I have a whole extra day to get things in order. Also, it’s not a huge, late-night push to get it all ready, so I’ll be well-rested and full of genuine enthusiasm tomorrow.
Everything is working out for the best. I feel great! I envision a large turnout for our meeting. We have a powerful slide show, and great pre- and post-meeting activities. We did a run through last week, so both my partner and I know exactly what to do at every step of the meeting. I’ve had time to think everything through and pick up last minute oversights that might have involved some fancy footwork if they’d gone unnoticed.
I am so thankful that I’ve been working on my business part time, so it’s there for me to step into full time when I really needed it. I knew I would be building my business full time at some point, I just hadn’t planned on it being now. But just like starting a family, there’s not often the perfect time. Sometimes you just have to jump and swim as hard as you can.
I am surrounded by supportive, positive people; I have everything I need for tomorrow’s meeting, including a great business partner. We’ve been working together almost a year now, so we really know each other’s style and strengths. We’re a good team, and we’re so lucky to be in this together.
She still has her full time job, and my lay off scared her a bit, but that just motivates both of us to make every moment successful, positive, and full of focused activity and fun.
I keep going back to the fact that it is so important to have something that you can fall back on and build on your own, because corporations are crumbling all around us. Be ready for when it hits you, and your life will blossom instead of collapse. You can do it! I’ll show you how, because, whew, I’ve been there.
Pyramid scheme? Nope! How do you KNOW?
Filed under: MLM, building your business, direct sales, earn money from home, earn money online, learning network marketing, make money online, network marketing, perfect business, women entrepreneurs
Network marketing companies simply offer effective management.
In every corporate business, the guys at the top earn the vast majority of the money. The executive assistant NEVER makes more money than the executive. Middle management NEVER make more money than upper management. The worker bees NEVER make more money than the guys at the top of the heap.
In network marketing, every person has the potential to earn scads more than the people above them.
Each person earns money based on his or her ABILITY, rather than where they’re placed in the company. I make quite a bit more money than quite a few people in my upline. I’m paid according to my ability, my enthusiasm, my belief in what I’m doing. It doesn’t matter one whit that I joined months and months after other people. I’m doing just fine, thank you very much.
Let’s face it, every business is a pyramid. One person can’t do everything, once the business starts to grow, so you always hire others to help with the work. A child care center doesn’t have one adult and 88 children. Not a successful (or legal) one anyway. A successful child-care center with 88 children would have administrators, teachers, interns, volunteers, and usually one or two people making sure it all hangs together. It’s a pyramid of responsibility; it’s a pyramid of pay scale.
The same applies to hospitals, dentist offices, Microsoft, golf courses.
The only ones calling names are the people who expected it to work without effort, wanted someone else to do it for them, or just, quite simply, gave up.
There are a LOT of people out there who are making it work just fine. And they’re making it work because they’re able to teach others how to make it work.
Find one of them. Find someone who has been successful, and get them to teach you.
It’s not a pyramid SCHEME! It’s simply effective management.
Hey! I got fired!
Filed under: MLM, building your business, dreams into reality, entrepereneurs, network marketing, overcoming fear, perfect business, positive attitude, solving problems, timing, women entrepreneurs
Yesterday, my boss fired me. Or maybe I got laid off; not sure what the difference is. Kinder terminology maybe. Regardless of the terms, yesterday I had a job; today I don’t have a job. That’s a big change in my reality, and it happens to a lot of people.
Yesterday, I was pretty upset. It caught me, not completely by surprise, but I didn’t see it coming right now. I knew it was something that could happen, but I had let myself be lulled into a sense of security, of things going on the way they always have. I felt safe and content, and then suddenly, during a 3-minute conversation, I felt vulnerable and all alone.
I cleared out my desk, packed up the artwork and plants that made my little corner pretty and comforting. A friend helped me carry everything out to my car. And I drove away. It happened so fast, and it was so late in the day, I was able to say goodbye to only two people. Today, everyone came in and probably saw my empty spot and wondered what in the world happened.
Now, I sort of knew it could happen, because I knew that money was tight. I knew that some funding that they’d been counting on was maybe not going to happen, but they assured me that it wouldn’t affect me, that they really needed me, and that I was safe. But I wasn’t safe. It did affect me. My world is very different today than it was yesterday, not even 24 hours ago.
That’s the world almost all of us live in today. Things change and they can change FAST.
I went home and told my husband what had happened, and my victory was that I was able to talk without breaking into tears. He was supportive and encouraging and enthusiastic about what door might open next. I was too caught up in my emotion to be swayed by his positive attitude, but I was able to stay off that slippery slope of debilitating fear and despair.
I didn’t sleep much last night, so I woke up tired and groggy. But the amazing thing was, I woke up optimistic, enthusiastic, with a sense of freedom that has stayed with me all day long.
Things happen for a reason. We’ve all heard that, and most of us believe it, but when we’re in the middle of a crisis, we might not be able to feel it. But I feel it. I have been working hard all day long at the thing that I LOVE to do, without fear, without anxiety, just knowing that it feels so right to be doing this. I can focus my full attention on MY own business, without the distraction of someone else’s business.
I’m the main wage earner in my household. My husband is a minister and loves his work, but it doesn’t pay anything at all. My income pays all of the bills, and sends us on vacation and buys us new computers and iPhones. So when my income goes away, our lives change.
But I’m not worried. I know that MY own business is going to grow tremendously over the next two months, because I know what I’m doing, and I can finally, finally focus on what I love to do: MY own amazing business. My own AMAZING business.
The worst financial disaster that could have happened to me and my family happened yesterday. And I’m feeling GREAT!
The BEST business model. . .
Filed under: MLM, building your business, direct sales, earn money from home, earn money online, entrepereneurs, network marketing, perfect business
“For a small financial investment and a commitment in sweat equity, hard work, and dedication, anyone can be successful in network marketing.”
Dr. Charles King
Doctorate in Business Administration from Harvard
Professor of Marketing at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
More quotes from Dr. King:
“Network marketing is moving into a wave of professionalism. We are seeing more and more professional – physicians, dentists, attorneys, CEOs, college professors – going into network marketing.”
“There’s no question, based on all of my research, that network marketing is one of the most cost efficient channels in all of the marketing disciplines – whether you’re talking about comparisons with direct-purchase catalogs, direct mail, or telemarketing – network marketing continues to be the most effective distribution channel.”
It’s one of the fastest growing industries on the planet.
More and more companies are turning to network marketing as the BEST business model.
More and more people are treating it like a business – and succeeding!
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