MLM The Easy Way - LLa Update http://www.blogmoneymiracle.com en-us EasyRSS
By Tim Sales

It is very difficult to achieve real MLM success if you are afraid of talking to people about your business. Use these four guidelines to achieve confidence when talking with prospects. They've worked for thousands in my own MLM business. I know they will work for you.

Why do you have a "chicken list?" Because you fear you don't communicate easily or well.

A "chicken list" is the list of prospects that you're afraid to call. Often people think they will call their "chicken list" after they get successful. But, they need these people in their MLM business to create the success.

This is a "Catch 22."

The phrase "Catch 22" is from a novel by Joseph Heller, written in 1961. The pilot was afraid to fight in World War II. He feigned insanity. But the doctor said that if he were truly insane, then he wouldn't mind endangering his life by going into the war.

If he were sane, then he would be capable of following orders to fight the war. Thus the phrase "catch 22" came to mean, "a situation that trips one up no matter which way one turns."

You need the people on your chicken list to create the success you need in order to contact your chicken list. How do you get around this catch-22?

Your fear of the chicken list is based on your feelings that somehow, people are above you because of their status. If you were to examine this more closely, you would discover it is not that the people are any better than you; it's lack of confidence in your ability to communicate easily.

If you knew you could communicate easily and effectively without making any mistakes, you could...and would...call anyone without hesitation. You would have confidence. You would have certainty. And there's NOTHING more rewarding than having that feeling.

Communicate means: a. To convey information about; make known. b. To reveal clearly.

Easily means: a. Free from worry, anxiety, trouble, or pain. b. Requiring or exhibiting little effort.

The reason I bring this up is there are a group of characteristics an MLM business professional must have in order to truly have success in speaking with prospects. I call these characteristics the 10 Communication Qualities.

Having full knowledge of these qualities and having the proper and correct MLM training to learn them, you will be amazed at how much smoother conversations will go with your prospects.

The fifth communication quality on my list is to, "Communicate easily - no tension, strain, fakeness, sounding rehearsed, stuttering or hesitating."

Let's look at each one of these issues:

Tension & Strain: (The definition for tension and strain is very similar so they are
combined here.)

a. To be subjected to great stress. b. A great or excessive pressure, demand, or
stress on one's body, mind, or resources.

When communicating, tension and strain are stress created by the mental activity of feeling unprepared, or fear that you will sound "stupid" to others. If you've ever been asked to suddenly speak in public, you know what this mental activity feels like.

It creates a very uncomfortable feeling, of "being on the spot", and not knowing what to say. It’s the reason someone's voice "squeaks and quivers" when talking. This communicates an unprofessional, “new to the subject”, uncertainty to the prospect.

The solution to tension and strain is to familiarize oneself with all situations that can arise on a call when talking to prospects. Be familiar with all situations regarding your MLM business opportunity and also the products you sell.

Know what you are going to ask the prospect to do; invite for product, invite for business, send to a website, or get on a conference call, etc. When you are clear about what you're going to do and say, you will greatly reduce tension and strain.

Fakeness: a. To represent falsely; pretend to. b. To fabricate.

People sound fake when they use a lot of fluff words like, awesome, incredible, unbelievable, fabulous, wonderful, special, state-of-the-art, etc. These types of adjectives demonstrate a clear bias on your part. I'm not suggesting you be a boring communicator; by all means, be excited. You don't have to use fluff or puff words to describe your excitement. This normally indicates a cover-up of real content.

Sounding rehearsed: a. One that is not authentic or genuine.

Rehearsing what you're going to say is NOT WRONG. However, if you talk with a prospect before you've rehearsed enough - you will sound rehearsed; which IS UNPROFESSIONAL. When you've received a phone call from a telemarketer, you could tell he was reading from a script. It didn't sound very genuine and when you detected that he was reading from a script. You wanted off the phone. That's what you want to avoid with your prospects.

Stuttering and hesitating: a. If you hesitate, you do not speak or act for a short time, usually because you are uncertain, embarrassed, or worried about what you are going to say or do.

Stuttering and hesitating loops us back to the first issue I discussed above which is Tension and Strain. It is the fear of saying or doing something the prospect won't agree with that causes us to hesitate and stutter. The solution for stuttering and hesitating is similar to the solution for tension and strain; is very familiar with all the situations that can come up on your invite call.

Have you realized the simplicity of this yet? Your willingness to talk to your “chicken list”, or lack of, is based on your ability to communicate easily. You need to become familiar with all aspects of your MLM business and company to communicate easily.

Tim Sales helps network marketers gain the confidence and skills to be an MLM success. Discover what you must know to become a true network marketing professional. Sign up for his free MLM training newsletter and listen to free training at http://www.brilliantexchange.com.
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By David Jacobsen

If someone is about to lose their home to foreclosure, you can guarantee they're feeling stressed. They're probably being bombarded by calls and letters from creditors, and for many people it all becomes too much to handle. They close their eyes and hope it will all just go away.

Reality is that it won't. As an investor interested in buying foreclosures, the hardest part can be convincing the homeowner that they really are going to lose their house unless they do something about it. It is also difficult to convince them that you are really trying to help them, even though you are helping yourself make a profit at the same time.

When you're dealing with foreclosures, time is of the utmost importance. You need to have enough time to bail out the homeowner and take over the property before it's too late. It can be a good idea to subscribe to a foreclosure listing service. You gain access to listings at the earliest possible time, and don't have to use your valuable time looking for potential foreclosure properties from other sources.

Many people facing foreclosure have spoken to an attorney. They are convinced that bankruptcy is their only option; in most cases this isn't true. Attorneys tend to stick to what they're familiar with, which is bankruptcy, rather than mentioning other possibilities such as:

- Sale by assumption
- Deed in lieu
- Straight sale
- Foreclosure presale
- Compromise sale
- Short payoff
- Workouts
- Assignment
- Injunctions

There are still more options available, than these, which show that bankruptcy definitely isn't the only choice for the homeowner. When you're dealing with a homeowner in foreclosure, make it clear that you are offering an alternative to bankruptcy. Find out whether they really understand what bankruptcy will do to their credit history and how it will affect their future.

If you're serious about buying foreclosure properties, then you need to become familiar with everything that's required in the process. Check out everything for every property you consider. These items include:

- Loan and mortgage documents
- Loan amount, monthly payment, and interest rate
- Any outstanding taxes
- Existing insurance policies
- Any other liens or judgments

Make sure you have enough information to complete all the necessary tasks before the foreclosure occurs. If there is not enough time, don't even bother starting. Having said that, learn as much as you can about ways to delay foreclosure, and help the homeowner to implement them all. It may just give you enough time to take over the property before the foreclosure auction.

Above all, focus on creating a solution where everybody wins. It's never an easy time for the homeowner, so be prepared for plenty of anger, frustration and resentment; some of which may be directed at you. Walk away if it's obvious the person doesn't want to work with you. Find someone who is interested in finding a solution, show empathy for their situation, put together a strategy to get the best possible result for them, and before long you'll find yourself with a good portfolio of investment properties.

If you want to read more about foreclosures, click over to David's site at http://www.foreclosuresonlinecentral.com . You can also access lists of seized real estate at http://www.buyingcheaphouses.info]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/MLM/MLM_LLa_967/user/index.php
By Tim Sales

If you want to increase the profits in your MLM Business, a good starting place is to sell more products. There are hundreds of different "selling tactics" being taught, but I have always found this one specific approach to work like magic.

How in the world could ONE person sell a billion dollars worth of products? He knew his product...and he knew it well. The one thing that snagged my attention was ‘how well he knew his product’.

Which comes first; knowledge of your product...or selling a billion dollars worth of it? Obviously, knowledge of your product comes first.

This MLM training article is about the important Communication Quality called, "Know what you're talking about."

The MLM professional must possess a specific group of characteristics in order to truly have success in speaking with customers and selling products.

I call these characteristics the 10 Communication Qualities. Being knowledgeable about these qualities and having the proper and correct MLM training to learn them, you will be amazed at how many prospects and customers will be interested in your MLM business and/or products.

I watched a TV infomercial of a gentleman selling cutting knives. I was greatly impressed with the knowledge of the sales persons’ presentation. I could tell he knew everything one could know about his product.

I was listening intently, at the beginning, trying to find a hole in what he was talking about. The more I listened, the more I could see and hear; ‘this man knows about knives’!
He demonstrated to me why he was right. He discussed it clearly. Anyone could have understood it.

He presented several demonstrations with his knives; everything from cutting a can in half to cutting other knives in half with his knife. He did this without making me feel stupid for my lack of knowledge about knives. He was not too assertive, (Communication Quality #4). The more I watched this man, the more I realized he was using all 10 of the Communication Qualities.









Rarely have I seen all these qualities in one person. By the way he delivered his knowledge, I could tell he had researched everything about his knives. He explained what a good knife was, told where the largest cost is in a knife, and why you (the listener) didn't need to have that in your kitchen knives. He gave a "no questions asked, money back guarantee." That certainly sounded like he was "interested" in me. I bought the whole set of knives.

I was intrigued with his charisma; I started researching him, and guess what I found? He has sold over one billion dollars worth of goods! NOT through a downline of thousands of people...or a company with hundreds or thousands of stores... he personally has sold a billion dollars worth of goods!

His name is Ron Popeil. His mother and father split up when he was three. Neither parent wanted him or his brother. He grew up on the streets in the Bronx. At 16, he visited his dad in Chicago and got a job working in a small kitchen appliance factory. Walking home one day, he passed by a place in Chicago called Maxwell Street; which is the equivalent of a dirty flea market today.

The main things sold on Maxwell Street were stolen goods. As he watched the people selling their stolen goods and the people buying them, he got an idea. The next day he bought some of the items from the appliance factory where he worked at wholesale. He then went to Maxwell Street and sold them. As he describes it, "I had never been loved as a kid - I finally found love. It was with my customers. I made a connection with them."

He found out about state and county fairs...and mastered those. He volunteered to do live demonstrations inside of stores that carried the manufacturer's products. He mastered selling products ‘live’ in stores, and then graduated to live television networks that sold the products. His company’s name is Ronco. He's the man who came up with, "It slices and dices... but wait, that's not all...you'll also get..." and "If you order now you get absolutely FREE...” To date, he has personally sold over one billion dollars worth of products.

Because he was the one working in the factory making those knives, he KNEW HIS PRODUCT!

My whole interest in this was stimulated by his knowledge of knives. It was THIS quality of "know what you're talking about" that jumped out and grabbed my attention. When you know what you're talking about, prospects really admire it because your knowledge can help them get what they want.

Your downline will also greatly admire you if you know what you're talking about...and they will follow you. If you invent answers to their questions (instead of knowing what you're talking about); they quickly learn you will say anything (truth or not) to get them to buy the product or sign up in your downline...and they won't.

You do not have to work at a manufacturer to know all about the products you are selling in your MLM business. You don’t have to have a master's degree in nutrition to sell a nutrition product. The thing that impressed me the most was that Ron Popeil talked in such simple language that everyone could understand.

He never tried to impress his audience with big words. He would say things like, "The steel this knife is made out of is tough; look how tough it is", then he would demonstrate it. He didn't try to explain the difference between anodizing and case hardening.

Instead, he would demonstrate for you what he wanted to communicate. It's the sign of a true communicator, to know everything about something, and to communicate it simply. Make it very easy for the prospect to make a decision.

Be knowledgeable about your MLM business. Know everything there is to know about the products you sell. When you find people who can benefit from your business and/or your products, you can confidently help them get what they want. It's this kind of knowledge that really pays you in network marketing.

Tim Sales helps network marketers gain the confidence and skills to be an MLM success. Discover what you must know to become a true network marketing professional. Sign up for his free MLM training newsletter and listen to free training at http://www.brilliantexchange.com.
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By Angela Bailey

Bill finished college in May. It was a beautiful ceremony, and the culmination of many hard years of study. “So what are you going to do now?” I asked him, over a cup of coffee in a local cafe. “Get a resume together and start looking for jobs” he replied. That’s the reply of about 99% of the people graduating from college. It’s the way we are socially programmed to think. It’s the same thing everybody else does. This doesn’t necessarily make it the right thing to do. I believe if you have a reasonable amount of intelligence and an entrepreneurial spirit, there are far better ways to make a living. People have the attitude that I need to work hard to support my family. In my opinion, it’s all for nothing, if you can only enjoy time with your family a small portion of your life. When I am gone, I don’t want my kids to know me as a good provider, I want to be remembered as a good father. I cannot be a good father when I am a serving and making another person wealthy and I am never around to interact with them.

Goals

The first thing you need to accomplish is to set some goals for yourself, I can’t stress enough how important goals are in your life, set personal goals and spiritual goals. Goals will give you something to shoot for. Write them down and read them everyday. Don’t set unrealistic goals (i.e. I want to make 20,000 a month in three months). Start small young man and meet the reachable goal. Then set another one and meet that. Be specific in your goals and structure the steps to meet them; don’t write a goal like…I want to be a millionaire. We all want to be millionaires, but we have to be a thousandaires first. There are plenty of books and articles on writing goals. Your first assignment or goal will be to write down a set of goals, the steps to reach them, and read them everyday. It will be the motivation to keep you on track.

Your Passion

What is your passion? What do you have or what can you create that others will pay you for? Can you create art that people would love to have hanging in their home? Can you create music that others would love to listen to? Can you write computer programs that others just can’t live without? Can you make beautiful websites? Can you write informational articles? There are no limits, choose something that you are very passionate about that others will pay you for, and then monetize it. At first, you might have to get a job while you monetize your passion. Take baby steps to start a goal to make an additional $10.00 a month with your passion. Once you reach it, bump it up to $50.00, keep this momentum going until you are able to quit your regular job and do your passion full-time. Then you will be successful






Obstacles

Ponder these next seven words carefully, “As you think, so shall you be.” Thoughts are things, if you think you can, then you will. If you think you can’t, then you won’t. Get rid of the obstacles that you have conditioned yourself to believe. It drives me crazy when you hear people sabotage themselves by blaming things that have happened in the past for the reason they cannot succeed in the future…I’m not smart enough, I never had a chance, I was raised in the ghetto, I’m too poor, I’m too short, too old, too young… enough with the excuses. Quit using other people and other events for excuses why you can’t do something or are unable to succeed; it’s all too easy to do this. The other choice takes a little effort and in reality the person down deep inside really doesn’t want to change or improve themselves, they just want to use excuses. Think about this parable; imagine yourself in the back of a truck riding down a dirt road. You are now standing in the bed of this truck looking out the back seeing the trail in the dirt from the tires. These tracks in the dirt are your past. Now think about what is moving the truck forward, it’s the engine. Consider this engine as the driving force of YOU, to improve your life, to become successful. Now ask yourself, do the tracks the tires are leaving in the dirt make the truck go forward? The answer, of course, is NO; so enough with the excuses of things that have happened in the past. It is now time to start moving forward.

Residual or Passive Income

When another company owns you, in other words trading your time for money, you only get paid while you are working. Wouldn’t it be nice to make money all the time? This is the definition of passive or residual income. The simplest example of this is having money in a mutual fund drawing interest. It doesn’t matter if you’re sleeping, eating, playing with your kids, or whatever, you are always making money. This is what you must set in place to make a living and be able to do what you enjoy doing. Again, going back to your passion; write a software program and put it on a web site where people can pay for it and download it, so it will generate money at all times. Put some photographs on a site that people can buy, create a web site that generates a massive amount of visitors and sell your ad space. There are thousands of ways to create residual income, try them out to see which ones work for you. Generate multiple sites, put different items on them, and get rid of the ones that don’t work, and keep and duplicate the ones that do.

Success and Failure

“Before success comes in any man’s life he is sure to meet with much temporary defeat and, perhaps, some failures. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and most logical thing to do is quit. That is exactly what the majority of men do.” - Napoleon Hill

“Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional.”- Roger Crawford

“Defeat never comes to anyone until they admit it.”- Josephus Daniels

“Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping-stones to success.”- Dale Carnegie

Keep in mind if you are not failing, then you are not moving forward, so don’t get discouraged, keep the ‘strong will’ going and you are destined to succeed. One of the biggest fears that will go through your mind is…I don’t have anything to offer others, maybe, getting a job is the best option for me. Don’t fall into this line of thinking; it is part of the social programming you are accustomed to. You already know that getting a job is not the option you want to take. Don’t listen to others who try and discourage you, “That is crazy talk, that won’t work, just get a job!” The reason so many people, including family members, try to discourage you, is that when you try to do something to better yourself, it makes others feel guilty. You’ve heard the old saying, ‘Misery Loves Company’; they try to discourage you. Learn to trust your Intuition, even if the whole world is telling you it can’t be done. Years from now, when you look back as a successful Work at Home entrepreneur, you will be grateful you had the intestinal fortitude to stay on the straight and narrow and become a success.

Angela Bailey lives in Houston, TX with her 4-year-old son. She does freelance writing and Internet Marketing for a living. Her hobbies include Yoga, Meditation, and Cooking. Angela's Blog lists legitimate work from home opportunities go to http://findworkfromhome.com.
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By Grant D. Robinson

Are you on pace to accomplish your important sales and financial goals this year?

The truth is, a good majority of US Organizations have been unable to grow their businesses this year. They are not reaching their sales and financial goals. Many have all but given up.

Is this you? Are you now looking to next year to be the year you shatter previous productivity, sales and revenue records?

It is a great idea to start preparing for your best year ever, regardless of whether you are on pace to meet your goals or not. You will need to prepare!

You have realized that it takes more than just setting a goal to accomplish it. The mere act of putting the goal on paper, sharing it with your managers, and giving the extra effort to accomplish the goal is really secondary to the preparation required.

Before you begin to work toward an objective, you must insure all of the past barriers that stood in the way of prior goal accomplishment are eliminated. If they aren't, the unfortunate fact is, you will fail to meet the objective once again… for the same reasons as before.

The following are the three keys market-leading organizations have used to grow their businesses. Consider these in order to take your organization to the next level of success.

A. Operational Systems

There are two types of systems in your organization. The first is your operational systems, including:

1. Vision & Mission 2. Financial & Budgeting
3. Production, Manufacturing & Distribution 4. Sales & Marketing

All four of these systems are in place for one reason: to efficiently grow your business. They are the standards to how your organization operates from day to day. More importantly, they are the standards to how your workforce operates from day to day.

To improve productivity this quarter and prepare for your best year ever, it is vital to analyze your operational systems. In the next month, recognize what current productivity barriers must be eliminated, what operating expenses must be reduced, what unique cultural standards must be maintained, and what marketing promises must be upheld.


B. Managerial Systems

In answering the previous questions, most organizations realize an important fact: Changes to operational systems are almost always made to improve the productivity of their workforce. But the truth is; these changes alone rarely help.

Organizations failing to accomplish their goals tend to make irrational decisions. They feel if they rewrite a vision, increase spending on technology, reorganize production procedures, or alter their marketing messages, workforce performance and profits will magically improve.

However, the opposite is usually the case. The changes usually end up harming efficiency, production and morale. The usual outcome is, those employees who performed the job they were hired to do before the changes, still do. Those who failed to produce before the expensive operational modifications, still underachieve.

The second type of system in your organization is your managerial systems. The five most important processes of your managerial systems are: recruiting, hiring, training, developing and retaining (productive employees). When you create a successful managerial system, your hiring success rate, employee motivation, and the effectiveness of your leaders will naturally improve.

To prepare for your best year ever, there is only one question to ask yourself: Why haven't we been able to hire, develop and retain TOP-Performing employees in every position.

C. Focus on People

Market leading organizations realize "people" are the key to growing a business and meeting goals. The more productive their individuals are, the more productive their teams have become.

A recent study of over 2,200 managers, by Watson Wyatt Worldwide, in Human Resource Executive Magazine found, “Of the hundreds of management functions, ‘Selecting Staff’ and ‘Retention’ are the second and third most important management functions in business today.” Recruiting was ranked fifth.

Since three of the four new hires fail to meet our expectations within the first year, managers are forced to constantly replace underachievers. Recruiting is the number one management expense in business today. Although selecting staff and retention are rated very important, they rank 36th and 44th in management effort and spending respectively.

Although executives understand the importance of Top Performers in every position, their time, energy and financial priorities have become operational. With the amount of organizations failing to meet their goals or grow their businesses, it should be apparent that this strategy just doesn't work.

Hiring Top Performers for every position in your company, the first time, is the only way to insure your productivity and profits will improve. Traditionally, Top Performers are five to eight times more productive then their counterparts.

You've probably learned the hard way; that no modification to an operational system will ever increase your organization's performance five to eight times. If you are like the most effective executives, you'll understand this and will double or triple the productivity and profits of your organization by giving your managers the tools to hire, develop and retain your greatest asset; your people.

Great customer service, work ethic, motivation, productivity, and sales success comes from employees that fit your culture, their team, and the job they were hired to do. Whether it takes developing your underachievers or replacing them with someone who will naturally produce; now is the time to focus on your people to prepare for your best year ever.

Grant D. Robinson is the President of People Values and the Author of the Market Leadership System. To improve your “Hiring Success Rate” of TOP Performing Employees, watch a free, 5-minute, on-line video at: http://www.peoplevalues.com.
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By Tim Sales

There is one very specific quality you must have, whether leading just a few or a few thousand people in your MLM business. Achieving MLM success will be A LOT easier when you develop this one quality, tell the truth.

If you do not tell the truth, your downline may be friendly to you...but they probably won't follow you.

Truth means: that which is factual based on observable data.

There has been much written about truth, a lot having to do with philosophy and religion. My only interest in the subject (as it pertains to the MLM industry) is that we, as a group, stop destroying our income and our reputation by not telling the truth.

Being truthful should go without saying, but I have to discuss it because it is one of the Ten Communication Qualities that make up a great communicator. It’s also a major problem in the network marketing community needing correction for the MLM industry to grow to its fullest potential.

My income dropped in 1991 - like a brick falling from the top of a building - from a monthly gross of $68,000 to $16,000 - just because people were not telling the truth.

A media member sneaked into my colleague's business meeting and recorded the dialogue that occurred. Although it was a painful experience for me, the biggest loss stems from the CONSTANT number of people we repel because of not telling the truth.

Every time we (I'm talking about me and you) don't tell the truth, we feel icky inside. Observe a dog that has done something wrong - do they come strutting into the room? Not at all! They actually hide under the couch. Their ears and tail hang low. They don't feel worthy. The same is true for us. That ickyness actually causes us to not feel worthy that others follow our advice...and so they don't.

Five broad categories of not telling the truth have gotten individuals and/or companies in trouble. It stopped them from growing to their fullest potential. They are listed below.

1. False income representation or suggesting others can earn a stated level of income.

2. Stating that a product or service can do something that has not been substantiated.

3. Promising someone (or yourself) something and not doing it.

4. Gossiping about others. Passing information to another that does not add value.

5. Building the business in a way that is not truthful...such as suggesting distributors create fictitious accounts or positions.

Let’s consider, category one, false income representation. If you don't know what your upline earns, don't say what you think it is. If through the grapevine you've heard its "X" amount, and you feel you must state it, say: "The rumor is that he/she earns $ amount; although I've not verified it."

Say nothing you don't know is absolutely true. This gives you tremendous credibility!

When you discuss income, discuss what the prospect wants - NOT what someone else is earning. If the prospect states an income they desire, tell them it's achievable, (provided it is). Then state, "Some people go to school and become the President. Some become billionaires, some sell illegal drugs and some draw a welfare check. It would be impossible to know what you're going to do with what I teach you, but there is the potential to earn a substantial income if you choose to fully apply what you're taught."

Category two from above is unsubstantiated product claims; which, in the past, have also gotten the network marketing industry into trouble. If you market a nutrition product, the current law (in the USA) is the DSHEA Act, (Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act), which states you can discuss what a product does, provided THAT PRODUCT is what has been proven to get results.

Most often an INGREDIENT has had some studies done on it (such as vitamin C) but your company's product (that contains that ingredient) has NOT. Therefore, it is against the law to claim your product does ANYTHING!

Now, that doesn't mean you can't promote your product truthfully. You simply say something like, "The active ingredient (vitamin C) in Potent-C (an example of your company's product) has demonstrated to increase/decrease ________ by X amount." That way you're not claiming your product does anything.

Telling stories of your success or others' success with the product or the MLM business is also common. Just keep in mind that the common way people get in trouble is from questionable claims reported by the media after coming in with hidden recording devices and capturing what you say. Make sure you are not claiming anything that isn't the truth.

If a friend went on your company's product and stopped having migraine headaches, you honestly wouldn't know if the reason was the product or the fact that she increased her water intake to take your product! You can't determine what really helped her - so be very careful what you represent.

Category three is to keep your word once given. If you say you will be at a meeting at 6:45 - be there at 6:45. No excuses, just be there. If you say you're going to help someone, - help them. Keep your word! If you're unable to keep your word, make it up to the person. Do something that shows you want to help.

The most important person you must keep your word with is yourself. If you say you are going to bed at 11pm - go to bed at 11pm. If you say you will call five prospects a day, call five prospects a day!

When you're honest with yourself and with others, people will trust you. This trust is what helps your MLM business to grow and be successful. My experience is that people will not follow someone they cannot trust.

Tell the truth always and you will be on your way to experiencing passive income and time freedom in your MLM business.

Tim Sales helps network marketers gain the confidence and skills to be an MLM success. Discover what you must know to become a true network marketing professional. Sign up for his free MLM training newsletter and listen to free training at http://www.brilliantexchange.com.
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By Colleen Kettenhofen

"Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit." Conrad Hilton

1. Get rid of clutter. Too much "stuff" in your office and inside your home clutters your mind, creates confusion and exacerbates stress. Start by cleaning one area at a time. What items do you have that need to be donated, sold, or put back where they belong? As you're cleaning and putting things away, repeat to yourself, "Everything has a place." I often heard my dad repeat this phrase while we cleaned house. It still rings in my ears every time I clean.

What clothes do you own that you haven't worn in a year? Are you hoping to fit into them again? Donate these items to a local charity. What piles of paperwork are lying around that need to be filed? Studies show that 85% of everything that gets filed away never gets looked at again. Consider starting an archives file. You'll feel more energized, less stressed, and more self-confident when you eliminate clutter.

2. What's going on outside you is a result of what's going on inside you. What self-limiting beliefs do you have about your skills, aptitudes and abilities? Be honest with yourself. Write them down! You don't have to share them with anybody. The average person has 50,000 to 60,000 thoughts a day. When we talk to ourselves about ourselves, much of that self-talk is negative. As the saying goes, "How many times in a day do we ‘should of ' all over ourselves with everything that we should be doing?!" Get rid of the "should of' ." Become more aware of your thoughts, change them into positives, and you'll start achieving more success.

3. Enroll in a sunrise semester. First thing in the morning spend 30 to 60 minutes a day reading motivational, inspirational, or other pertinent information related to your chosen field. Your subconscious mind is most amenable to suggestion the FIRST hour upon arising, and that LAST hour before bedtime. As John Wooden once said, "If I am through learning I am through." Stay current and constantly upgrade your skills.

Learn more to earn more and to improve performance. Much of this is material we already know. Yet, often we need to hear it again because we don't "do" with what we know. Invest at least 3% of your income in personal and professional books, CD's, e-books, and teleseminars. When pressed for time, listen to CD's in your car on the way to work, picking up the kids, or driving to and from the supermarket. Attend seminars and conferences no matter what the distance. It is worth the investment in keeping you motivated.

4. Become more self-disciplined. The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is that successful people make themselves do things unsuccessful people don't want to do. It's that simple. Once you start an important task, discipline yourself to keep going. Focus on it single-mindedly until it's complete.

Be more aware of your every day habits and what distracts you. Make a list of the activities you engage in that are a waste of time. Resolve to eliminate them altogether or delegate them to someone else. Start by determining which activities only you can do. These are the ones you must do. Outsource everything else. The ability to determine where you should spend the majority of your time and then complete those tasks can have more impact on achieving your goals than anything else.

5. To improve performance and productivity work faster. Compete with yourself. Make it a game. Resolve to work more effectively and efficiently throughout your workday. Try arriving to work earlier and leaving a little later. Many business people in my speaking engagements tell me they get more work accomplished when they arrive to work at the crack of dawn. No one else is in the office and there aren't distractions. Try this at lunch as well. Everyone leaves from noon to one in the afternoon. Cut back on frivolous time wasters such as talking with co-workers around the water cooler and other idle chitchat. This will free up your time for the things you really enjoy, like spending time with your true friends, family and loved ones.

6. Review your values and priorities. Make sure your goals are consistent with what's important to you. Otherwise, no matter how much you think you want something, you won't work hard to achieve it if it's not in line with your core values. Write down each individual goal you think you want. Is it consistent with giving you greater peace of mind and happiness?

For example, values that are important to me in terms of work are helping others, freedom, creativity and flexible hours. A corporate job where I'd sit in an office all day would make me unhappy no matter how much it paid. So start by clarifying your values.

Success means many things to different people. In powering up your performance for greater success, first determine what you really want…and why. For example, do you really want a new car out of necessity, or is it to compete with the neighbors next door? No matter how much effort you put into achieving your goals, if they don't fit in with what's really important to you, you'll find ways to procrastinate or sabotage yourself. It's easier to be self-disciplined when you're passionate about something and it fits in with your core values.

"The biggest mistake people make in life is not trying to make a living at doing what they most enjoy." Malcolm S. Forbes

Colleen Kettenhofen is a motivational speaker, workplace expert, & co-author of "The Masters of Success," as featured on the Today Show, along with Ken Blanchard and Jack Canfield. For free articles, e-newsletter, or to order the book visit http://www.ColleenSpeaks.com Topics: leadership, management, difficult people, public speaking. Colleen is available for keynotes, breakout sessions, seminars. (971)212-2412.
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By People Building

I find it fascinating that as people, we are drawn to the idea of being part of something bigger than ourselves. We want to find unity and yet still be unique. We want to have similarities but not be the same.

For me, religion is a classic example of where people can find unity and common ground, or common beliefs. A couple of weeks ago, I tried out the whole religion thing. I've not been bought up in a religious family, nor was my school particularly religious- although we sang hymns such. Prayer time was more of an opportunity to sit with my eyes half shut whilst sneakily looking around to see who was genuinely into this praying malarkey, and then usually discovering that the rest of the school was doing the same.

So this was my experience. My boyfriend has been bought up in a very religious family and for him, popping off to church for the evening, was probably equated to the ease at which I could pop off to the pub. But church for me was quite an event, so I took the plunge one week and went with him.

We got fed (great!) and it was cheap (very great!), but I have to say I was quite surprised to see a bunch of Christian grandma's dishing out rice and vegetables, with a decent sized lump of chicken breast on each plate. “That's funny”, I thought, “They've managed to get God’s permission to eat his creatures. There must be some sort of arrangement, where they spread his love and he lets them know it's ok to eat chicken”. Still I know that Jesus ate fish and if it's good enough for him….

After the food, the vicar got up and did a presentation about Jesus and how we can know that he really existed. It was a good presentation. The vicar was quite charismatic and pretty funny, too. Afterwards, we sat at our tables having a chat about what the vicar had talked about. It seemed all the regulars were pretty sold on what the vicar had said. I felt like a troublemaker by throwing some new ideas into the agenda. It's not that I didn't believe that Jesus walked the earth, in my opinion, he probably did. But I don't think he was the only smart spiritual being to have ever set foot on our planet. There's a lot of convincing stuff about other religious folk from other religions. This concept wasn't welcomed I found. Now, don't get me wrong, they were a nice bunch and no one accused me of being in cahoots with the devil, when I told them that I'm a hypnotist (although that has happened since!) When they began to discuss the power of prayer, and I linked this to a higher consciousness rather than a higher being, I knew I was pushing my luck.

Life is filled with possibilities, all the time in everything that you ever do or say. You have an abundance of other possibilities you can take. How then, could anything you ever do, be wrong or sinful? Would someone so great, powerful and majestic as God really spend his time watching a DVD of each of us throughout our entire lives, ready to place judgment on us when our time is up, and tell us if we're spending the rest of eternity in his kingdom or in the fiery furnace of hell? That's a tough call. How would He ever decide? Some people have done some really bad stuff, but they might have done it with a positive intention.

You're probably guessing by now that I am in no way qualified to speak about religion. I don't claim to be, but bear with me.

My other concern for a long time has been that there are a lot of good people in the world. Surely then, heaven must be suffering from over crowding, not least from the vast array of rabbits, hamsters, and goldfish I've had over the years, that my nan told me had all gone to heaven when they'd popped their clogs. I guess there are dead architects up there, god must have gotten them to create a high rise building like they have in China. Especially since Jesus said that the entire kingdom of heaven is smaller than the mustard seed.

If you were married and your partner died, then you met someone else and got married again, which partner do you end up spending the rest of eternity with when you die?

In my confusion, I decided to relate what I'd learned to the presuppositions of NLP, since they have for me for the last few years, been my bible.

This is what I came up with.

Everyone has a unique model of the world. This could mean that what you absolutely believe to be true is true, (for you at least), so if one person has absolute belief in god, then he exists, and if someone else believes that he doesn't then, for that person, he doesn't.

The map is not the territory. In quantum physics, the whole contains the part and the part contains the whole. In the same way that an apple contains a part, which is just a seed, the seed contains all the information required growing into a tree and creating further apples. So I could be god (it has been said!) at the quantum level. When I die the tiniest quantum part of me that remains, could be god, who has the power to create further things.

The meaning of all behavior is dependent upon the context it exists in. This might means that there is no judgment at death.

All behavior has a positive intention and everyone one is doing the best that they can with the resources that they have available. No hell maybe?

Everyone has all the resources they need to succeed and to achieve their desired outcome. Knock and the door shall be opened unto you.

There is no failure only feedback. My flesh and my heart may fail, but god is my strength forever.

I'd never thought about NLP as a spiritual tool before, more as a series of change techniques, but this ever-evolving subject continually inspires me to take on new perspectives in my life. I'm thinking now about starting up a spiritual group- no not a cult! - Something where people can meet together and discuss their ideas about the meaning of life, etc. It will probably create more questions than answer, but what's the harm in that. When we think we know the answer to something, we become cut off from all of the other possible answers. When we have only questions, we also have the wealth of possible answers - you might like to call that confusion! Possibilities create many opportunities. I suppose the one thing that I discovered about my introduction to religion, is that sometimes religion is about stating what you can and can't do, say or believe, how you should or shouldn't behave, and this could limit life's opportunities. I'd like to be part of something that is open to limitless possibilities of being. I think that that's the way god would like me to be.

Welcome to People Building, a self-development company dedicated to inspiring growth, progression and better results in your life. The mind, body and human behaviour have fascinated us for many years now. It is our privilege to present to you authentic NLP and Hypnosis training for the betterment of your skills in Business, Education, Therapy and many other areas. Our unique trainings have been designed as one of the most innovative trainings available in the NLP field of learning. We will never cease to evolve, and it gives me great pleasure, to invite you with us on this epic adventure.

http://www.peoplebuilding.co.uk
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By James MacArthur

Seller financing opens your home up to an entirely new segment of prospective buyers. The more buyers viewing your home, the quicker you will find that one qualified buyer. Specifically, you will attract more buyers who don't want to or would have a problem getting a bank loan, or those who want a quicker closing or more flexible payment plans than banks offer. Such buyers include the self-employed, who may be great candidates, but are not viewed as favorable by banks, as are W-2 employees. Also, those with credit blemishes, which may be going down the long road of credit repair. Real estate investors are another large group, since they may own many properties with mortgages, which make it difficult to get another mortgage from a bank.

Banks typically take 30 days to close a loan. With seller financing, YOU make the decision, and it can be done much quicker, thereby removing a buyers contingencies faster, and in effect, leading to a much faster home sale. Make sure you use "Seller Financing" in your marketing and advertising, be it in newspaper ads, flyers, or in the MLS description, regardless of whether you are selling FSBO (For Sale By Owner), or with a real estate agent.

Other Ideas to Sell Your Home Faster

Number 1: PRICE IT RIGHT! Not too high, not too low, check comparables and local agents to get the right number. If you are not getting any action after a week or two, you probably have it priced too high.

If you will be selling FSBO, use a flat rate MLS open listing. For under $500 you can get listed in MLS with no frills. Check the newspaper or call agents to find one who offers this. It will give you much broader exposure and is advertising well spent. Also, strongly consider offering a buyer agent commission of 2-4%, depending on how quick you want to sell and how hot your local market is.

Put up lots of signs around the neighborhood, especially on weekends. Hold regular open houses. Prepare your house for sale. Keep it neat & tidy. Remove the clutter.

Sell Your Home for Full Price

1. Normally a seller will accept a lower price (below market) for all cash, no contingency fast closing.

2. It will sell for market price if the buyer needs 30-60 days to close escrow, will need to qualify for a loan at a bank, and do a home inspection.

3. You as a seller should charge even more (above market) if you will be giving seller-financing terms, maybe 5-10% higher than Case 2, or more depending on the terms.

A Good Investment

Taking back a note can be a very good investment since you will be making interest on your money, which is usually better than CD's, or money market rates. In fact, you can select the interest rate you want! This is especially appealing if you have no need for the money right now.

In fact, it is such a good investment, that many investors buy seller carry-back notes. If you have no interest in holding a note, it is common for a home seller to carry-back a note and sell it at the same time as the home closing occurs. This is called a simultaneous closing.

We Buy Real Estate Notes and can facilitate simultaneous closings, call for more info on this. We can also assist in setting the terms of the note so you get the best price.

Tax Benefits

When selling a home, under current tax law, if you lived in your home for 2 of the last 5 years, your capital gains will be exempt up to $250,000 (twice that if married). Otherwise, your capital gains will be taxed in the year that you collect the capital gains. If you will have significant taxable capital gains on your home sale, it may be very good for your tax situation to take back a seller carry-back note and spread your sale proceeds over several years, or postpone it for several years. Talk to your tax adviser.

Steps for Successful Seller Financing

1. Pull the prospective buyers’ credit report. Their permission will be needed. Always review a credit report on each borrower. It is a small expense.

2. Can they afford the home, job, income? If they can’t afford it, or have a shaky job or income situation, a foreclosure will be much more likely.

3. Use a professional to draft the paperwork. Each state has various laws regarding real estate sales, contracts, and mortgages. Use an experienced attorney to draft the promissory note, mortgage, or deed of trust.

4. Down payment - Sellers usually ask for 10-30% down payment to protect themselves in case the buyer stops making payments and the seller has to foreclose on the loan, and take the property back. The larger the down payment, the more equity protection you, as the seller, have. The buyer will also consider how much money he has put down, if he is in foreclosure and can’t make the payments, and wants to walk away from the house. Zero down is very little encouragement for a buyer, should he hit a rough patch.

5. 1st position or 2nd position - A first position note is much safer for the seller than a second position note.

6. Set the interest rate above current bank rates. This will encourage the buyers to refinance down the road.

Also Read this Article: "Tips for Creating a Seller Carry-back Real Estate Note" at http://www.jmacfunding.com/articles.htm

Other Alternatives to Seller Financing

1. Land Contract / Contract to buy

2. Lease Option

Disclaimer:

I am not an attorney, nor a tax accountant, laws vary from state to state, and any advice implied by this paper should be checked with an attorney and/or tax adviser.

JMAC Funding
PO Box 91472, San Diego, CA 92169
jmac@jmacfunding.com
http://www.jmacfunding.com
(619) 846-1550

James MacArthur, http://www.jmacfunding.com, is a real estate broker-licensed in the State of California, as well as an investor of real estate and debt instruments. We buy real estate notes and real estate contracts nationwide and make private and hard money loans on real estate in California. Feel free to contact me with any feedback, or if you are contemplating selling a real estate note.
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By Paul Levesque

All businesses that out perform their competitors have two key characteristics in common: a highly energized workforce, plus hordes of delighted customers that keep coming back. Two nice things to have - but of course everyone knows the reason so few businesses enjoy a clear competitive advantage is because these two things are so difficult to achieve. If it’s really that difficult, shouldn’t those few businesses that manage to pull it off be absolutely exhausted by the effort? When you take a closer look, (as I have), at those rare businesses that consistently achieve both objectives - flashpoint businesses, as I refer to them - what you invariably see is just the opposite. Employees at all levels seem perpetually fired up, as if every day they’re engaged in some kind of fun group activity. Is there some big secret about "energized workers" and "delighted customers" that these flashpoint businesses understand, and everyone else seems to have missed?

There most certainly is. It has to do with what most people consider the basic difference between "work" and "play". The first step on a shortcut to competitive advantage is to understand the specific elements that make play so much more satisfying than work.

Play Element 1: Challenge

Achieving better bowling scores would be easier if the bowling pins were closer. On the other hand, who would pay to go to a bowling alley where anyone could knock down all the pins every time with ease? Knocking them all down over and over again would quickly begin to feel like the kind of repetitive, pointless activity most bowlers experience at their jobs, and go bowling precisely to get away from it. To be fun, it has to be a real challenge—that’s key.

In most workplaces, there is not one single well-defined “mission” that takes precedence over everything else. Instead, there are all kinds of tasks, objectives, and deadlines that often make workers feel they’re being pulled in a dozen directions at once. For many, the only real challenge on the job is resisting the temptation to quit.

Contrast this with flashpoint businesses, where the one crystal-clear overriding mission is to draw business away from competitors by attempting to delight every customer every time. In these businesses, the reason it looks like workers are having fun is because in many ways their work feels like a game with a single, challenging, shared objective.

Shortcut to Competitive Advantage, Part One: Challenge everyone in your business to think of -outperforming the competition through superior “customer care” as the primary objective that overrides all others at all times.






Play Element 2: Rules

Every play activity has it own elaborate set of rules. In a new game, even before play begins, all the rules are carefully spelled out. These rules add to the challenge, and keep the game fair for all.

In the work setting, the rules are often vague and unclear. They may even seem to shift and change from time to time, based on different situations as they arise. Workers often feel reluctant to take initiatives, unsure if doing so will later earn them praise (for “thinking outside the box”) or rebukes (for “breaking the rules”). They tend to adopt a play-it-safe approach.

By comparison, most flashpoint businesses spell out their values and their priorities—the rules—over and over again. “Your goal is to delight the customer, but not by doing anything that harms the organization in any way.” “We want to pull business away from our competitors, but never in an unlawful or underhanded way.”

Shortcut to Competitive Advantage, Part Two: Ensure that your workers understand how the game is to be played—how, for example, you will be giving them opportunities to come up with their own ideas for enhancing the customer experience. Clarify what constitutes a “foul” or a violation of the rules.

Play Element 3: Scoring

In play activities of every kind, there exists some sort of scoring mechanism that lets the players know immediately how well they’re doing. This immediacy is critical. How popular would bowling be if the pins were in the dark, and players never found out their score, how well they played, until it arrived in the mail weeks later?

This is what it feels like for most workers on the job. They don’t find out how well they’re doing until the “quarterly reports” come out, or until their annual performance evaluation meeting.

Things are different in flashpoint businesses. There, spontaneous positive feedback from happy customers becomes the number-one scoring mechanism. At the same time it also serves as the number-one employee motivator, the basis for endless internal celebration and recognition.

Shortcut to Competitive Advantage, Part Three: Harvest immediate positive customer feedback by every means at your disposal, (especially informal face-to-face conversation), and direct as much of this feedback as possible to your workers.






Play Element 4: Satisfaction

Bowlers know before every game that they won’t succeed in knocking down every pin every time. Players in every kind of game know they’ll never achieve a perfect score—but this does nothing to diminish their attempts to do so. When their score tells them their performance has moved closer to the unachievable goal, their feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment is profound. There’s shouting, ‘high-fives’ and every kind of exuberant victory dance imaginable.

Flashpoint businesses also know they won’t succeed in delighting every customer every time. When the feedback indicates they’ve moved closer to that unattainable objective, the same kind of cheering and celebration erupt. It’s something that’s almost never experienced in the majority of workplaces, and it’s something that’s almost routine in flashpoint businesses. They once again have beaten the opposing team, once again the dance of victory unites all of them in their shared accomplishment—and in their shared determination to repeatedly play the game, and strive together to win another round.

Shortcut to Competitive Advantage, Part Four: Create a culture of celebration that maximizes workers’ sense of accomplishment with every “rave review” from delighted customers. This is the motivational fuel that quickly gains the most powerful competitive edge in any business—and helps sustain it over the long term.

Customer-focus consultant Paul Levesque’s latest book is, Customer Service From The Inside Out Made Easy (Entrepreneur Press, 2006).

Copyright Paul Levesque. All Rights Reserved.

Paul Levesque is available for speaking engagements through http://www.keynoteresource.com 1-800-420-4155. Paul Levesque has more than 20 years' experience as an international customer-service consultant. He has helped hundreds of corporate and small business clients become more customer-focused.
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By Wally Bock

For centuries people have debated whether leaders are born or made. Several decades ago researchers started trying to answer this question. The debate goes on, even though we know the answer.

It turns out to be a little of both. Leaders are ‘sort of’ born and they are always made. Knowing the details will help you develop effective leaders for your company.

Leaders are ‘Sort of’ Born

There's only one thing a person needs to actually be born with in order to be a leader later in life; that is intelligence. A leader needs to be smart.

Effective leaders are not necessarily the smartest people in the room, or the company, or even on the team. They have to be smart enough to do the job they are assigned.

The kind of person the potential leader is when he or she becomes an adult is very important. The person who emerges from adolescence into young adulthood has the psychological and character traits they'll demonstrate for the rest of their life. Some of those characteristics matter for leadership.

By the time a person reaches adulthood, we can tell if they know how to help other people achieve results. That, after all, is what we expect leaders to do. We expect them to achieve success through a group. We expect them to help their subordinates grow and develop.

When a person becomes an adult, we can tell if they want to achieve objectives or if they just want to go along and take it easy. We expect leaders to be responsible for achieving results. You can have a marvelous life without a results focus; however, if you're going to lead successfully, you have to have the drive and willingness to be measured by the results of your leadership.

Upon reaching adulthood, we can tell if they are willing to make decisions or not. Lots of people wake up every day and let the world happen to them. Leaders must be able and willing to make decisions that affect themselves and others.

When achieving adulthood, we can tell if they have the basic qualities that we expect leaders to have. We can determine if they're smart enough to do the job. We can tell if they are willing to help others to achieve results as a group. We can tell if they will make decisions.

Those things are essential. People who have those qualities can learn the multiple skills it takes for them to become effective leaders.
No one emerges from the womb or from adolescence with all the skills in place to be an effective leader, no matter how they measure up on the key essentials. Everybody has to learn the job. That's why leaders are always made.

Leaders are Always Made

Leadership can be learned by anyone with the basics. There is a lot to leadership that cannot be taught.

Leadership is an apprentice trade. Leaders learn about 80 percent of their craft on the job.

They learn from watching other leaders and emulating their behavior. They choose role models and seek out mentors. They ask other leaders how to handle situations.

Leaders improve by obtaining feedback and using it. The best leaders seek feedback from their boss, their peers, and their subordinates. They modify their behavior so they are able to obtain better results.

Leaders learn by trying things out and then critiquing their performance. The only failure they recognize is the ‘failure to learn from experience’.

In their book, Geeks and Geezers, Warren Bennis and Robert Thomas identify the special power of what they call "crucibles." These are trials that teach hard lessons which leaders use as the basis of their strength in later crises. Many of these events can be called "failures," but leaders turn the bad situation to good by learning from it.

Effective leaders take control of their own development. They seek out training opportunities that will make a difference in their performance.

Effective leaders look for training programs that will help them develop specific skills they can use on the job. Then, when they return to work, they devote specific, deliberate effort to mastering in real life what they have learned in the classroom.

Marshall Goldsmith and Howard Morgan studied the progress of 88,000 managers who had been to leadership development training. The people who returned from the training, talked about it, and did the deliberate learning applications, were judged as becoming more effective leaders. The ones, who didn't, showed no improvement.

If you're responsible for leadership development for your company, you should structure your support for your leaders to recognize that most leadership learning happens ‘on the job’. Help people develop leadership development plans. Help them select specific skills training. Then work on transferring skills from the training to the job. Help them find role models, mentors and peers to discuss leadership issues.

Help your leaders get feedback from their boss, peers and subordinates. Work to create the culture of candor that will make that feedback helpful and effective.

Don't stop there. Make sure you evaluate your leaders on their leadership work. Reward them. Hold them accountable for accomplishing the mission through the group. Hold them accountable for caring for their people and helping them grow and develop.

A Leader's Growth is Never Done

Leadership learning is a lifetime activity. You are never done. There's always more to learn. There are always skills you need to improve.

Effective leaders seek out development opportunities to help them learn new skills. These might be project assignments or job changes. This develops knowledge and skills that can be used elsewhere.

Effective leaders seek out opportunities that will increase their visibility. Great performances alone will not propel you to the top in your career. You also have to be visible to people who make decisions about promotions and assignments.

If you are responsible for developing leaders in your company, set up programs to give your leaders both kinds of development opportunities over the course of their careers.

There is no magic formula for developing quality leaders in your company. By selecting potential leaders with the essential traits, supporting them with training, feedback, on-the-job learning, developmental experiences, and holding them accountable for results, you will have the leaders you need to shape your company's future.

Wally Bock is an author, speaker, and coach who help leaders improve the performance and morale of their teams. Wally is the author of Performance Talk: The One-on-One Part of Leadership (http://www.performancetalk.com/) and the Three Star Leadership Blog (http://blog.threestarleadership.com/).
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By Clarence Binayu

More and more people are lured into affiliate marketing. You might be one of them. Affiliate marketing is one of the most effective means of generating a full-time income through the Internet. It’s a fair deal between the merchandiser and his affiliates, as both benefit from each sale materialized. Like in other kinds of business, a great deal of the profits in affiliate marketing depends on the affiliate’s advertising, promoting and selling strategies. Everyday, as the affiliate marketing industry expands, competition heightens, also, so an affiliate marketer must be creative enough to employ unique and effective ways to convince potential buyers to purchase or avail themselves of the products and services offered.

Compared to traditional advertising practices, affiliate programs are more effective, risk-free, and cost-efficient. Why do many people still fail in affiliate marketing? There are many reasons and many areas in the program to look into. The most critical aspect in the affiliate program is advertising. Many affiliate marketers’ fail in this aspect because they lack hard work, which is the most important thing in affiliate marketing and in all other kinds of business. Although it pays to be lucky, you cannot merely rely on it. Affiliate marketing isn’t as simple as directing customers to the business site. If you want to earn big, you have to invest time and hard work in promoting the products. As earlier mentioned, the competition is very intense. Customers nowadays are very wise. After all, who doesn’t want to get the best purchase—that is, to pay less and get more in terms of quantity and quality?

Another reason why one fails in affiliate marketing is the lack of preparation, whether he is a merchandiser or an affiliate. Part of the preparation is researching. The merchant has to be highly selective in choosing the right affiliate websites for his affiliate program. To make the best choices, he must have exhausted his resources in looking for highly interested affiliates whose sites are a sure fit to his products and services. The affiliate sites must match his targeted customers. Also, the affiliate marketer must research on the good-paying merchandisers before he signs up for an affiliate program. He must ensure that the merchants’ products and services match his interests so he can give his full attention and dedication to the program. He can get valuable information by joining affiliate forums, comparing different affiliate programs, and reading articles on affiliate marketing where he can get tips from experienced affiliate marketers on how to choose the best merchants and products with high conversion rate.

The website is a very important tool in the whole affiliate program. As an affiliate marketer, you should plan how your site is going to look, from domain name, to the design, the layout, the content, and ads. Some users are particular about what they see at first glance. If they find your site ugly, they won’t read through the content even if your site has many things to say and offer. In contrast, there are those who want information more than anything else. Affiliate marketers with “rich-content” web sites are usually the ones who prosper in this business because the content improves traffic to the site. Websites with high quality contents—with relevant keywords and more importantly, right information about the product and not empty hyped-up advertisements—allow you to earn big in affiliate marketing even when you’re asleep. If you aren’t able to sustain the interest of your site visitor, you won’t be able to lead him to the merchants’ site. No click-through means no sale and thus, no income on your part.

Selecting a top-level domain name is also crucial to the success of the affiliate program. A lot of affiliate sites don’t appear in the search engine results because affiliate managers deem them as personal sites. Major search engines and directories would think of your site as transient ones and thus, they won’t list it in the directory. Before you decide on the domain name, know first what you are going to promote. Many fail because their sites are not appropriately named. When they feature the exact products the customer is looking for, the customer might think the site is not relevant and will not enter the site.

An affiliate marketer must be willing to learn more. Certainly, there are many things to learn and so an affiliate marketer must continue to educate himself so he can improve his marketing strategies. Many fail because they don’t grow in the business. They are merely concerned about earning money quickly. If you want long-term and highly satisfactory results, take time to learn the ins and outs of the business. Continue to improve your knowledge especially with the basics in affiliate marketing ranging from advertising to programming, web page development, and search engine optimization techniques. Study the needs and wants of your site users and how different merchandisers compete with each other.

Keep on trying!

Clarence B. is the founder and Webmaster for http://www.virtual-guides.com. Here you can find FREE information on many subjects including business, automobile, travel, vacation, affiliate marketing, advertising, internet, sports, entertainment, technology, communication, fashion, home improvement, culture, education, society, science, politics, fitness and health. http://www.virtual-guides.com provides you with helpful guidance, tips and news update, from basic to the latest skills, knowledge and information, about these subjects.
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By Vernon Anthony Johnson

Many people today are looking to own and run their own business. To do this they have three main choices.

1. Buy a franchise
2. Start from scratch to develop one’s own business.
3. Buy an existing business.

When speaking of capital to start or buy a conventional business, we are not talking peanuts. All these types of businesses will require a substantial sum of capital, perhaps in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

They usually require suitable staffing, computer expertise for accounts and wages, and also people skills are required in the workplace. There are always some problems with staff that can cause difficulties.

In a conventional business, you will require a building. If you have bought an existing business, then probably rates and maintenance are your two main expenses. If you need to rent a building, then you may require a refit for your purposes, which may cost tens of thousands of dollars. Depending on the type of business, it may require new machines or electronic devices that are very expensive. You would need computers and office furniture. Considerable costs are involved when starting a business. Some of these will be ongoing, which involves, interest on the loan, staff wages and rent, etc.

Look at what you might lose if the business fails. The equity that was used to finance the loan - most likely the property you own, because you couldn’t pay off the bank overdraft. The fixtures and fittings that you purchased which now would be of no use to you and any equipment you purchased which may have to be sold, invariably at a loss.

Everything was lost to try and pay off your debt. This wasn’t enough, so you have to leave the home you love and look for rented accommodations. Many years later, you might work your way back to where you were before the time of the crash. The statistics for new conventional type business successes are not good.

With a conventional business, if you need advice, you usually have to pay for it. Some advice is available free with a franchise. With a franchise, business mentoring is usually not included. So if it’s new to you, you may have to pay for that help. In MLM home based business with a good company, the marketing help comes as part of the deal.

Why you may ask?

Well, because the MLM I am recommending is structured so that the person who does the recruiting also helps the people they recruit. In making them successful, all will benefit financially. This team building is the essence of success in MLM marketing. People who have done this for a few years reap large rewards without having to take a huge gamble to raise equity.

When looking at a MLM business which costs less than $2000 initially and potentially enables you to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars a few years down the road, why wouldn’t that be more attractive to you than risking your house?

There is a company that excels in all respects and is ideal for MLM people:

1. It is debt free
2. Publicly listed on the NASDAQ
3. Achieved 1.5 billion turnover in the first five years
4. Is a global business operating in ten countries and six more in 2007.
5. Ranked number 5 in the 200 Best Small companies by FORBES.

If we summarize the benefits, then we are talking about a business which:

1. Does not require a large amount of capital
2. Does not require you to hold stock.
3. Does not require staff.
4. Does not require you to rent or buy expensive property because you can work from home using one room as your office.
5. Enables you to make an income relative to your efforts that could be in the six-figure bracket after a few years.
6. Does not confine you to office hours - you can work at a time convenient to you and your family.
7. Will still function once established without loss of income if you decide to take a long holiday.

Why then would anyone wanting to start a business not want to take the least expensive option?

The MLM choice comes without all the financial risk and headaches.

You can have the same earning potential as the conventional business with total support as part of the deal.

For more information, contact Vernon Johnson, 11/134 Hill Road, Runcorn, Brisbane 4113 Australia, biohealth@aapt.net.au . Vernon Anthony Johnson is a former electronic engineer, professional actor. Interested in making movies and making money from home business.
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By Paul Levesque

Some businesses remain that manage to consistently deliver superior customer service year in and year out, while howls of protest over poor customer service continue to fill the air. These are the places where turbo-charged employees pursue customer delight with a passion, places that ignite a flash point of contagious enthusiasm in employees and customers alike. Foremost, to be learned from such flash point businesses are the ‘blunders’ to avoid—fatal mistakes that trip up just about everybody else.

First Blunder: Making Customer Service a Training Issue.

Businesses of all kinds invest huge amounts in training programs that do not—and simply cannot—work. The function of this training is to identify the behaviors workers are engaging in, and then coax, bully, or legislate these behaviors into the workplace. At best, this is almost always a recipe for conduct that feels mechanized and insincere; at worst, it intensifies worker resentment and cynicism.

The better approach is to give workers opportunities to brainstorm their own ideas for delivering delight, instead of dictating what workers should be doing to delight customers. Management’s role then becomes to help employees implement these ideas, and to allow workers to savor the motivational effect of the positive feedback that ensues from delighted customers. This level of employee ownership and involvement is a ‘key’ cultural characteristic of virtually all flashpoint businesses.

Second Blunder: Blaming Poor Service on Employee De-motivation.

Businesses looking for ways to motivate their workers almost always are looking in the wrong places. Employee cynicism is the direct product of an organization’s visible preoccupation with self-interest above all else—a purely internal focus. The focus in flashpoint businesses is directed outward, toward the interests of customers and the community at large. This shift in cultural focus changes the way the business operates at all levels.

The reality is that employees are de-motivated because they can’t deliver delight in most business settings. The existing policies and procedures make it impossible. Instead of “fixing” their employees, flashpoint business set out to build a culture that unblocks them. Workers are encouraged to identify operational obstacles to customer delight, and participate in finding ways around them.

Third Blunder: Using Customer Feedback to Uncover What’s Wrong.

Surveys and other feedback mechanisms are used by businesses to get to the causes of customer problems and complaints. Employees come to dread these measurements and data-gathering efforts, which often lead to what feels like witch-hunts for employee scapegoats, formal exercises in finger pointing and the assigning of blame. Flashpoint businesses use customer feedback very differently. In these organizations, the object is to uncover everything that’s going right. Managers are forever on the lookout for "hero stories" - examples of employees going the extra mile to deliver delight. Such feedback becomes the basis for ongoing recognition and celebration. Employees see themselves as winners on a winning team. In this type of workplace, there is always some new "win" being celebrated.

Fourth Blunder: Reserving Top Recognition for Splashy Recoveries.

It happens all the time; something goes terribly wrong with a customer order or transaction. The dedicated employee goes to tremendous lengths to make things right. The delighted customer brings this employee’s wonderful recovery to management’s attention. The employee receives special recognition for his or her efforts. This is a blunder?

It is when such recoveries are the primary—if not the only—catalysts for employee recognition. In such a culture, foul-ups become ‘almost a good thing’ from the workers’ point of view. By creating opportunities for splashy recoveries, foul-ups represent the only chance employees have to feel appreciated on the job. Attempts to correct operational problems won’t win much support if employees see these problems as their only opportunity to shine.

Flashpoint businesses celebrate splashy recoveries, of course—but they’re also careful to uncover and celebrate employee efforts to delight customers where no mistakes or problems were involved. This makes it easier to get workers participating in efforts to permanently eliminate the sources of problems at the systems level.

Fifth Blunder: Competing on Price.

It is one of the most common (and most costly) mistakes in business. Price becomes the deciding factor in purchasing decisions only when everything else is equal—and everything else is almost never equal! Businesses compete on the perception of value, which includes more than price. The total customer experience—and aspects such as “helpfulness,” “friendliness,” shapes it and “the personal touch” often gives the competitive advantage to businesses that actually charge slightly more for their basic goods and services.

Businesses that deliver a superior total experience from the inside out (that is, as a product of a strongly customer-focused culture) are those that enjoy a long-term competitive advantage—along with virtual immunity from the kinds of headaches that plague everybody else.

Customer-focus consultant Paul Levesque’s latest book is Customer Service From The Inside Out Made Easy (Entrepreneur Press, 2006).

Copyright Paul Levesque. All Rights Reserved.

Paul Levesque is available for speaking engagements through http://www.keynoteresource.com 1-800-420-4155. Paul Levesque has more than 20 years' experience as an international customer-service consultant. He has helped hundreds of corporate and small business clients become more customer-focused.
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By Kristy Breen

Are you tired of working for someone else, always working more but never getting paid more? Are you tired of never being able to show up for your child's school events, because you have a boss breathing down your neck?

Millions of Americans are starting their own home-based business. It doesn't matter if you are young or old, have a masters degree or a high school diploma. You can start your own home-based business with very little start up cost. I'm going to give you a few reasons why you should do this.

1. More time with family-something we all want. Think about this. You work 9-5; an eight-hour day spent with the boss and coworkers, plus the hour compute to and from work. Arriving home at 6 p.m., the kids are excited to see you, wanting to tell you all about their day at school. You try to listen attentively while cooking dinner. After eating and maybe watching a television program together, it's time to put the kids to bed. It's now 8:30 pm., you read the kids a short bedtime story. You look at their precious little faces as they drift off to sleep, and your heart aches that you don't get to spend more quality time with your family. Why should you have to give your boss and coworkers the best part of you?

If you're a parent with a traditional 9-5 job, this is probably something you deal with everyday. You go to work day in and day out, spending the best part of the day with the boss and coworkers. You are left with just a few short hours when arriving home to spend time with your kids and husband and juggle dinner preparation. This isn't how it should be, but you ask yourself, what else can you do? You’re stuck in the daily grind of your job. You still have bills to pay and groceries to buy. Why not think about starting your own home-based business?

You don't have to quit your current job to do this. Get on the Internet and start looking. You will be overwhelmed at first. A home-based business can offer you the quality time with your family you truly deserve.

2. Flexibility- How many people can honestly say they go to work in their PJ's every morning, take a break when they feel like it, and run errands whenever they want to? A home-based business can offer you this kind of flexibility. Most people can't afford to quit their day job to start a new business, but it's ok. Here's where the flexibility part begins to play in.

Most home-based businesses can be started on a part time basis. You may only work your business a few hours a week. It's not the quantity of time; it's the quality of time you put into it that matters. Work your business whenever it fits into your schedule. It may be late after the kids go to bed or it may be early before anyone gets up. You decide!

3.NO Boss- Do you get tired of punching a time clock, someone constantly looking over your shoulder, telling you when and where to take a break? With your own home-based business, you're the captain of the ship. You are the boss. This means you’re going to have to be disciplined. No one is going to do it for you. Being at home doesn't mean you can spend 6 hours a day watching your favorite soap opera.

Write down some goals. This will keep you focused as you grow your new business. Always know your "why". This is very important, as this is the reason you started your new business. When things get tough and you get frustrated, remind yourself of your "why".

4. NO Commuting- how would you like to save the money spent every week on gas and put it towards a vacation. The average American is spending anywhere between $2.15-$3.00 per gallon of gas. What if you are driving sixty to a hundred miles round trip to work? Look at the money saved in gas alone, if you do not have to commute.

Plug in the numbers; see for yourself what kind of savings you’ll have. You’ll save gas, plus the wear and tear on your car. This all adds up quickly.

5. Financial Stability- Do you avoid checking the mail like the plague because you’re afraid of what is inside. Does your phone ring off the hook because creditors are hounding you? If this sounds like your life, you may want to think about starting your own home based business. Starting your own business can give you that extra income you need to pay off those bills without quitting your current job. Once you get your feet on the ground, if you are willing to give your business 1-3 years for growth, you could surpass your current income while saving in other areas.

Most Americans carry an average of $8-$10,000 worth of credit card debt. Almost anyone can get a credit card these days. Most people should have only one credit card for emergencies. Think about getting one with a small credit line. If you only have a $1,500 credit limit, you can probably handle this. If you have one with a $5-$10,000 credit limit, you can get in over your head before you know it. I say this from experience. The smaller credit balances are better.

Financial freedom is something we all dream about, but for most of us it's not going to happen with our current jobs. The right home-based business has the ability to offer you and your family the financial freedom we all long for.

6. NO Daycare- wouldn’t it be a great feeling each morning to wake up, and know your children are going to be with you all day and not some stranger? One of the hardest decisions we as parents have to make after having children is childcare. Having a home-based business allows you to stay at home with your children full time. You will be the one to hold them when they are sick, see their first steps, and hear their first words.

Are you a lucky, fortunate parent who have friends or family who can watch your children when you’re at work? Great, most aren't that lucky. You have to rely on daycare to take care of your children. You tell yourself, ok, these are licensed staff members I’m leaving my children with, but leaving them with strangers at all, makes you sick. Each day when you leave them, hearing them cry, makes for a long, guilt-ridden day at work. I have been there and know what it feels like.

Your kids are going to get sick from time to time. When they are home full time with you, the odds of them getting sick as often are reduced. You will not have to call work to tell the boss you can't come in because you have a sick child. You will be home with your child to comfort him or her when they are sick, play with them, and take care of them when they are hurt. This is priceless and no one can do it better than you.

7. Tax Advantages- many people don't realize the tax advantages offered with a home-based business. I definitely do not claim to be a tax expert, but there are many common things that can be deducted depending on what your business is.

Just to mentions a few, advertising, business miles, supplies, business building information, ex. Audiocassettes, DVDs, just to name a few. If you decide to be one of the millions of Americans to start a home-based business, talk with your tax advisor. He or she will be able to give you more information about what deductions are available to you.

Kristy Breen is a full time Network Marketer. To Learn more about starting your own Home Based business visit her website at http://www.lightacandlemakeaprofit.com.
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By Roy Barker

You can search for hours and still not get the information you're seeking when you want to do something as important as starting a photography business. Keep in mind that some of the photography businesses that you can specialize in may have varying requirements. You would do well to remember this once you have read this article and want to learn a little more on each of the photographic areas. With this in mind, I have supplied a free report that you can access from my site later.

Almost anyone with the right camera equipment, and the necessary skills can set up a home business, marketing photography. You only need to convert a room of your house into an office, and then you can work immediately.

Because you have modern technology in the form of SLR digital cameras, you do not even need the space for a dark room. You need only to have a personal computer and a photo-editing program. The standard is Adobe Photoshop.

Don't clutter yourself with equipment you do not need. You can hire equipment on a ‘when you need it’ basis. You have the freedom to work part time for a while until you can devote yourself full time to photography. All you need to be is a serious photographer. There are two types of photographers that make their living from photography, the serious photographer and the very serious photographer. You can always bookmark this link and then quickly access just about all you'll ever need from here.

Whilst the technical skills needed to make a successful photographer have never been easier, other aspects have changed the business. The market for photographs of virtually every type has widened. The world seems to have an insatiable appetite for photographs. However, the price has fallen as the marketing net has broadened. Photographers are needed in many more fields. For instance, many people use car web sites, which did not exist ten years ago, to sell their products as a result of photography. Cameras used by scuba diver’s are now an excellent quality, and while they are initially expensive, they have forged a new market. People celebrate special occasions more with photography, than previously. The travel and advertising markets have a greater need for landscape, travel, and nature shots.

It’s now easier to turn your dream into reality and create a worthwhile business out of an engrossing hobby. However, in today’s modern world there is more to it than simply pointing a camera, and shooting a picture. You need to be aware of marketing techniques. Marketing simply means transferring ownership of a product, in this case, an image from a buyer to seller. Be aware of any local gaps in the market in your local area. Try to be on top of your competitor’s prices, to undercut an existing photographer is one choice, but to neglect to value your skills and not charge enough to cover your overhead is another matter entirely. Remember this, it’s an important point.

Use your skills to the best advantage of the business and define what you want from it. Writing a business plan helps to keep you focused on the areas you specifically want to exploit. A business plan helps you to define your goals and strategies. It will
Need to be changed and updated, helping you to keep things in perspective. You have it to refer back to it when things become confusing or complicated. Everyone’s business plan will be different, and every objective will be different, but there are certain common factors that make up a good business plan that will help your business grow. It allows you to develop a professional attitude to your business, which not only helps you to increase your earnings, but also help you to finance your business.

For the photographer it should include, your business name, or your own, with full details of the proposed location of the business, a copy of your logo, as well as details of your copyright notices. What is the form of your proposed business (sole ownership, partnership, Limited Liability Company or Corporation)? This should be followed by a table of contents, which focuses on a logical order. There are resources that will give you further details on such as http://profitable-photography.com

Then in complete detail, list the type of business you intend to pursue, and it should contain the services you intend to offer. This section should include any future goals or avenues you would like to explore, stating your objectives clearly. This is so you can check at a later date whether your objectives are on course, or if you have got sidetracked.

If you envisage at any time you may need financial help, then you should include your personal business history.

Include a clear and concise marketing plan that ought to demonstrate how your business would differentiate from the businesses of your competitors. Establish whom your customers will be, as well as where your market will be, as in wholesale or retail, or a combination of both. Be able to determine how long this type of market will be available to you.

The next section should clearly define your opposition, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. This should include the ways you may be able to exploit any gaps in the market in the specific area where you live. A section should follow this on how you intend to market and promote your individual services.

Include a financial segment showing how you intend to manage the day-to-day bills of the business, how you intend to price your services, and what factors influence this pricing structure, which includes a section on your competitor’s financial structures. Invest the time to do your homework, research, and the detective work to see the payoff. Get your friends to ask quotes from the local competition, or try a direct approach. Tell your competitor’s that you intend to start a new business, and that you do not want to undercut them, as this reduces the cake for everyone. They may well offer to help you construct a pricing structure that ensures everyone’s livelihood. It’s in their best interests to help. Not everyone will be cooperative, but it can mean you’ll get a truer picture of the market factors that govern your area.

Make a list of all the equipment you will need in your first year, as well as how and where you intend to purchase. Note any difficulties that may arise in obtaining your supplies. Note whether the prices of your supplies have a seasonal fluctuation. This may influence when to buy. Make a note of any local licenses that will be necessary, as well as any zoning restrictions, restricting the growth of your business. Check whether neighbors can restrict your services, as they may not be thrilled at the procession of customers to your door. Make a study of all your business insurance requirements.

The final segment should be devoted to how you intend to finance the growth of your business, as well as isolating what your financial needs will be. This should include a projection on your future earnings, as well as an accurate assessment of your outgoings’. Assess this on a monthly basis for the first year, and on an annual basis for the following three years. An important aspect of the financial statement is an assessment of the break-even point of your business, in other words the minimum you will have to take to pay your expenses.

The purpose of this documentation is to allow you to enunciate what the core elements of your business will be. Doing this should help you be able to quickly evaluate the success of your business objectives. If you are not clear on your objectives, then you cannot possibly make a plan to bring about the success of those objectives.

Roy Barker often writes and works closely with Start A Photography Business. This site is dedicated to coaching you in starting your own photography business but places a strong emphasis on profitability issues & guidelines. You can access photography resources (some free) from Digital Photography If you seek further guides, tips, articles and news, you can go to http://www.photography-business-tips.com that has a Photographers Forum for an exchange of views with other photographers.
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By Stuart Elliott

"If You Are Going to be in Business, You Must Know How to Sell"

In his book, Automatic Wealth, Michael Masterson states that in order to achieve Financial Independence you need to master a financially valuable skill.

Selling is the number one skill you MUST learn if you are going to be in business. This applies offline too. If you do not know how to sell, you and your business will struggle financially.

Now, before you give me that stock answer "I don't know how to sell..." think about this: we are selling everyday, whether we sell ourselves, our friends, or the latest film we've just watched.

Look at this common everyday phrase: - "have you seen x?x?x. I saw it last night and I..."

Sound familiar?

Well, that is selling in a nutshell! Some people do it better than others, but we all do it. With a little bit of training and practice you can soon become a master at it.

If you do not know how to sell or HATE selling, how can you tell people about your product in a way that makes them want to buy it from you? If they don't buy from you - HOW can you make money?

Today, the Internet marketplace is jam-packed with plenty of fantastic ideas and wonderful products. Chances are that you have already located:

* A great idea that you think you can make money from

* A product that solves a specific problem, and/or

* An income opportunity to provide to people online

But the fact is:

"If you do not know how to sell your products, you cannot turn them into money-producing assets, no matter how great the demand or high in quality they actually are"

You can't – period!

Whether you are selling your intellectual asset, service, tangible goods, yourself, or whatever kind of product or solution you have, unless you have the ability to sell, your product or asset is worth absolutely nothing.

This may sound a little harsh but it is the cold hard reality. Sure, you may get lucky once in a while but to really become successful…well, you have to be able to sell.

Good News.

All you need for the selling to be done on your behalf is powerful sales copy.

Take another look at that last statement again because...

"Your Sales Letter is Your Sales Person"

Yes, your sales letter is your virtual sales person. Your sales letter does all the selling to your prospects on your behalf.

Unlike in conventional and direct response marketing businesses, there is no need for you to train and recruit multiple sales people. Instead, all of your efforts should be focused on creating a powerful sales letter that produces a minimum 2 to 4 percent conversion rate, then fine-tuning that letter to improve the conversion rate as you go.

In other words, for every 100 prospects you refer or who visit your web page, you are aiming for a minimum of 2 to 4 of them to be your customers. Once you achieve that (and you will!), all you need to do is introduce targeted prospects to your sales letter, confident that it will do all the selling for you, day after day.

Your sales letter is like a personal letter from you to your prospect, in it you tell him why he needs your service/product. You remind him of his problems and why you have the solution to those problems, thus convincing your prospect to buy your product or the access to a service from you.

What You Need

You have probably already got a great idea, or a product, and some basic selling skills (remember the film you saw the other day?)

Now all you need to do is develop and hone those skills in order to formulate a sensational sales letter. A sales letter that arouses a deep primal need in your prospects and makes them bolt frantically to your order button, desperate to buy your products, every time.

This means that you have to:

1. Improve your writing skills

Since you will be writing your own sales copy, you will need to have good writing skills and a good command of English. Even if English is not your mother tongue, with a little work you can develop this skill.

Note however, that you do not need to be a master of English to write a successful sales letter. As long as your letter carries emotion and personality it will work. Forget all the grammar lessons you learned at school - just copy what works and learn from the masters.

2. Inject your personality into your letter

Yes, you must inject your personality. You will be writing a somewhat personal or emotional letter to your prospects. A letter, which needs to move and arouse them to take action, so be friendly and approachable with your words. You need to write from the heart. Don't write a stiff letter, not only is it boring to read but it will turn people away from your web page faster than you can blink.

NB. Mix your writing skills with your personality, write from your heart with truth and sincerity and you will compose the perfect sales letter.

And last but not least, you need:

3. To take action

There is a wealth of information on how you can write your own killer sales copy staring right at you, don't waste it by not doing anything with it. If English is not your first language - no problem. Print out a couple of great sales letters that move you and copy their structure and grammar (Learn as You Earn) Don't just copy the letter wholesale though that's plain old theft. Your letter must come from your heart.

Got it? Good, now go and get started.

Copyright (c) 2006 Stuart Elliott

Stuart Elliott is a world-class copywriter who has written numerous articles on sales letters and copywriting. Drop by: http://howtowritekickbuttcopy.com/why.html to pick up a free copywriting power guide.
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By Kelly Robbins

It's worth the effort spending some time and energy figuring out whom you work best with. Once you've figured that out, then what? You feel good; you've chosen a niche. How do you find the people in your niche and get your message across to them? How can you do that without feeling like you are selling to them?

Here are a few things for you to think about...

1. Does this group of people, this niche, have any outside interests in common? For example, a large group of engineers in the Midwest that enjoy hunting in their spare time, or graphic designers in the Rocky Mountains that are avid rock climbers. Is there a better way to share a common interest and get to know each other in a relaxed environment than to join them on their excursions? Establish trust, build new friendships - it all leads to enjoyable work opportunities for you.

2. Do you help out with your kid's soccer team or are you on the PTA at school? When you do things YOU enjoy, it will naturally lead to meeting new people with like interests. Your co-volunteers could work in the niche you've chosen or they may have friends that do. Doing things you enjoy, especially if it is involves getting out and meeting other people, will help YOU meet new people and make new contacts. Don't like the people you've been hanging around with? Try something new and totally different. Put your self in a very different environment, meet totally different people, and have a very different experience.

3. Get involved in local networking associations. Be more targeted than the chamber of commerce, if you can. To meet more people involved in naturopathic medicine, find out what they do. Perhaps they attend trade shows on natural health, or are interested in yoga, or vitamins, or the natural food stores in your area. How can you have a presence there? Are there groups meeting that are rock-climbing enthusiasts? Roller-blading groups?

4. Are there any small, local publications that your target market may read? For example, there are a few free magazines and newspapers in my area that are often looking for content for their readers. Classified ads are very inexpensive because the publications are small. I've also found that these smaller publications are very open to bartering to keep their pages full. One publisher offered to run ads for me for free if I delivered the free papers to 20 or so places around town once a month. I am too busy to do that of course, but the point is to be creative.

5. Look at where your strengths and weaknesses are. If you're comfortable writing and doing marketing related tasks on the Internet, you may be doing enough of that already. Get away from your computer and meet some people. The same can be said if you are an extrovert. You need to balance your marketing efforts both online and off. I do get a lot of business from my online marketing efforts, but I also know that it compliments anything I do outside my office. Meeting people and having them experience you and your energy can't be beat.

Have you seen a common thread here? All of the tips I gave you involved you getting out and meeting people. As a writer, I admit I like to stay home and do stuff on my computer. I have an awesome system in place for marketing myself online, publishing articles, and even coaching and working with people on the phone.

Getting out to meet people means taking off my favorite slippers and actually moving - not what I always want to do. Looking over the successes I've had the past few years, there's no doubt that when I do get out and speak to a group or get involved in an organization, my business gets busier. The people that I meet in person who have felt my energy and enthusiasm give me more referrals, and bring me more word of mouth marketing than the clients I have online. We are more likely to become friends.

Copyright (c) 2006 Kelly Robbins

Author of Healthcare Copywriting Secrets Revealed, Kelly Robbins is a healthcare copywriter and marketing coach/consultant. She also publishes The Healthcare Marketing Connection (http://www.healthcaremarketingconnection.com), a free e-zine on healthcare marketing tips. Contact Kelly to receive her free report, "5 critical things you must know when writing for the healthcare industry" - info@KellyRobbinsLLC.com or 303-460-0285.
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By Paul Speziale

What's the biggest bottleneck in any business? Besides sales, this often-overlooked feature of any business could be causing you lost sales and your long-term success. Use these tips to reduce the most costly (and annoying) bottleneck with businesses today.

Imagine for a moment that you have just spent a small fortune on marketing...you have a sale that you want to advertise and you have produced full page ads in the local newspaper setting you back $20,000 a day, sent out thousands of flyers, produced signs, sent out press releases and you even went on TV.

The big day arrives and floods of people enter your store. You look at the people clawing at each other to buy your goods, while you eagerly wait to count your profits.

Then something bad happens...

A cashier takes a break to talk to his girlfriend on his cell phone, and she breaks up with him. He returns 15 minutes later disgusted, not caring about anything, right into the heat of the crowded store. He starts being rude to the customers, taking his time and tells some of the customers off.

Appalled, your customers leave the store, and the profits you were counting in your head have vanished into the smoke they came from.

So what happened?

What happened is what many believe is one of the biggest problems of any business today...the people that interface with your customers.

Usually they are the most underpaid, under trained people in your business. They are relied upon to handle all customer inquiries, complaints, joys and questions and basically close the sales. It’s not just in retail either. Any business that has prospects phoning and asking questions or placing orders has this problem.

If I had a nickel for every time I heard a story from a disgruntled long-time customer of some business that was driven away because the customer service person couldn’t accommodate their request, I would have lots of nickels.

And you know, the people that represent your business, the ones that interface with the customer everyday ARE your business to the customer. If they are mad because of some “7 dollar an hour…can’t wait to get home to go drinking” customer service representative, they will lump you and your product right along into their mental state. If you receive a brick in the mail one day, you may be having this problem.

So how do you avoid this bottleneck?

First, isolate whomever is having any contact with your customers.

1. Who’s answering your phones?
2. Who is on the floor greeting your customers?
3. Who’s answering the emails?
4. Who is responding to your white mail?
5. Who is placing the order?
6. Who is making the sales?

Second, you need to be constantly educating them and training them as to your specials, new products, etc. Make sure you have a networked computer system to take notes for telephone operators. There is nothing more frustrating then phoning one-customer service person, only to have to retell your problem to another one 10 minutes later after they mistakenly hang up on you.

Third, educate them on how to deal with people. Once they know why certain customers behave the way they do, they might not be rude with them or they can adapt their behavior to build rapport and guarantee the sale.

Fourth, give them a little negotiating power. Some customers will try to negotiate. Give the person some room with that, just to appease the customer’s desire to “get a good deal”. Often people will warm up when there is some negotiating room.

Lastly, perhaps give the people that deal with customers a small reward for their excellent people handling skills (in other words, closing the sale). It doesn’t have to be money. In fact, chances are it will be material things, not money. Find out what your employees want the most. It can be an IPOD, or a trip, your own products, or something to encourage them. Use incentives so they make the special effort with your customers.

Paul Speziale is a direct marketing consultant / entrepreneur based out of Toronto, Ontario. He has served all industries from manufacturers to retailers, from entrepreneurs to professionals. Besides helping clients, he is working on his own projects. He also volunteers his time for several worthy causes both local and global. You can reach him at: http://www.AnelloSolutions.com: Growing Your Business Through Low-Risk, Optimized and Results Based Marketing
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By Tamara Esgoode

Are you finding that prospecting and working your "cold market" is getting chillier these days? I've noticed this, especially in the last year. When I contact people who had responded to an advertisement that my company ran, it is extremely difficult to establish rapport than it used to be!

I've been quite surprised to see how much more closed and suspicious people have been compared to when I made phone calls just a year ago. Perhaps the challenges in today's world have made their impact on people. They are more fearful, less likely to trust someone they don't know.

How do you build rapport and build your network marketing business in times like this? You will need a little more patience, but if you persevere and follow these five basic network-marketing strategies, you can warm up even the chilliest of cold markets!

First, I'd like to review the basic network marketing strategies that create successful organizations. It's important to understand that the people who excel in network marketing have a large circle of influence. A circle of influence means there are a lot of people that know you, who like you and trust you. If you don't already have a large circle of influence, and you want to succeed in network marketing, you're going to need to build one!

How do you build a circle of influence? One person at a time! It’s always best to start with people that you know. Contact them and ask them for referrals. Participate in your community, attend Chamber of Commerce events, and hold local meetings. You develop yourself into a leader both personally and professionally, to attract other like-minded professionals.

Online, you do the same in the Internet community. You build a presence on the Internet with a newsletter list or Blog-or both, or website, so that you can build a relationship with people. You provide a way so they can get to know you... like an online photo album, and a personal "Get to Know Me" page.

These are the basics of good network marketing. Once you've contacted the people that you know, you will want to expand your circle of influence even further and get to know some new people! You can do this through advertising or through hiring a network marketing ad agency to advertise for you. Now, how do you handle today's increasingly chilly cold market? Well, you need to take more time to WARM IT UP!!! Here are six network-marketing strategies for warming up your cold market.

1. Whenever possible, use offline advertising sources such as postcards, newspapers, radio or TV. These prospects see your ad several times before responding, and are usually MUCH more highly qualified. If your ad is credible, people will trust you more easily.

2. If you must use Internet advertising, be sure to use an established and proven leads source which includes the use of an e-mail auto responder. This will allow you to contact people via e-mail legitimately, without Spam complaints. If you are very serious about generating leads online, I recommend you create or purchase your own lead generating website. This takes time but is a lifelong investment if done correctly.

3. When you reach a person by phone, don't rush the relationship building process. Find out what they are looking for, ask good questions, and really listen. Don't be pushy, focus on their needs. If you're new at working your cold market, team up with a successful leader in your upline who is experienced.

4. Offer something of value that is free like a report, eBook or consultation, that will both qualify and educate your prospect and that will also introduce you as part of the process. For example, on your free report include a link to your online photo album and your biography or "Get to Know Me" page.

5. Follow up several times to build familiarity and credibility with your prospect. Use an auto responder to help you in this, but don't depend on it. There is nothing like a good, old-fashioned conversation to build trust. Sending a postcard in the mail also helps a lot!

6. Be a real person. Tell. Don't sell! Avoid sales pitches. Instead, share your own story. Network marketing is about being your authentic best self. Let your heart and your integrity shine, and people will remember you and trust you. When they are ready to try your product or join your team, they will call you!

Tamara Esgoode has been network marketing since 2001. She writes about http://www.homebizhearts.com.
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By Antonio Thornton

Everyone has a hobby of some kind - most people have several. There are people who collect stamps; people who make scrapbooks or create graphic designs with their digital photos; people who love horseback riding, hiking or bicycling.

Perhaps you do something that you don't even know is considered a "hobby". Technically, anything that you engage in for fun that is outside of your occupational activities is considered a hobby- so chances are you have lots of hobbies.

Have you ever considered turning one of your hobbies into a business? You may be surprised at how virtually any hob