The 49th day into a challenge to post a blog a day…..my posts are getting further and further apart, the business enthusiasm is waning, the vision is fading…..Been there?  So you haven’t jumped on the bandwagon of success and felt the thrill of success like you had envisioned or were promised?  Instead you are allowing  the deafing roar to fade away…and you become stagnant.

Well trust me, we all go through those periods – the periods when you are asking yourself what next?  Why am I doing this?  How do I get back on track?  Well – get yourself back on track by proclaiming to the world that you have slide….that you have fallen but you are pushing yourself back up and are ready to get back at it.  Make yourself accountable to your public acknowledgement! Oh easy for me to say?  Maybe it is – but just as hard for me to enact as it is for you, so let me share some of my strategies for getting over this hump and working on moving towards my goals:

1)  Review your goals - renew your commitment to yourself and your future.  Feel the passion that you first felt when you wrote your goals.  Is that passion and excitement still there?  Do you honestly believe that your goals are attainable?  Do they need to be fine tuned?  Why are you doing all of this?  What is your why?  As someone told me once – Does your why make you cry?  I love that – are you passionate enough to move mountains for your why?  If not…..figure out what why will give you that focus.

2) Get back to basics – remember the enthusiasm you felt when you first got involved with your business?  The hours you put in learning all the things you had to learn?  The dreaming, the frustrations, the support from your enroller, and the giddy feelings you had when you accomplished your first enrollment or your first ad campaign resulted in your first enrollment?  Remember all the time and energy you were dedicating to this business?  Remember that nothing could stop you?  Revisit that commitment, get that feeling back – and if you can’t – remember that old saying “Fake it till ya make it”  and if all else fails create a schedule and stick to it.  This is the time when there is no one here but you….no one that can dig deep down and find the internal fortitude to be successful.  Your enroller will hand you the shovel to dig, your mentors and support system may soften the soil….but the work of digging is up to you.

3) Figure out that this doesn’t happen overnight – yes there are promised out there that you can be successful with in the month, and possibly you might be the 1 in a million who can make it big in less than 30 days – but don’t set yourself up to fail before you have even had a chance to get started.  Set realistic goals, realistic expectations of yourself and realistic expectations of this industry.  Do a reality check – do you really (now come on be honest), really believe your enroller that you can pay off $25,000 worth of credit debit in the next 30 days with out any previous network marketing experience?  hmmmmmm—I don’t think so either.  But do you think that it is realistic instead to be able to create a business foundation that you can build on within the next 30 days?  ABSOLUTELY!!!  Be honest with yourself and you will move forward – hey – remember we went to school for 12 years – there is a reason our education takes a while – there is a lot to learn.

4) Get with the program – you know what? at the end of the day it doesn’t matter what opportunity you are with – it really doesn’t! What matters is that you are honestly concerned about help others – you know funny thing called Attraction Marketing?  What matters is how you lead the people who are looking to you.  Get with the program guys, the days of contacting your warm marketing and hounding your friends are disappearing.  The way to do network marketing is networking…and branding yourself.  Be the professional that everyone aspires to follow.

5)  Use your resources - Get back to your basics and hone your marketing.  Yes you can create a very lucrative business online and when you allow your self to be overcome with every opportunity – blogging, articles, campaigns, SEO, RRS, video marketing, social media, Pay Per Click, on and on and on…..You drown in a sea of “what next? How? When? Where? and How Much????  Deep breath – focus, focus, focus – you can’t master it all – so break it down master one, then move one, master, move on, master, move on!

6) Balance – If you have spent any time in the industry you know  that you have enter a business in which life long learning is a must – the playing field changes on a daily basis and in order to stay in the game you have to learn the rules of the game.  And the rules change. However, you have to balance the work with the learning – don’t get caught up in feeling that you need to learn everything there is to learn.  I find myself sometimes sliding into this trap – and you have to push off from the shore – you need to take action before you know it all.  This industry is built on doing and doing means be activate and doing the things that build your business and make you money.  And yes, learning will make you money down the road but but there comes a point where you just need to take the plunge and become one of the doers.  Find the system that provides the framework and the training, and then start doing – I am!

Did anyone else catch the opening ceremonies for the 2010 winter olympics in vancouver? Years of work, thousands of  people involved, timed to the last second, in my view was a thing of beauty, covering Canada’s history, culture and innovation. I really enjoyed it……….until I made the mistake of reading the headlines the next morning.

As ever, I was reminded why I don’t read the papers anymore. Reporters  from various sources could dwell on what didn’t work, and what wasn’t done. The journalists had toted that the Canadian people as a whole, really had no world identity and that they were anticipating a rather lackluster opening ceremonies.  Then in the same breath they gave some fleeting recognition to how many years of work and effort went into it. But I need to keep in mind that their job is to sell newspapers…and we have become a society where big headlines, and shock factor is what grabs our attention. I have watched several opening and closing ceremonies over the years, there is always a snag or two, its impossible not to have something wrong happen in such a large endevour. I choose to ignore what didn’t work and enjoy the show.

I want to bring your attention back to the slant of the journalist…..bear with me, you will see what it has to do with your network marketing business in a bit.  This email “joke’ is currently circulating among my friends, and it definitely helps to emphasize the point I am hoping to make:

A Harley biker is visiting the zoo when he sees a little girl leaning into the bars of the lion’s cage. Suddenly, the lion grabs her by the cuff of her jacket and tries to pull her inside to slaughter her, under the eyes of her screaming parents.   The biker without hesitation  runs to the cage and hits the lion square on the nose with a powerful punch.
  
Whimpering from the pain the lion jumps back letting go of the girl, and the biker brings her to her terrified parents, who thank him endlessly.
A CBC reporter has watched the whole event. The reporter addressing the biker says, ‘Sir, this was the most gallant and brave thing I’ve seen a man do in my whole  life.’
The Harley rider replies, ‘Why, it was nothing, really, the lion was behind bars. I just saw this little kid in danger and  acted as I felt right.’
The reporter says, ‘Well, I’ll make  sure this won’t go unnoticed. I’m a journalist, you know, and tomorrow’s paper will have this story on the front page… So, what do you do for a living and what political affiliation do you have?’
The biker replies, ‘I’m a soldier  and a Conservative.’   The journalist leaves.
The following morning the biker buys the paper to see if it indeed brings news of his actions, and reads, on the front   page:
 
SOLDIER ASSAULTS AFRICAN IMMIGRANT
AND STEALS  HIS LUNCH
That pretty much sums up the media’s approach to the news these days….it is a matter of interpretation and prespective, and what sells!

So whatever does this have to do with building your business?  Well, when you are starting out in this business you make a conscious decision to pay attention to the headlines - you listen to the hype, the interpretation and you look for the leader who will deliver on your dreams.  You choose to follow someone who has more experience in this field than you do, someone who has created the hype, who you perceive as the expert.   Unfortunately most of those experts are floundering themselves – they have never learned to be true leaders – only masters of an illusion that sells.  And so you begin your search again…looking for the success that you are sure awaits you with the right leader.

When you find your leader they will give you a template that provides the road map for your success.  A leader encourages you to take the steps that are necessary to build your business.  They have learned from the university of trial and error – they have made their fair share of mistakes, but have chosen to move beyond the mistakes and become successful despite the road blocks.  You true leaders are the ones that don’t rely on smoking mirrors to grab your attention – they are leaders who draw you to them by adding value and committment to your success.  You will find the leader who is more intent on speaking about your success than bragging about their own, they are the ones that who have heart and true intent to build with you.  Look for the leader who quietly shares their experiences, encouraging you to try this or that, to avoid the pitfalls of over promising and underdelivering. 

Your job is to build your business, your job is to find a leader who will guide you.  Your job is to not have false hopes, not to believe in the hype and grand illusions but to be determined to build a successful buisness that will endure.  You job is to wade through the hype and find the template that will allow you to make money while learning your trade, while honing your skills, while developing your leadership skills. Your job is to be mature enough to know that your leader is not going to do this for you, that you are responsible for your success, that your past failings where you fault – no one elses – not the company, not the compensation plan, not the product.  You need to move past the hype, and interpretation of the snake charmers and make your decision to build a network marketing buisness. 

Don’t dwell on the past – on what hasn’t worked.  Instead you need to focus clearly on your goal, conquer the internet , conquer your fears, conquer your indecisiveness.  One step in front of the other, deal with the reality of building a business, give it the time and energy that it deserves.

And the last bit of advice I would give you in this article: quit reading the news. It is too negative. I dont blame the reporters, its their job. I just prefer to focus on the positive. To your ongoing success!!!

I would like to share with you a trend I have been seeing online lately that makes me feel rather sad for the people that are doing it. They don’t realize what they are doing, and how much they are missing in their business, simply because they don’t know any better and have never been shown how to properly work their business online. So let’s start with a little background……

I am just like you, I have an online business, and build it over the internet. It does not matter what my business is, or yours, but I want to explain this trend I am talking about, we have all seen it, just not realized what it is maybe.

What I am talking about, is the people on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc. (basically all the social media sites out there) using it to advertise their business. Here is what I am talking about…..Join my business now!! Work with the best!! Do this within 12 hours to get this, this and this…….Join Donald Trump in his latest endeavor……..

You know the rest, and sadly, it’s like getting beat over the head with an anvil, just to get your attention. Am I the only one that doesn’t care for this? Nothing personal against any celebrity out there, Mr. Trump included, but I don’t care for your offer, product, celebrity endorsement, whatever slant you may be using, because that is not what is going to sell me!!!!

What is going to sell me, is the lady or gentleman who originates the advertisement. As it stands right now, if you slam out your script, I don’t care one bit about it. In this day and age, it is not about your product, compensation plan, company, whatever you may have been told, it is about YOU!!  If I have no dealings with you, no relationship, no credibility, I am going to ignore you. Plain and simple. If you need any proof of this, what was your reaction to the last tweet, or update, or whatever that you saw? Did you say, oh Donald Trump is involved I am going to jump onboard? I very much doubt it. You asked yourself, who is this person, do I know him, and knowing the answer was NO!!  you ignored him or her. We all are intelligent people, and are able to make decisions by ourselves, and trust me, none of the above is what I make my decision on when it pertains to joining a potential online business!!

It is sad that so many people are unknowingly limiting themselves from more opportunity for their  business’s growth, simply because they don’t know any better. So what do you do?

You make it about YOU. Yes, definitely use the social media outlets, but don’t slam the people over the head!! Take the time to establish conversations, get to know them, and don’t even steer the subject onto what do you do for a living. That will come all by it’s self when the time is right. People want to know about you and only you. This is not anything new. It is not even my idea, I was fortunate enough to find out whose it was. But believe it or not, fewer than 3% of network marketers know about it, and those 3% absolutely thrive by it. If you want to find out more about it, take the time to do some reading – learn from someone who has been where we all start – at the beginning. This man learnt from the school of hard knocks, put his lessons to use, and now teaches others, myself included, how to do this business the right way. If you take what you learn you can turn your results around and have people coming to you to build their business read on….

Catchy title huh?

Well, isn’t that what you are as you build your network marketing business?  Don’t you aspire to be Professional Network Marketers? You know the ones that are leading the pack?  That you are all busy buying every video, ebook and DVD system that they have to offer?  Yes – Amateur Enterpenuer fits……the metamorphosis is beginning.  So let’s take a look at four key problems that you need to take into consideration and plan for as you begin your journey to success.

1) Lack of Quality Leads -

The philosophy of old was to sit down make a list of every single person you knew – if they were breathing they went on your list, and you needed to contact them to tell them about your opportunity and i how great it would be for them to get involved with you.  So you do a fantastic job of talking to everyone on your list, well that is the ones that will answer your calls, or who won’t avoid you at the family get together and you end up enrolling three people into your opportunity.  And they stay for three months……..and now you are spending $100s of dollars a month to buy leads to people who are adamant they never completed a online questionaire asking for information about home based businesses.  So the spiral goes, around and around, down and down.

It is one thing to contact all of your family and friends to introduce them to a product or service that you are truly commented to, but quite another to pester them to get into business with you. For the most part they will try to dissuade you from building a business, because they don’t want you to get hurt.  Also, they have no idea of the income potential that is available to the 3% of network marketers that truly stick with it and make it work.

So how do you generate your own leads?  How do you start to build your “following”?  You need to create a system of advertising and branding that allows you to become an expert that people look to for leadership. You need to build in a way that will have people coming to you, that the days of chasing will be a faint memory.  Sound like the way to go?  I can speak from experience that once you get to that place your whole outlook changes – going from starving and scared to vibrant and alive, you truly find out that network marketing is the way to go.

2) Lack of Training -

Ok, you have you gotten involved with a company, have a great leader who is making tons of money and promises the moon.  But their idea of training is make your list, phone or email and go see the people on the list, read the brochure and presentation to them and sign them up. If that doesn’t work you just need to keep churning more leads, speak to more people, do it over and over again.  Hmmmmmm  – great training, oh ya, and don’t forget go to every hotel meeting you can and bring 10 people with you.

The intricacies of network marketing online have opened up a whole new arena for the network marketer and with it have come a need for more intense training.  A new skill set has to be learned. One that includes blogging, article submitting, article writing, lead generation, autoresponders, campaign submissions, website management, promotion, branding, follow up.  And the list goes on – no wonder the average network marketer lasts 63 days in the business!  You need to participate in a training program that is indepth and ongoing.  I spend $100 of dollars every month investing in my future.  I have participated in webinars, and conferences in order to learn this business – and I continue to learn. I order ebooks, and spend hours at book stores both online and at the local mall, I exchange ideas and ask for feedback from my peers and mentors.  Why do you think you that you could learn a new traditional job with just being shown to your desk?  You need to be introduced to your team mates, you learn the processes and expectations of your company, you learn how to, why, where and when…..what makes you think that you don’t need to do that when you are starting your own business?

3) Lack of Duplication -

Believe it or not this one is the easiest – if you don’t have success in your business that is what will duplicate. If you don’t know what you are doing, and you don’t have a plan that is taking you to success, that is what will duplicate.  Once you get it – you learn how to be a leader, how to build your business, how to create your own list, how to brand yourself – then you will start to duplicate the success you desire.  False promises abound in this industry – the promises of success overnight – they happen RARELY, but the honest leaders will tell you that they worked hard and relentlessly for 18 months or 2 years and they now are reaping the success.  The seeds that were sown a year ago are now producing the fruit of my success today.  I have sustainable growth in my business, I have developed myself as a leader and that is now starting to duplicate in my business.  Whatever success you want from your business you must first create it within your self – and then it become easy.

4) Lack of Working Capital -

This one is a biggy so pay attention!  You have all heard the promises of “I will pay your way in”, “You don’t have to spend a dime, no autoship, no upfront cost” and hundreds of other promises on how you can make a boatload of money without any investment on your part.  Ok…..do here comes the needle – I am bursting your bubble.  How can you seriously expect to make money from an opportunity that no one is paying anything to get involved with????? Do you really believe that there is a money tree out there and they allow you to pluck $100 bills from it with out an investment on your part?  So the reality is – this business is going to cost you some investment capital.  How much is up to you – up to your desire on how quickly you want to build your business, and to what size and return you want to build it.  You are going to have to be prepare for investment for autoshipments $100 to $300/month, increase travel expenses $150 to $400/month, increased gasoline $75 to $150, weekly events $25 to $50, inventory $100 to $200…..and what about the cost of starting your business online, webhosting, autoresponders, article submitters, domain purchases.  Are you beginning to realize that you are going to need some captial to do this business right?

So many leaders never address the need for working capital with their new enrollees and it sets them up to fail.  That is why y0u need to educate yourself , why you need to find a system that will allow you to monetize your list.  What does that mean – monetize your list?  What it entails is a system that introduces your new prospects to a series of small purchase opportunites – they get the opportunity to purchase products that help them build their business and you earn an affiliate commission thus being able to fund your business growth. But at the same time you are also building your list and ensure that you are sending out your autoresponders to help them stay engaged and moving through your funnel towards your primary business opportunity.  As you generate income you turn around and invest in growing your business, expanding your advertising, fine tuning your articles, continuing to educate yourself on how to build your business.  By continuing to reinvest you build a solid foundation and continue to move your business forward and you aren’t stealing from your bank account so that you are spending more on your business than you are making.

You owe it to yourself to truly review these four factors and be honest with yourself.  I know this is the way I tried to build my business for the first 6 years in the industry – I built it at the expense of my bank account and just kept getting fartherand farther in debt.  Now…..now I get it, let me help you too.

Check out MLMLeadSystemPRO and let me help you today!!!

You may have noticed that there has not been a post for several days on my blog…..well the frog won for a few days.  That is the frog of procrastination.

The frog of procrastination is probably one of the biggest threats to network marketers – allowing the fear of not knowing what to do next, or the fear of  how to write an article, or build your blog, or any other of 100s of other things you need to do to move your business forward.  I allowed myself to become overwhelmed by the frog of what to write for my next article that it became easier to make “busy work” than to face the hurdle head on and tackle it.  I chose to do things that didnt accomplish a single thing to move my business forward – I cleaned my desk, I rewrote address and contact lists, I reread training that I have got down pat, and on and on……What I needed to do was to take a step back – break things down into one thing at a time and move forward.

From past experience I am well aware of the power of straying from the important things and allowing myself to get off track.  There is a saying that talks about eating a frog first thing every morning and you can be assured that nothing worse will happen that day.  How true – I really cant imagine anything worse – but if we put things in perspective while striving to building our network business every day we need to evaluate what things we need to be doing – we need to priortize, we need to review the importance of each of our tasks, we need to remember the 80/20 rule and move….move…move.

Brian Tracy has taught me many valuable lessons…..not the least how to Eat the Frog……I went back to his book and reviewed and got back on track.

An excerpt from
Eat That Frog!
by Brian Tracy

The 80/20 Rule is one of the most helpful of all concepts of time and life management. It is also called the “Pareto Principle” after its founder, the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who first wrote about it in 1895. Pareto noticed that people in his society seemed to divide naturally into what he called the “vital few”, the top 20 percent in terms of money and influence, and the “trivial many”, the bottom 80 percent.

He later discovered that virtually all economic activity was subject to this principle as well. For example, this principle says that 20 percent of your activities will account for 80 percent of your results, 20 percent of your customers will account for 80 percent of your sales, 20 percent of your products or services will account for 80 percent of your profits, 20 percent of your tasks will account for 80 percent of the value of what you do, and so on. This means that if you have a list of ten items to do, two of those items will turn out to be worth five or ten times or more than the other eight items put together.

Number of Tasks versus Importance of Tasks
Here is an interesting discovery. Each of the ten tasks may take the same amount of time to accomplish. But one or two of those tasks will contribute five or ten times the value of any of the others.

Often, one item on a list of ten tasks that you have to do can be worth more than all the other nine items put together. This task is invariably the frog that you should eat first.

Focus on Activities, Not Accomplishments
The most valuable tasks you can do each day are often the hardest and most complex. But the payoff and rewards for completing these tasks efficiently can be tremendous. For this reason, you must adamantly refuse to work on tasks in the bottom 80 percent while you still have tasks in the top 20 percent left to be done.

Before you begin work, always ask yourself, “Is this task in the top 20 percent of my activities or in the bottom 80 percent?”

The hardest part of any important task is getting started on it in the first place. Once you actually begin work on a valuable task, you will be naturally motivated to continue. A part of your mind loves to be busy working on significant tasks that can really make a difference. Your job is to feed this part of your mind continually.

Motivate Yourself
Just thinking about starting and finishing an important task motivates you and helps you to overcome procrastination. Time management is really life management, personal management. It is really taking control of the sequence of events. Time management is having control over what you do next. And you are always free to choose the task that you will do next. Your ability to choose between the important and the unimportant is the key determinant of your success in life and work.

Effective, productive people discipline themselves to start on the most important task that is before them. They force themselves to eat that frog, whatever it is. As a result, they accomplish vastly more than the average person and are much happier as a result. This should be your way of working as well.

Have you eaten your Frog today?

Ok……today I might not make any friends but I guess there comes a time when we need to take a stand and speak up against things that go against the values that we hold dear.  So here goes……

I have come across for the 400th time I am sure, another email spouting off about the $264,ooo dollars (or some other ridiculous figure) that the author made overnight.  How there is  no need to send any money because it didn’t cost anything to get started, there is no monthly commitment but yet you can be earning thousands of dollars sitting in front of your computer in your underwear……GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!

Headings and promises like these create a false promise and a sense of urgency that the feeding frenzy won’t last long and that the opportunity is to just too good to pass up:

Get in quick and start earning!

MAKE A ONE TIME PAYMENT OF JUST $5.25

Get in on a long lasting, very simple, cash earning machine!

You’re Running Out Of Time – 24 Hours Left‏

100% AUTOMATED system puts PAID REFERRALS under YOU!

They Build Your PAID DOWNLINE! It WORKS!

They have paid me over $64,000 cash so far

Can you copy and paste? Earn $19500 in 2 weeks!!!!!!!‏ ( I particularly like this one! what am I copying and pasting – credit card numbers???)

No wonder network marketing is getting a labeled as a bunch of scammers!!!

This type of advertising frustrates the heck out of me – there are people out there who are desperate to make it big – because of personal circumstances they NEED this to work for them. They have visions of the get rich quick scheme – “this is the one” – that will end all of their financial worries.  So they sign up, they read everything this “financial savvy guru” has to say, and then it starts….you need to upgrade to this for $97.00 and you need to buy leads for $300.oo/month and on and on and on……and once again their limited financial resources are dwindling, the only one getting a residual income is the “Guru” who sponsored them.

It really is time to realize that Network Marketing is a business, it is a profession, it is a career.  It takes hard work. I probably work harder building this business than I ever did while earning a corporate pay check.  When you begin to realize that you are signing up to the CEO of your own business and that you are in the building phase – that you are going to work long hours, that you are going to work hard, that there is a financial investment – then the rose colored glasses have come off and you have started your journey to success.

I caution people who are searching for the success that they take a deep breath and truly put things in perspective – success can be attained working your network marketing business and it can be accomplished in a timely manner.  But honestly – do you really think that a network marketing business is going to pay you thousands of dollars a month with no investment on your part?  If there is a company out there – PLEASE CALL ME!!!  (don’t worry I am not going to be waiting by my phone!)  Instead, why don’t you dig in, decide that there is a successful way of doing this business – a way to build a business with integrity, as a strong leader, helping others to realize there goals…….and the $264,ooo pay check will come just probably not while you are sitting in your underwear in front of your computer.

Believe it or not…you need to go back to school.  Yup in order to be a highly successful Network Marketer you need to go back to school.  Now is the school some brick and mortar location? – NO – but it is a place that you need to get to where you are continuing to learn and to grow.  And on that note I wanted to share some of my reading list with you – so that maybe you can start your journey of personal growth.  Happy learning!

If Not Now When? Reclaiming Ourselves at Midlife, by Stephanie Marston.

“Midlife is a wake-up call that requires we pay attention to where we stand in our lives. It is a time of intense re-evaluation. Yet it is also a time of immense opportunity from which every woman can emerge a new person.”
This book is an honest, witty and inspiring look at the challenges and opportunities facing women at midlife. Who am I? What do I really want in my life? What are my needs and dreams? And if I’m not fulfilling them now, when will I?
Through her own stories and those shared by the many women she interviewed, Marston presents uplifting insights that encourage women to consider midlife as the jumping-off point to a rich, fulfilling life.

Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, by Susan Jeffers.

I am a true believer that when we are ready, the teacher will come. I have also come to believe that the teacher may be in the form of the right book at exactly the right time.

As Susan Jeffers explains, at the bottom of every fear, regardless of whether that fear is of being alone, public speaking,  illness, or changing a career, is the fear that we can’t handle whatever may happen. Her answer: “All you have to do to diminish your fear is to develop more trust in your ability to handle whatever comes your way.”

Building Your Network Marketing Business, Jim Rohn.

This business philosopher left a legacy behind and I have learned so much from him – deserve vs need, your skills will determine your future, how to live the good life, the art of deserve….  If you have not listened to Jim Rohn you owe it to yourself to learn from this legendary man.

Attitude is Everything: 10 Life Changing Steps to Turning Attitude into Action, Keith Harrell.

In this book, Keith offers an enlightening, inspiring, and practical guide for gaining control of your career and your life by ridding yourself of negative attitudinal baggage, building positive attitudes, and then turning them into actions to help you achieve your dreams.

Inspire! What Great Leaders Do, by Lance Secretan.

Secretan designed Higher Ground Leadership, which is based on the belief that people can be inspired by appealing to their hearts and souls. For most of us who are familiar with the traditional form of leadership based on fear and motivation, this is a new concept.

I read his book with great interest. It is a book about how to inspire yourself and others and how this can lead to personal and organizational transformation. Secretan clearly explains why the old form of leadership has become obsolete (what he refers to as the Old Story approach) and offers a new form of leadership which engages people on a soulful level.

He helps us discover our Destiny (Why I am here on Earth), our Cause (How I will be while I am here and what I will stand for), and our Calling (What I will do and how I will use my talents and gifts to serve). “Inspiration comes from inside, from a deep place we call authenticity. It is a way of being. How might we touch the world if we engaged the soul, becoming fully conscious leaders, totally awake and aware of our Destiny, Cause, and Calling– our sacred purpose for being in this universe at this time?”

The Greatest Networker in the World, John Milton Fogg

This bestselling modern classic paints a vivid word picture of what it truly means to be the Greatest Networker in the world. It’s inspired millions to succeed in America’s fastest-growing industry.

Here is the story of a young man on the verge of quitting the business, who discovers that the secrets of MLM success lie within him. It’s an easy-to-read tale that’s changed many lives.

It begins at an opportunity meeting, where the narrator meets the ‘Greatest Networker in the World’. Over the course of a week, the narrator’s life is transformed as he absorbs lessons about leadership, beliefs, values and life purpose, listening, championing others, and more.

There are literally thousands of books, ebooks, videos, and newsletter available that can help you grow and learn how to create  your internet business.  These are only a small sample of the books I have read and learned from, that have taught me that there is much to learn.  The leaders in our industry continue to grow and read and learn…..follow in their footsteps.

So, you’ve written down your goals, you’ve shared them with a few trusted friends and confidentes who you think are going to support you, you are ready to move into 2010 with guns blazing and enthusiasm blaring…….. and then you car breaks down, your mother and father in law announce that they are coming to stay with you and your family for six weeks, your child brings home a poor report card, your best friend tells you he thinks you are crazy for getting into this network marketing scam……and three of your top producers find a “better opportunity”.

The enthusiasm is now waning and your guns are shooting blanks.  The old self doubt comes back….

well maybe network marketing isn’t for me, all those people that claim they are making it big –

well it is just a big fat lie, I am destined to live pay check to pay check – after all it was good

enough for my parents

And so the broken record repeats.  The self talk in your head repeats and tells you that you were really a fool to try this one more time anyway.  And so you consider quitting…….all your dreams swirling down the toilet, the vision of financial and time freedom flying out the window, the appointments you had planned to set with your kids for your “fun” training……gone……..

Well, road blocks are going to be put in your way, life is going to continue to throw you challenges and it is up to you to anticipate and plan on how you are going to overcome them.  Until you determine that your “WHY” is strong enough to overcome the obstacles that will be placed in your way, the obstacles will win.

So how are you going to stay true to the course?  Does the vision of the freedom you will gain from your success drive you to do what it takes – to overcome, to preserve, to learn, to grow, to stretch?  I am sure if you have been in this business for any amount of time you have been told that your WHY has to be “big”, “strong” and “alive”.  Honestly – that is the truth, when you have a driving desire for something you will let nothing stand in your way.

Remember back to when you were a kid and you were learning to ride your bike?  How many hours did you practice – with your Dad running beside you, holding you steady until you finally broke away and did it on your own?  Or remember bugging your Mom over and over again to let you sleep out in the back yard….relentlessly bugging, persisting, pestering your Mom – you just wouldn’t take no for an answer.  Get that persistence back!  Become the child again – remember the “please, please, please, Mom…..aww but Mom” lament? Reinstill that “don’t take no for an answer” attitude.

Last night I finished reading a book by John Milton Fogg, entitled “The Greatest Networker in the World” who walks a young man through the art of network marketing.  If you truly want to move past the hype and pomp that surrounds this business this book is an easy read – you can download it for free

http://www.greatestnetworker.com

John’s words have re-inspired me to become the Greatest Networker in the World, to move past the challenges, to hold true to my WHY, to be all I can be – how about you?

I’ve learned in this business…..
that the more you know “it” and the less you do “it” the less successful you are. There comes a time when you need to put into action all that you are learning. And sometimes you just need to do “it” without knowing “it”.

I’ve learned………
that there will always be a bigger, better, more lucrative opportunity that someone comes along to try to sell you. But until you learn to “sell” yourself, to learn how to become a master “relationship” builder you will continue to jump from “next big thing” to “next big thing”. Remember that your success or failure lies not with a company or a product or a compensation plan but with your ability to be a leader and your ability to be successful.

I’ve learned…..
that I didn’t wake up to $264,984.13 in my mailbox this morning after signing up for that “last chance deal”. I’ve learned that I needed to get a system in place, to educate, to execute and to repeat. That I need to continue to learn and to grow, put what I have learned into action, then repeat and teach others how to do the same.

I’ve learned……
that things worth having are worth waiting for and worth working for. Every single successful network marketer that I have the honor of working with have experienced steep learning curves, hours of hard work and constant personal growth. They are the ones who after 18 months are making the $50,000/month. They are the Mike Dillards, the Brian Fanales, the Norbert Orlweicz, – they are the ones that we aspire to be like. It is Terri Bork, Perig Vennetier, Christopher Dittemore, John Marshall, Alecia Stringer, Simon Borg, AmyJo Neal – the ones who are working hard to build and grow and in a few short months they will be the ones that we all aspire to be like.

I’ve learned…….
that failure is not a bad thing – it is only the bad attitude that comes from failing that is negative. I’ve figured out that failure only teaches me the way not to do something – and that isn’t always a bad thing. Failure can be our master and cause us to quit or it can be our companion and drive us forward – its our choice.

I’ve learned……
that I’ve failed a great many times – not through anyone else’s fault – but rather that I quit! Blame has no place in this industry – I take total and full responsibility for my lack of past success. When I admitted this to myself – my success started – because the excuses were gone. I couldn’t blame anyone else, I couldn’t hold anyone else accountable for my failure. My pity party came to an end and my success took off.

I’ve learned…..
that there is success to be attained in this business. That the tools for success are out there. That you don’t need to listen to the hype of the “get rich quick”. That this business takes hard work, long hours, a steep learning curves and the commitment to stick it out and not give up. But WOW…..the rewards are so worth it!!!!

See you all in the Winners Circle

Hopefully yesterday’s blog was of help and you all sat down last night to write out your goals and start building your road map. You spent some serious time comtemplating what your goals are, what you need to do to get there. I hope that your goals reflect that you are balanced in your life and included personal, professional, spiritual, financial, and recreational goals. Remember that we all need to work hard, play hard and have a higher sense of purpose and have those we love to share it all with. By keeping your life, and life goals in balance, the pleasure of the journey is much more enjoyable.

So now what? You have these five or six goals all nicely written out….now what? Do you hide them away in your desk drawer and on December 31 bring them out and review how you did during 2010? Not a chance – now the fun begins.

Firstly, keep all your goals together in a ring binder. DO NOT leave them lying around. The have tremendous power, and later if you change your mind you dont want an old goal lying around sabotaging you.

Now get into action. Circumstances, people and opportunities will present themelves to you and they will be there to help you move towards your goal attainment. Gather the resources you need – what is it you need to learn to make you goal come true? who do you need to associate yourself with? Remember “like” attracts “like”. Associate with successful people and you will be successful because you will mimic their actions – want to lose weight – associate with people who have lost weight. Want to have a successful MLM business – associate with the movers and shakers in the industry – read, study, move, do….do what they are doing.

Remember to revisit your goals on a regular basis – goals are dynamic – they need to be reviewed, fine tuned, and sometimes discarded or reworked. Don’t be afraid to say that your goal is no longer important. But dont discard a goal just because you havent attained it or you havent done anything to move towards making it reality.

If you have achieved your goal – CELEBRATE!!! Cheer, Give yourself a gold star. Scribble ‘well done’ on your goal. And keep your goal to remind you that this works!

If you haven’t achieved your goal, study it. Do you still want it? If so, write a new date on it. Make sure to review the goal – I mean really study it! It has been my experience that alot of people have actually reached their goal – they just dont realize it. For example, a friend wrote a goal around a relationship. I pointed out that her male business partner fit the goal to a tee – however, what she had failed to add to her goal was the initimacy that she was craving.

Tear up and destroy the goals you no longer want. Get rid of the things that are no longer important – you dont want them hanging around throwing potholes into your road map.

Remember no goal ever is realized without effort on your part. No one causes you to fail at this game other than yourself. It is a matter of taking responsiblity for what you want out of life and moving towards it, aligning yourself with like minded people, gathering resources, continuing to put one foot in front of the other.

You have your road map – now go reach for the stars and Create Your Freedom.

Monica McCullough