Here it is, just over 3 months after we all made our New Years Resolutions.

People have historically made goals on January 1st and failed to achieve them.  It is almost a given and widely joked about.

When we are in business for ourselves, particularly if we are running a small home based business, we often set goals for ourselves throughout the year.

Our goals include personal and business growth.

It is our intention that we achieve all of our goals.  We are a community of success driven dreamers who fully intend to reach those dreams.

There are those times that we do not reach our goals.

I have just experienced one of those times.

A few months ago I made the commitment to enter the Ezine Articles 100 articles in 100 days.

I was on a roll, then things changed on the homefront and I  didn’t have the time to continue writing.

I didn’t meet the challenge of 100 articles.

What I did do was write 28 more articles than I had before the challenge. 

Most of those articles are ones I wouldn’t have committed myself to writing had I not been in the challenge.

You see, we are better off when we set goals for ourselves, even if we don’t achieve them.

It gives us a personal challenge to grow and practice success.

If we do not meet our goals, it is important that we look at what we did accomplish.

By setting the bar high, as long as we work to reach that goal, we have achieved the goal of trying.

As everybody knows, there are two groups of people:

1.  People who give lip service to success.
2.  People who push towards meeting goals.

So what is the next step?

Evaluate what you did.  Identify what worked, what didn’t, and what you need to do differently next time.

Then, set a new goal.

It really is that simple.

In the world of teaching it is called Review, Reflect, & Revise.  We must always be doing this to ensure that we are being effective.

Believe in Your Success, I Do!
Karen
mentor.karen.j.miller@gmail.com

Well, Facebook is at it again!

In an effort to enhance user experience, Facebook has implemented changes that will make a lot of our information and activities public.

I don’t particularly like Facebook making decisions about what I put in my profile public.

But it is their sandbox, and they let me play there for free.

I have written before about guarding your personal information on Facebook and other similar sites.

Too often, people new to Network Marketing, or other types of home based businesses, start marketing their business using an already existing profile where they have been keeping up with family and friends.

Or if they’re like me, their first profile was for their business.  They were having fun and started adding family and friends along with business contacts.

If you are seriously building a business network on a social site, you will quickly have over 1,000 contacts.  After that, this number will grow and take on a life of its own.

Most of your family and friends are not interested in your business activities.

Your business contacts are not very interested in your personal pursuits.  They simply do not have the time.

So if you don’t already have two profiles…one personal and one business…get busy and create another profile.

I would create one for your personal contacts and ask them to friend you on your new profile. 

People who know you personally are more likely to friend you again than are business contacts.  There again…not enough time.

Once you have your personal contacts on your new profile, delete them from your old profile…the one you are going to use strictly for business.

You have to remember that once you start building a large business network, you don’t want people who you know only casually having a glimpse into your private life and the lives of your family and friends.

The other important task is to clean up your profile.

You really have to be careful of the information you put on your profile.

You are on social networking sites to build your business network…your contacts don’t need to know all of your personal information.

Share just enough about yourself to make you a real person others can identify with….but not enough an identity thief can use to make your life miserable.

One of the changes Facebook is making is to automatically place you in groups or fan pages based on your interests.

We generally list only a few key interests in that section in order to relate to each other as real people.

Someone is more likely to do business with you when they share common ground.

However, being automatically connected to random groups of people based on your gardening or bowling interests can wreck havoc.

Your personal information is shared with people you would not normally connect with.

Then you have to deal with all of the extra messages and posts in your Newsfeed from these groups.

I personally like to keep my Newsfeed clear to keep up on what my contacts are sharing.

If you happen to be put in particularly active groups, just imagine how cluttered your inbox can get!

So just be aware of what is in your profile and how you may have to clear out some information.

Time is at a premium for our marketing time.  It is easy to spend too much time on social networks.

Don’t get caught up in all the extra activity Facebook may be sending your way.

Believe in Your Success, I Do!
Karen
mentor.karen.j.miller@gmail.com

I am so inspired and touched by MY American Idol favorite, Crytal Bowersox’s performance of “People Get Ready”, I had to look up the lyrics.

Music and poetry so often touch our souls on such an emotional and spiritual level, that no other message can make such an impact.

In Network Marketing/MLM, average people enter the entrepreneurial dream land of starting our own home based businesses. 

We are a tribe of amateurs. 

If we are committed to succeed and stick with the business, we need training in every aspect of business from lead generation to personal development.

We often come to the arena loaded with doubts and preconceived notions of how we should go about growing our businesses.

The best way to overcome our doubts is through personal development.  This not only includes reading from the standard library of self improvement business gurus.  We also need to saturate our lives with positive and inspiring stories, music, art, whatever touches us.

So, as part of my own inspirational library, I will share with you the lyrics to

“People Get Ready”
by Curtis Mayfield

” People get ready
There’s a train a-coming
You don’t need no baggage
You just get on board
All you need is faith
To hear the diesels humming
Don’t need no ticket
You just thank the Lord

People get ready
For the train to Jordan
Picking up passengers
From coast to coast
Faith is the key
Open the doors and board them
There’s room for all
among the loved the most

There ain’t no room
for the hopeless sinner
Who would hurt all mankind just
To save his own
Have pity on those
whose chances are thinner
Cause there’s no hiding place
From the Kingdom’s Throne

So people get ready
for the train a-comin’
You don’t need no baggage
you just get on board !
All you need is faith
to hear the diesels humming
Don’t need no ticket
you just thank, you just thank the Lord

Yeah
Ooh

Yeah
Ooh

I’m getting ready
I’m getting ready
this time I’m ready
this time I’m ready”

Believe In Your Success, I Do!
Karen

http://www.complete-network-marketers-desk-reference.com

I saw a bumper sticker this morning that really turned a light on for me.

Think about this for a moment.

Don’t our beliefs in the economy and life in general have some affect on how successful we are?  Or at least on our perception of how successful we are?

I was talking to a lady recently who was interested in starting a home-based business.

She had downloaded my free ebook, Success In 10 Steps, a Network Marketers guide to success in MLM.

She wanted to learn more about the industry before jumping in.  Smart move.

After chatting awhile, she shared her doubts in starting a business right now because of the down turned economy.

She thought the economy was so bad that nobody could afford the products.  Any products from any company.  She just didn’t believe that people had the money to spare.

Ding!  Ding!

My new contact had hit upon a very important belief system that stands in the way of many people becoming successful with their home based businesses.

It is in such contradiction with the fact that the Network Marketing Industry tends to boom during times of financial crisis.

The crucial point to be made here is that a person’s belief is what drives their choices, success, and energies.

We are in charge of our own realities.

You will be successful if you believe you are successful.

You will be successful if you believe that you deserve to be successful.

You will be successful in building your home-based business—whether it’s direct sales or MLM—if you believe the economy is healthy and people can afford your product.

Napoleon Hill reminds us that “Our thoughts are things”.

We can believe our reality into existence, even if it takes just a simple bumper sticker to help us declare it to the world.

You will be successful if you believe in positive thoughts and affirmations and practice them multiple times a day.

Believe in Your Success, I Do!
Karen
mentor.karen.j.miller@gmail.com   

When approached with an opportunity to join a Network Marketing Business, you are often presented with a Compensation Plan.

Usually someone in your prospective sponsor’s upline who has reached a high leadership level will explain it.

There are usually graphs, diagrams, and examples illustrated.

The presentation most likely focuses on what you could potentially earn if you build big.

This often leaves the prospect…you…starry eyed and quivering with the anticipation of making enough money to pay off your debts and house, retire early, and buy your own private paradise island complete with a yacht.

One of the tables that might be overlooked in the presentation is the disclosure of Distributor Statistics.

These statistics may tell you the percentage of distributor retention, average earnings, and rate of advancement. 

Additional Distributor Statistics

51% of our distributors earn between $126.00 and $646.00 annually.

2% of distributors advance from a development level to a leadership level.

47% of distributors advance beyond the basic rank.

The above numbers tell us important realities.

1.  Just over half of the distributors make on average $126 to $646 annually. 

That means per year! 
That works out to an average of $10.50 to $54 per month.
Most would agree those figures are a far cry from the 5 figure per month incomes we are shown during presentations!  

2.  Only 2% of all distributors advance to leadership positions.

That is likely the level one has to achieve in order to make those 5 figure incomes.

3.  Almost half of all distributors advance beyond the basic level.

This could mean any level of advancement.
It at least indicates that almost half of the people putting in an effort to build a business actually do make some progress.

It is important to pay attention to these figures for one reason.

It helps to get your feet planted firmly on the ground!

The people presenting the comp plan and other aspects of the business opportunity are not intentionally misleading you.

But the fact remains that part of your success in a Network Marketing business is in sponsoring new distributors.

To maximize distributor satisfaction and create a feeling that each person is successful and building their business, you need to sponsor people relatively quickly.

Therefore, business presentations are designed to dangle a shinny object in front of a prospect who is hungry for extra money.

Key elements are presented in writing right in front of your face, but not directly explained in the presentation.

Often these items are not seen or read until after signing on the dotted line…if at all.

Make a point of reading everything before you sign!  At least you will be entering your new opportunity with your eyes wide open.

Believe In Your Success, I Do!
Karen
mentor.karen.j.miller@gmail.com

Cruel fact #1:

If you want to build a big income online, you
need to be able to do some writing.

Cruel fact #2:

Most people can’t write.

Cruel fact #3:

Those who can write … often still struggle at it.

On Saturday night, April 10th, at 8:55 pm Eastern time, Richard Dennis, author of the book, “Evil Medicine”, will demonstrate the two simple life-changing tricks.

As a bonus, there will be  several examples that will have you writing magnetic stories within minutes.

You’ll also get the URL for a very useful file you can download.

This training could be worth a lot of money to you.

To take advantage of this training and many more like it that are designed to explode your business success, download my free ebook

Success In 10 Steps

The ebook, and all of our training and personal mentoring are free. 

Believe In Your Success, I Do!
Karen
mentor.karen.j.miller@gmail.com

Wow!

This is exciting news from Ezine Articles!

They have created a plug-in for WordPress that will allow you to submit one of your blog posts as an article to Ezine Articles!

Talk about a time saver and spreading your valuable content around the web!

Fantastic!

Check it out on Ezine Article’s Blog.

Happy Writing!

Believe In Your Success, I Do!
Karen
mentor.karen.j.miller@gmail.com

We are taught many different ways to talk to prospects in the hopes of bringing people into our business opportunity.

Many times we are told to be enthusiastic.

I remember being told once that if I wasn’t having success, I wasn’t enthusiastic enough or I didn’t have a strong enough belief.

A lot of people are taught the method of Firehosing.

Firehosing is when you spray your prospect with an enormous amount of facts and enthusiasm for your opportunity.

This approach is so forceful, that you drive more people away than you attract. 

Even though you see this happening, you have probably been told that the ones fleeing the scene just weren’t interested and you need to keep finding more people.

There is limited truth in that.  Of course, not everyone you speak to will be a prospect for your opportunity.

But you should be having some success in what you are doing.  If you feel like you are turning people off, you probably are.

When Lee Iacocca became President of Chrysler, he asked an important question:

“What does the customer want?” 

This principle is easily applied to Network Marketing.

When we approach a lead about our opportunity, it is important to find out what they want!

The big mistake is being so arrogant in thinking that your lead wants or needs what you have.

No one likes to have things pushed down their throats.

Not politics.
Not religion.
Not parenting techniques.
And certainly not business decisions.

How do you know what your prospect wants or needs?

In Harry Browne’s The Secret of Selling Anything, he tells you.

Ask!

Learn the skill of asking the right questions and then listen to what your prospect has to say.

Once you know what your prospect wants you will be able to tailor your presentation and services accordingly.

Be careful not to give too much information all at once.  You will be confusing your prospect and you will create doubt in his mind.

Answer the first question or need.

Then, ask again, Is there anything else you want to know?

Creating a two way dialogue is more natural and feels more relaxed for your prospect.  People often take months to make a decision to join an opportunity.

Be patient, communicate, and turn off the hose.

Believe in Your Success, I Do!
Karen
mentor.karen.j.miller@gmail.com