Success or Failure?

Let’s face it, if you want to succeed you are going to go through your fair share of failures.  If you’re not failing, you’re not stretching yourself enough. 

It’s not a matter of if you’re going to go through some failures or not, it’s a matter of how you respond and react to them.  Lucky for you, how you react is totally under your control.

If you want to succeed in the home business industry, you have to have the right mindset.  …such a generic statement, right?  Today’s focus of your mindset is how to respond when you do not get the results you want.  When this happens to you, what do you do?  When you don’t hit your rank goal, or you do not recruit the number of new team members you want or when you do not sell the amount of product you want to sell, how do you react.

Most people get down on themselves, self doubt sets in, they begin to question everything they are doing and whether or not they should be doing it or not.  They think about giving up or moving on or calling it quits.  They moan, they groan, they complain, they get irritated, frustrated and overwhelmed.

Am I on the only one who has felt all of these things?

The truth of the matter is this, those reactions do not serve you at all.

You can not change your lack of results by filling yourself with negativity, self doubt and frustration.

If you want better results, keep hustling.  Figure out the missing pieces, improve your skills, improve your activity, get more focused, keep going until you succeed.  Success does not just happens, it happens with a ton of hard work and the right activity.  It comes when your mind is in the right place.  It comes with focus on activity and productivity, not concentrating on your lack of results and self doubting yourself.

If you want to succeed, you have to surround yourself with greatness and other successful people.  One of the obvious reasons is “success leaves clue” and it seems like we always think of that in regards to the action and activity successful people take.  This is also true in seeing the way they respond to failure and lack of results.

Surround yourself with great people who will lift you up and remind you of who you are.

Have you seen that term around social media?  “The struggle is real”  I see it more and more….and here is the really cool thing.  YOU can overcome it.  You can win, you can succeed, you can achieve what you want.   But when failure kicks in, don’t let it define you, let it refine you.  Learn from any lack of results in order to achieve the results you want.


Hope you enjoyed today's post. Please feel free to share it with your team. If there is anything I can help you with when it comes to building your business, please let me know, you can reach me directly at 612-562-8219!

Remember, you can do this, I believe in you! Have a beautiful day and we'll see you tomorrow!

Are you excited about your business?

Do you remember the excitement you felt when you first started your business? The possibilities were endless and you were more motivated than you ever thought possible. BUT that newness doesn’t last forever. That is why you have to continually find ways to stay excited about your business. I want to give you a few tips that I found to stay excited about your business.

1. Start each day with a series of positive questions. What would excite me today? What do I want to spend my time doing? What am I looking forward to?  Motivation comes from within, and when you are excited about the day ahead you can achieve great things.

2. Eliminate the things that you don’t enjoy doing. That may be easier said than done, but I bet there are some things you could delegate. This may mean investing in a training program for a member of your staff. But the benefits are two-fold – you empower your team, but more importantly you free yourself to think about your business with new enthusiasm.

3. What is it about your business that excites you? Ask yourself why you thought your business was a good idea in the first place. Re-assess your service or product – apply a new creative idea to rekindle your enthusiasm. Connect and network with people who may give you a new perspective to consider.

4. Take a look at your environment. Your surroundings can stimulate or dampen your motivation. Try working in an alternative space. Find a new place to work for a day or longer. Change the décor of the room in which you work.

 5. Take a short break. When you feel the onset of boredom, take a break. Go for a walk, visit the gym, meditate, read a book or magazine. Do anything that you enjoy that provides a moment of escape. If your business allows, set yourself a challenge outside of work that excites and stimulates you. The satisfying feeling of success can then be used to reignite your motivation at work.

As an entrepreneur or small-business owner, you are forced to wear many hats, and some may not suit your personality or style. To stay motivated, reward yourself after a big accomplishment like I stated above. There will always be something you don’t necessarily get excited about with your business so allowing yourself rewards at the end will keep the motivation and determination there. The most important thing is to always look at the bigger picture and see how far you’ve come. As an entrepreneur, anything is possible as long as you put your mind to it!!

Hope this helps you to get excited about your business! Feel free to comment and share with your team members. If there is anything I can help you with, please feel free to connect with me directly at 612-562-8219. Enjoy the rest of your day and remember I believe in you! See you tomorrow!

How do you want grow?

How do YOU want to grow your business?

You can grow it online, you can grow it offline, you can grow it through generating leads, you can grow it through getting referrals, or you can grow it using social media.  There are so many places to find prospects and places to generate leads.

You always have to keep in mind that the reason you generating leads, finding prospects and getting referrals is to simply get their eyes on the presentation.  In essence, no matter the marketing method that you use, you have to ultimately get their eyes on the presentation.

1. Finding people to talk to:

Generating leads and finding prospects are done so you can get people to your presentation.  The reason you want to “get your name out there” is so you can get eyes on your presentation.

There are a few ways to find people to speak to about your business.  Many people will find one strategy and use it.  You’ll find it beneficial to look at these different strategies as “spokes” (as on a bicycle wheel) and have a few different spokes / strategies going simultaneously in your business.

1. Warm Market – these are your friends & family – those people who already know you.
2. Cold Market – these are strangers who do not know you.  You may meet these people at networking events, meetup groups, out and about, etc
3. Social Media – these are the people you connect with through social media.  Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.
4. Referrals – these are people your existing network refers to you.
5. Online Attraction Marketing – These are people who find you online via blogs, videos, value you put out, classifieds, job boards, online lead sources, etc.

The important key to remember is that you have to get eyes on your presentation.  Building a home business is a relationship business and it is a numbers game.  You have to get people into the system.

2. Prospecting and Inviting

You’ll often hear that you have to plant seeds in order to have a harvest.  You have to start conversations with people and share your product and opportunity.  While some will immediately “get it” and sign up with you, most will take their time and have to go through several “exposures” before they make a decision.

What many people do is share their opportunity with one person at a time instead of sharing with many people and adding multiple people into their “sales funnel.”  Just as it would be silly for a farmer to plant one seed and expect a great harvest, it’s not very logical to think that you can share your product with one person and gain many new customers.  You have to plant a lot of seeds – you have to start a lot of conversations.

You can do this!  It’s just talking with people and you already talk with people you do not know all of the time.

Here are some tips for prospecting and recruiting:

1. Be yourself!
2. Have a strong posture – have a strong belief – show confidence
3. Don’t go out to recruit, but rather recruit while you are out.
4. Start conversations.
5. Build rapport
6. Discover needs.
7. Help them see that you can help them solve their problem (related to your offer or opportunity)
8. Learn to effectively invite.
9. Get their eyes on your presentation.
10. Help them see it is something they can do.
11. Do not be addicted to the outcome – whether yes or no, your job is to show the presentation.

3. Create Productive Habits

Once you “plant seeds” you then have to make sure they get water and sunshine – nourishment, if you will.   In your business, this means you have to start conversations, nurture the relationships, share your presentation, follow up, provide additional exposures and keep the conversations going.  The added exposures and extended conversations may take a variety of formats and look differently based on your relationship.

The important part is that you create habits of building new relationships, sharing your presentation, follow up and providing help to those you are out to serve.

1. Starting conversations is a habit.
2. Sharing your presentation daily is a habit.
3. Follow up is a habit.
4. Providing value to your marketplace is a habit.
5. These are the money producing habits you need to establish in order to grow your business

4. Stay Consistent and Active

Have you ever heard the saying “A body in motion stays in motion?” – this applies to your business.  Keep the activity going.  Have you ever heard the saying “Activity cures all ills?”  This one is true too.  Have you ever heard “it’s a numbers game?” – Same thing… you have to make the numbers your friend.  Your habits will either lead you to success or lead you to failure.  Choose success.
How active you are in your business is totally in your own control.  Your success or failure is totally in your own control.

It takes time for seeds to grow and it takes time for teams to come into being.  Be patient.  Go through the journey.  Don’t allow yourself to get frustrated.

….but don’t delay the harvest either.

The more seeds you plant, the faster and bigger the harvest.  Build with intensity.  Build with purpose.

Hope you enjoyed this post, feel free to comment and share with your team! If there is anything I can help you with, please feel free to reach me directly at 612-562-8219. Have a beautiful and successful day! See you tomorrow, I believe in YOU!

Success and Excellence

There is a difference between success and excellence. 

Success is often measured by comparison to others. Excellence, on the other hand, is all about being the best we can be and maximizing our gifts, talents and abilities to perform at our highest potential.

We live in a world that loves to focus on success and loves to compare. We are all guilty of doing this. However, I believe that to be our best we must focus more on excellence and less on success. We must focus on being the best we can be and realize that our greatest competition is not someone else but ourselves. 

For example, coaching legend John Wooden often wouldn’t tell his players who they were playing each game. He felt that knowing the competition was irrelevant. He believed that if his team played to the best of their ability they would be happy with the outcome. In fact, John Wooden never focused on winning. He had his team focus on teamwork, mastering the fundamentals, daily improvement and the process that excellence requires. As a result he and his teams won A LOT.

A focus on excellence was also the key for golfing legend Jack Nicklaus. His secret was to play the course not the competition. He simply focused on playing the best he could play against the course he was playing. While others were competing against Jack, he was competing against the course and himself.

The same can be said for Apple’s approach with the iPod, iPhone and iPad. When they created these products they didn’t focus on the competition. Instead they focused on creating the best product they could create. As a result, rather than measuring themselves against others they have become the measuring stick.

We have a choice as individuals, organizations and teams. We can focus on success and spend our life looking around to see how our competition is doing, or we can look straight ahead towards the vision of greatness we have for ourselves and our teams. We can look at competition as the standard or as an indicator of our progress towards our own standards. We can chase success or we can embark on a quest for excellence and focus 100% of our energy to become our best... and let success find us.

Ironically, when our goal is excellence the outcome and byproduct is often success. 

Do you agree that there is a difference between success and excellence? Please feel free to comment and share. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach me directly at 612-562-8219. Have a beautiful and successful day. See you tomorrow, I believe in you!

Success Secrets...

If you are in a home business, you know it’s tough but it’s also incredibly rewarding. Being successful in a home business doesn’t just happen, one has to be very strategic and plan for success.  The good news is, this business is designed to be duplicated, so success can happen by enthusiastically following a plan and teaching others to enthusiastically follow a plan.

Today, I am going to share a few strategies that will help you grow your team, thus grow your business:

1. Have The Right Attitude

First and foremost, you have to have the right attitude to succeed in your home business. Part of that attitude is being a person who likes to help others succeed.  Zig Ziglar once said “You can’t help someone row to the other side of the river without reaching the other shore yourself.”  When you help enough people succeed, you too will have success.  Being able to help others succeed is one of my favorite aspects of this business.

You also have to learn that hearing “no” is not going to destroy you and that there is nothing personal in someone not joining you in business. This business is not for everyone and everyone will not see the opportunity the way that you do.  It’s nothing personal.  You’re not a failure and don’t need to feel like it’s your fault they don’t “get it.”

Every person you speak to about your business has the potential to be a customer, a business partner or someone who can refer the right people to you.  You have to have an attitude that does not equate “no” with failure.

Show some enthusiasm.  If you’re not enthusiastic about your business, why would anyone want to join you?

2. Find A Reputable Company With Lots Of Promise

This may seem obvious, and to most it is.  Once you find a solid company commit to it.  Give it at least a year.  I’ve heard time and time again that failure does not occur in this business.  Quitting happens, but failure does not happen.  If you are working, talking to people, sharing your product, sharing your business opportunity you will grow.

If you believe in the business model and understand the value of leveraging your network, time and energy but you are not with a company that has the potential you are looking for, find a new company.

3. Keep It Simple

I am convinced that some people just like to over-complicate things.  This business succeeds when you duplicate what works, teach your team how to duplicate those same strategies and teach them how to teach their team.  There are so many ways to complicate this business.  Stick with what works.

Look to the success stories, learn what they do and duplicate what they do.

Does that mean you can’t improve on what is being done.  ALWAYS look for ways to improve, but do not forsake the tried and tested ways as you test your ideas.

4. Target People Who Get Business

Entrepreneurs who understand business and see the vision of how direct sales works are much more likely to join you and partner with you.  Look for people who influence and look for people who can be your “power partners.”  We all know people who are like magnets and who everyone wants to be associated with. Look for people who will naturally benefit from being in your business, that’s why mompreneurs have come on to the scene so strong in network marketing.  They benefit because they get to balance family and business on their own terms.   As you talk with others and are asking for referrals, let your conversation direct their thoughts to the kind of individuals who are ideal for your business and your team.

You want referrals that lead you to go-getter's, magnets, influencers and people known to be helpful.  You want to spend your time with the movers and shakers, not the ones you have to convince to join you in business.  You want people who “get it” and are enthusiastic about it.

5. Talk To As Many People As You Can

Talk to the masses.  Set up a toll free number with a recorded message or set up a webinar that people can view.  As your team grows, set up training calls where you are training multiple team members at once instead of one-on-on.  Time is valuable and if you can teach people how to leverage their time, everyone benefits.

As you are doing this, you are also training your team that the best use of their time is talking to as many people as possible.  You could realistically meet with five people during the day for coffee.  But what if, instead, you spoke to those five people at one time…or better yet, 20 people, or 100 people?

The way this plays out may look different for different people, but the idea is the same.  Leverage your time and talk to as many people as possible.

6. Train, Train, Train

The power of a home business is that you utilize the time of others to leverage your time and efforts.  The saying “I would rather have 1% effort from 100 different people than rely on 100% of my own” is so true to me. But those 100 people have to know what they are doing in order to help you succeed.  So train, train, train.

Training is also a great way to stay connected to your team, help keep them motivated, empower them to build their teams and demonstrate leadership and duplication.  Spend a greater percentage of your time with those team member who are displaying the most activity and are duplicating the steps to success.

Empower your team to duplicate what you do and encourage them to lead their teams.  This goes back to leveraging your time and energies.

7. Create Goals, Benchmarks and Take Decisive Action

Where do you want to be in 6 months?  Do you have a goal and a road map that will get you there?  Break the six months down into intervals that will allow you to measure your progress along the way.  Where do you want to be in 1 year, or 2 years?  Again, you have to have clearly defined bench marks and an action plan that will get you there.

Writing your goals down is huge.  Writing down the actions to get you there is vital.  But all of it is done in vain if you do not take action to make it all a reality.  You have to know where you are going in order to get there.

8. Stay On Top Of Your Game

Be the kind of leader who is always working to improve your skills.  Improve your presentations, improve your conversation skills, always find new ways to help and empower people.  Learn from the leaders in your company and leaders in the industry.

One of the great things about a home business is that there is always room for more growth.  There’s always room for more business and there’s always room to improve your skills.  Staying on top of your game keeps you in a position to help more people.  Whether directly or indirectly, you are always going to be in contact with people so you want to make certain your people skills are at their best.

9. Have FUN!

Who said business can’t be fun?  Building a business, building a team, encouraging a team, working with people – it all makes out for a very fun business!  If you expect others to join you in your business you have to let them see that you’re having fun and that you enjoy what you do.  Sadly, it seems like most recruiters want to tell you how much money they make.  I believe more success will come when others see that you love what you are doing, enjoy the opportunity to help others and enjoy the way you are able to leverage your time.  Yes, everyone wants to make money, that’s why we are in business.  But I believe quality of life trumps most other benefits.

Hope you enjoyed these tips and found them helpful! Please feel free to comment and share with your team. If you have any questions about building your business, please feel free to reach me directly at 612-562-8219. Look forward to hearing from you! Have a beautiful day and I will see you tomorrow! I believe in you!

Carrot, egg or coffee bean??

A wonderful metaphor:

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her.
She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling.  It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen.  She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire.  
Soon the pots came to boil.  In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans.  She let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes, she turned off the burners. She fished out the carrots and placed them in a bowl.   She pulled out the eggs and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled out the coffee and placed it in a bowl.  Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me what you see.”

“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft.  The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it.  After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. 

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee.  The daughter smiled as she tasted its richness and savored its aroma.  The daughter then asked, “What does it mean, mother?”

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity — boiling water.  Each reacted differently.

The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting.  However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.

The egg had been fragile.  Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique, however.  After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

“Which are you?” she asked her daughter.  “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?  Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?”

Think of this: Which am I? 

Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? 

Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff?  Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain.  When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor.  If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst; you become even better and change the situation around you.

When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level?

How do you handle adversity?  

Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?

The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of things that come their way.

Have an awesome day and know that someone is thinking about you! Please feel free to reach out to me if you need any help in building your business. My direct number is 612-562-8219. See you tomorrow, I believe in you!

Yesterday we shared a story with our staff titled “Are You A Carrot, Egg or Coffee Bean”.  It is a story about perspective, adversity and how you view the things that are happening in your life.
In a business that requires you to understand that there are two sides to every coin, that everyone has their story to tell, that your perception is your reality, I found it an appropriate topic.  So many times we get caught up in our own dilemmas and drama that we forget that many of our own truths that we subscribe to are based on our point of view; our perspective.  In an attempt to broaden their own view of things and as a reminder to myself, I decided to read it aloud.
The story goes like this:
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her.  She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up.  She was tired of fighting and struggling.  It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen.  She filled three pots with water.  In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and the last she placed ground coffee beans.
She let them sit and boil without saying a word.  In about twenty minute she turned off the burners.  She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl.  She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.  Then she ladled the coffee into a bowl.  Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me what you see?”
“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.
She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots.  She did and noted that they were soft.  She then asked her to take an egg and break it.  After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.  Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee.  The daughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma.
The daughter then asked, “What’s the point, mother?”
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity… boiling water – but each reacted differently.  The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting.  However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.  The egg had been fragile.  Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior.  But, after being through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.  The ground coffee beans were unique, however.  After they were in the boiling water they had changed the water.
“Which are you?” she asked the daughter.  “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?  Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?”
Think of this:  Which am I?
Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?
Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat?  Did I have a fluid spirit, but after death, a break up, a financial hardship, or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff?  Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean?  The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain.  When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor.  If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.
When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate to another level?
How do you handle adversity?
ARE YOU A CARROT, AN EGG, OR A COFFEE BEAN?
Our staff resonated with this and to their credit were able to share their own ideas and thoughts with the group.  It gave the newcomers a closer look into our company culture and allowed the veterans to teach and share.  It was truly an eye opener for me to see them do that without any prompting and made me glad to have shared this story again.  This is one of the reasons why I truly enjoy working in the business and these kids pleasantly surprise me every day.  Things are never as bad as they seem and they're never as great either.  Maintaining our perspective on things helps us overcome adversity even if we struggle.
“When it rains it pours. Maybe the art of life is to convert tough times to great experiences: we can choose to hate the rain or dance in it.” ― Joan Marques
We choose to dance in the rain; or in this case, drink the coffee.
- See more at: http://www.alanwongs.com/blog/are-you-carrot-egg-or-coffee-bean#sthash.q432hCJl.dpuf

Yesterday we shared a story with our staff titled “Are You A Carrot, Egg or Coffee Bean”.  It is a story about perspective, adversity and how you view the things that are happening in your life.
In a business that requires you to understand that there are two sides to every coin, that everyone has their story to tell, that your perception is your reality, I found it an appropriate topic.  So many times we get caught up in our own dilemmas and drama that we forget that many of our own truths that we subscribe to are based on our point of view; our perspective.  In an attempt to broaden their own view of things and as a reminder to myself, I decided to read it aloud.
The story goes like this:
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her.  She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up.  She was tired of fighting and struggling.  It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen.  She filled three pots with water.  In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and the last she placed ground coffee beans.
She let them sit and boil without saying a word.  In about twenty minute she turned off the burners.  She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl.  She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.  Then she ladled the coffee into a bowl.  Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me what you see?”
“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.
She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots.  She did and noted that they were soft.  She then asked her to take an egg and break it.  After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.  Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee.  The daughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma.
The daughter then asked, “What’s the point, mother?”
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity… boiling water – but each reacted differently.  The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting.  However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.  The egg had been fragile.  Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior.  But, after being through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.  The ground coffee beans were unique, however.  After they were in the boiling water they had changed the water.
“Which are you?” she asked the daughter.  “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?  Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?”
Think of this:  Which am I?
Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?
Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat?  Did I have a fluid spirit, but after death, a break up, a financial hardship, or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff?  Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean?  The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain.  When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor.  If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.
When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate to another level?
How do you handle adversity?
ARE YOU A CARROT, AN EGG, OR A COFFEE BEAN?
Our staff resonated with this and to their credit were able to share their own ideas and thoughts with the group.  It gave the newcomers a closer look into our company culture and allowed the veterans to teach and share.  It was truly an eye opener for me to see them do that without any prompting and made me glad to have shared this story again.  This is one of the reasons why I truly enjoy working in the business and these kids pleasantly surprise me every day.  Things are never as bad as they seem and they're never as great either.  Maintaining our perspective on things helps us overcome adversity even if we struggle.
“When it rains it pours. Maybe the art of life is to convert tough times to great experiences: we can choose to hate the rain or dance in it.” ― Joan Marques
We choose to dance in the rain; or in this case, drink the coffee.
- See more at: http://www.alanwongs.com/blog/are-you-carrot-egg-or-coffee-bean#sthash.q432hCJl.dpuf

Yesterday we shared a story with our staff titled “Are You A Carrot, Egg or Coffee Bean”.  It is a story about perspective, adversity and how you view the things that are happening in your life.
In a business that requires you to understand that there are two sides to every coin, that everyone has their story to tell, that your perception is your reality, I found it an appropriate topic.  So many times we get caught up in our own dilemmas and drama that we forget that many of our own truths that we subscribe to are based on our point of view; our perspective.  In an attempt to broaden their own view of things and as a reminder to myself, I decided to read it aloud.
The story goes like this:
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her.  She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up.  She was tired of fighting and struggling.  It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen.  She filled three pots with water.  In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and the last she placed ground coffee beans.
She let them sit and boil without saying a word.  In about twenty minute she turned off the burners.  She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl.  She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.  Then she ladled the coffee into a bowl.  Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me what you see?”
“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.
She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots.  She did and noted that they were soft.  She then asked her to take an egg and break it.  After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.  Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee.  The daughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma.
The daughter then asked, “What’s the point, mother?”
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity… boiling water – but each reacted differently.  The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting.  However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.  The egg had been fragile.  Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior.  But, after being through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.  The ground coffee beans were unique, however.  After they were in the boiling water they had changed the water.
“Which are you?” she asked the daughter.  “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?  Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?”
Think of this:  Which am I?
Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?
Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat?  Did I have a fluid spirit, but after death, a break up, a financial hardship, or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff?  Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean?  The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain.  When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor.  If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.
When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate to another level?
How do you handle adversity?
ARE YOU A CARROT, AN EGG, OR A COFFEE BEAN?
Our staff resonated with this and to their credit were able to share their own ideas and thoughts with the group.  It gave the newcomers a closer look into our company culture and allowed the veterans to teach and share.  It was truly an eye opener for me to see them do that without any prompting and made me glad to have shared this story again.  This is one of the reasons why I truly enjoy working in the business and these kids pleasantly surprise me every day.  Things are never as bad as they seem and they're never as great either.  Maintaining our perspective on things helps us overcome adversity even if we struggle.
“When it rains it pours. Maybe the art of life is to convert tough times to great experiences: we can choose to hate the rain or dance in it.” ― Joan Marques
We choose to dance in the rain; or in this case, drink the coffee.
- See more at: http://www.alanwongs.com/blog/are-you-carrot-egg-or-coffee-bean#sthash.q432hCJl.dpuf

Effects of Negative Thinking

Happy Friday! Ran across this article this morning and wanted to share it with you. It's worth a few minutes to read. SO many great points about the effects negative thinking is having on your life and those around you.

13 Ways Negative Thinking Is Ruining Your Life

Are negative thoughts ruining your life? Consider ways to develop a positive perspective and take charge of your life. Here are 13 ways negative thinking may be ruining your life. Reflect on them and let us know about the changes you are making in the comment section below!

1. It Makes You Idle

Doing anything negative can make you feel sluggish. Negativity can affect your actions in so many ways. With a pessimistic thinking approach, how and where are you supposed to get the motivation to get your day going? Research also indicates that activity keeps you from thinking negative thoughts. Find something you enjoy doing, or simply construct a checklist of activities to do every day to keep negative thoughts at bay.Find something you enjoy doing to keep negative thoughts at bay.

2. It Makes You Bitter

We all know how negative thinking can make you feel quite bitter. Often we do not even know what we may be feeling bitter about. That is how quickly negativity can spread. Eventually you may find yourself being angry about everything. If you find yourself becoming bitter or angry, take time to figure out what it is that is causing you to feel that way. Obviously stemming from something negative in your life, figure out what it is and contradict it with something that makes you feel happy. There is no joy in bitterness. No confidence in anger.

3. It Discourages You

Thinking negative can discourage you from living a healthy life affecting you both mentally and physically. This can cause chronic stress and anxiety, depression, as well as affect the way you see and feel about yourself and others. Constant negative thoughts can also affect your heart and some research indicates a link between negative thoughts and physical health ailments. In order to lead a more healthy life, choose to be active and dispel negativity. Change the way you think and crush self-doubt. There are many ways to lead a healthy and less negative existence. Finding something that works for you may take time but it is definitely worth it. Consider your health and change your perspective.

4. It Clouds Your Judgment

Negative thoughts cloud judgment. Negativity has a direct link to self-doubt. Not only that, negative thoughts leave you feeling unsure about everything and everyone. The unsureness created by depressing thoughts affects your ability to reason, be logical and see things at a different angle. Seek to have a clearer mind. Depressing thoughts affect your ability to reason. Clear your mind!

5. It Pushes People Away

Feel like you are pushing those around you away? Perhaps negative thoughts about yourself and about life in general are to blame for this behavior. It is positivity that has steadily proven to bring people into your life and stay. Positivity is the best role model. Negativity only isolates people and makes them feel uncertain. Ever heard of the saying “don’t take things so personally”? Well consider that your negative thoughts may very well be taken personally by peers and others. Consider the way you may be affecting people and decide to make changes. Consider the way your negative thinking may be affecting others and decide to make changes.

6. You Can’t Do Your Best

Negativity keeps you from doing the best you can do. Like being idle, not doing your best can keep you feeling trapped, inside, away from everyone and everything. You may begin to do things only because you feel you have too. Such activities like going to work, eating healthy, being social and practicing your hobby during leisure time become more of a chore that you complete without really putting your mind to it.Negativity keeps you from doing the best you can do.

7. You Become Overly Suspicious

Feeling suspicious of everything lately? Negative thoughts can create a level of suspicion within your mind. Because everything is so negative already with you, often you might find yourself reducing others as negative and spreading your energy to those closest to you. You may begin blaming everyone else but yourself for the way you are feeling and not only do you push people away, you continue to find reasons why to do so. Apprehension leaves you nothing but loneliness in the end. Avoid negativity and avoid social and mental crises.Negative thoughts leave you with nothing but loneliness in the end.

8. You Blame Others

As stated before, you might find yourself blaming others as a way to temporarily limit negative thoughts. Yet in the end once again, you find yourself alone and perhaps ridden with guilt. Negativity persuades you to believe that you alone are not only insufficient but everyone around you has to be so as well. It really confuses us and may lead us down a destructive path. Do not let negativity ruin your life. Look inward and try to understand what you can do differently. Everyone else has their own demons to deal with and you cannot begin to blame others for your own mishaps.Don't let negativity ruin your life. Look inward and figure out what YOU can do differently.

9. Everything Becomes A Problem

When allowing yourself to think negatively, everything you do, everything you say, everything you see or feel becomes a problem. Your insecurity and lack of trust leave you feeling that all around is problematic. Small things suddenly become big, big things suddenly become greater and more burdensome. How to change this depends highly on changing the way you think. Although it may not be that easy, start small and bridge your way out from there. Recognize what really constitutes a problem area in your life and take those steps to fix it. Everything else is dust in the wind.Recognize what the real problems are and take steps to fix them.

10. You Can’t See Yourself Happy

Happiness becomes a passing phase in your life, something you experienced when you were a child – carefree and spirited. When thinking negatively, you believe that you, in the present, cannot and will never be happy. Again, you do not find any need in doing the best that you can and find so security in social connections with those closest to you. Negativity leaves a sour taste in your mouth, an extreme tiredness for things you once found fulfilling. Negativity leaves a sour taste in your mouth.

11. You Can’t Be Happy For Others

Negative energy affects those around you and the way you interact with them as well. You may find yourself experiencing a tinge of jealousy or ill regard for friends and peers. Pessimism is like a weed that spreads across fields – your wellbeing, your body, mind and soul. Everything appears dark, unwanted and not logical. Since happiness for yourself is not there, why should you find yourself happy for others? Consider how detrimental this is to all your relationships. Pessimism is like a weed that spreads across the fields of your body, mind, and soul.

12. You’re Anxious & Irritated

And of course you may find yourself constantly irritated and anxious. Negativity affects all emotions – keeping you from experiencing positive ones and pushing your mind to highly emphasize the problematic ones such as anger. Anger leads to anxiety, fear, rejection, stress and so much more. Keep your attitude in check and avoid anxiety by seeing the positive in most situations.Anger leads to anxiety, fear, rejection, stress and so much more. Keep your attitude in check.

13. There’s No Room For Hope

And lastly, there is no room for hope in a negative mindset. What is there to hope for when everything seems so hopeless? Instead of seizing the moment, you may find yourself complaining about things that are actually quite small and that keep you from pursuing your dreams. Find hope again and beat negative thoughts before they beat you.

Stay positive my friends! Please feel free to share this article with your team members. If there is anything I can help you with, please feel free to reach me directly at 612-562-8219. Have a beautiful day and we'll see you tomorrow! I believe in you!

Smile....

Today's post shares with you a tip that may seem obvious, but one that can drastically change the results you experience and sadly one that is often overlooked.

For most people in the home business industry, we seem to get laser focused as we are out inviting, meeting new people, sharing and presenting.  We get intense and that comes through on the look on our face.  And an intense look raises a ton of resistance.  A simple smile has major benefits to you as you prospect, recruit and lead your team.

Today you’ll learn five benefits that come from simply remembering to smile.

1. Smiling Helps Others Relax

When you authentically and genuinely smile, you immediate cause the people around you to relax and to take down their walls.  When prospecting and recruiting, peoples resistance meters go up and your smile can help lower their resistance, which is always a good thing!

Have you ever noticed when you’ve been talking with someone how an exchange of smiles can immediately break the ice?   Remembering to smile should not be overlooked.

2. Smiling Draws People To You

Have you ever seen this play out in a social setting?  You see those people who constantly smile and you see others surround them.  Or maybe even the opposite?  You know people who always have  a snarl or a frown… are these the people are drawn to?  Not at all!

As you are speaking with your prospects and they see and hear your genuine smile, they are drawn in to what you are saying, they are drawn to your energy.  In general, people want to be around others who are happy and positive, so your smile becomes a flashing welcoming sign to others.

3. Your Smile Connects People To You

If you smile at people, first you will get a smile from almost everyone you come into contact with.  Secondly, you give people an open connection with you.  You can start so many conversations simply by giving them a “green light” to talk with you.

Your smile alone can start so many conversations!  A smile and a quick “hey, what’s up” will open so many doors.  If you throw in a genuine compliment, you’re golden!

As humans, we are designed for human connection yet it is something that is missing in much of our society, so instinctively, many take this open door and are happy to connect through the gift of a smile!

4. Your Smile Creates A Positive Atmosphere

As you’re prospecting and presenting, keep a genuine smile on your face.  It creates a positive atmosphere.  Your energy is positive and as your prospect connects with your smile and reciprocates with their smile, their energy is positive as well.

Showing the advantage of smiling you may have to think to the opposite of this.  What happens if you have a stern look on your face or even a frown?  They will reciprocate with the same.  Is this a buying atmosphere? Not at all!

As you can see, smiling is one of the “little things” that really do matter!

Your smile can totally set the atmosphere as a positive one!

5. Your Smile Elevates Your Mood

This is the only aspect in this list that is self serving.  Smiling helps YOU have a better mood!

Have you ever been in a bad mood and then forced yourself to smile?  Immediately you’ll feel the endorphins kick in and have a better moment.  Your physical position greatly affects how you feel internally.

So if you want to change your mood, do it with a smile!

Of course, as your mood gets better and more joyful, your prospects will sense your energy and will be affected.  This goes back to the points made previously about creating a positive atmosphere and connecting others to you.

Plus, being in a better mood is always a good thing, right?  A smile really does help!!

Hope you found this helpful. Please feel free to comment and share with your team. If I can help you with anything, please feel free to reach me directly at 612-562-8219. Have a beautiful day, Smile, I believe in you! See you tomorrow :)

Don't be defensive in your business...

The cool thing about what you will learn in today’s article is how to feel better with your prospecting as well as become more efficient and get more results. YOU can be in control of how your conversations go if you take the time to study this article.


When prospecting and building your business, remember these simple tips:

1. That no one should push you around when it comes to being involved in the Home Business industry.

2. That you don’t have to try to recruit every person you meet.

3. That not everyone is meant to be in the Home Business profession.

4. That you do not require acceptance or approval to have Home Business success.
  
5. Never be defensive. Being defensive is about the weakest position anyone can ever take in a conversation. It’s weak. Instead, take back the power by NOT being addicted to the outcome and also getting good at thinking differently. The main point of this article is to give you several examples so you see what I mean so let’s start:

Scenario: You invite someone to take a look at your opportunity. They have some objections after the presentation:

Objection: These things never work.
Weak Response: They definitely do! There’s people making lots of money and this thing is absolutely ground floor!
My response: Well, if your immediate response when presented with an opportunity is that they don’t work, you may be right and this may not be a fit for you.

Notice that my response takes the focus OFF of “it” not working and instead focuses on THEM.

Objection: I don’t have the money.
Weak Response: Bummer! Any idea when  you would?
My Response: Let me ask you this, if you DID have the money, is this something you could see yourself doing?

Notice that I don’t acknowledge their initial response of not having the money as it is 99% of the time a total lie. They may not have EXTRA money but they do have the money to get in almost every time. Their energy was to give me an objection I could not get through and I managed that energy by asking a new question.

Objection: I’m not good at sales.
Weak Response: It’s not selling, it’s sharing! (which, they never, ever believe)
My Response: You don’t have to be good at sales but you do have to be coachable, do you consider yourself coachable?

My response on this takes someone who is already putting themselves in a weak position by saying they aren’t good at something, keeps them there and positions me as an authority. If they answered yes to this I would then say, OK, well, may I coach you right now? And, assuming they say yes, I would then say, before the presentation you mentioned you didn’t like _____ about your job/life/finances. With you being coachable we can show you how to make ________ better and if you were serious about that, I suggest you go ahead and get on board and start the training.

Objection: I can’t do this sort of thing.
Weak response: Yes you can, it’s super easy and we are gonna be rich!
My Response: You are probably right.
This response takes chutzpah (audacity) to pull off but anytime I have ever said it, they took it as a challenge and then went on to convince me why they COULD do it.

You have to embrace the fact that like it or not you are NOT going to recruit every person you meet but if you manage the energy correctly, you WILL mess with their brain a little and they very well might come back to you to sign up later. I have had that happen A LOT.

Feel free to share with any teammates who may need to feel better about their approach and want more results. If you have any questions about building your business, please feel free to connect with me directly at 612-562-8219. Look forward to hearing from you! See you tomorrow, I believe in you!

Mindset Matters

I hope you are already having a VERY productive and beautiful day!!

How is your mindset today? Something that has always helped keep me in the right mindset to work my business is constantly working on personal development. We can have all the skills in the world, but if our mind isn’t in the right place, we’re not going to reach long term success….period.

I set aside a minimum of 30 minutes per day to put something good IN! Right now I am currently working on reading “Awaken the Giant Within” by Anthony Robbins. I read a chapter a day and I am absolutely LOVING it!!! Here is a part that I read this morning that I want to share with you:

One of the most important decisions you can make to ensure your long term success is to decide to use whatever life gives you in the moment. The truth of the matter is that there’s nothing you can’t accomplish if:

1. You clearly decide what it is that you’re absolutely committed to achieving.
2. You are willing to take massive action.
3. You notice what’s working, or not, and
4. You continue to change your approach until you achieve what you want, using whatever life gives you along the way. “We will either find a way, or make one.” ~Hannibal

If you haven't already read Awaken the Giant Within, CLICK HERE for the PDF Version.

Comment below and share what type of personal development are you working on right now. If you have any questions or if I can help you with anything in your business, please feel free to reach me directly at 612-562-8219. Have a beautiful day, I believe in you! See you tomorrow!

12 Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

You usually read tips of what you CAN do to help you grow your business.  Well I’m putting a different spin on things today. I’m going to share things NOT to do in your business, the top 12 mistakes that cause people to fail in their home businesses.  And hopefully, you will read with an open heart and learn from them:)

Each one of these mistakes are very common and most home business owners make at least one of them if not several. Once the mistakes are acknowledged, they can be easily reversed.  However, these mistakes, if not caught early on, can lead to the failure of your business and some discouragement.  And we want the majority of your days as a work at home mom to be happy and encouraging!  You will have bad days too, but avoiding these mistakes will help you eliminate quite a few of them!

Mistake #1:  Waiting for your enroller (sponsor)  to call you and offer help
In this business it is crucial to make sure that you are connected to your enroller.  But don’t wait for them to call you!  Your enroller is most likely leading a large team of people and focusing on the team members that are “in the game”.  The proper course of action is to contact your enroller anytime YOU need help.  Your enroller does not know you are struggling unless you let them know.   They are not mind readers.  Call them, Instant Message them, Facebook them, let them know you are serious and “in the game” and that you have questions or need mentoring.   ALWAYS remember that your enroller wants to hear from you!!  That is what this business is all about!

Mistake #2:  Not being prepared for Dream Stealers
Without a doubt you will come across people, usually friends and loved ones, who might try to steal your dreams.  They may tell you, “You can’t do one of those things, that work at home stuff doesn’t work.”  These people are called Dream Stealers. And most of them feel they are just trying to protect you.  Unfortunately most people are pre-programmed to believe that working a 40 hour a week job for 40 years is the only option and that a home based business is not going to work. And we know that’s not true, that’s why we’re here.  We are among the elite 3% that know there is a better way and are willing to go for it!!  As for those dream stealers, there is a simple fix:  Don’t let them!  No one can steal YOUR dreams unless YOU let them!  And they will come around when you show them the money!

Mistake #3:  Not completing your training An all too common mistake is when someone is just so excited to get into working their new business they skip the training steps.  This is a short and easy mistake to explain and avoid.  Simply, do your training, don’t skip any steps.  They are there because they are ALL very important to your success.  Remember, when you need help, contact your enroller.   They are there to help however, if you don’t let them know you need help, they can’t help.

Mistake #4: Spending too much time on “busy work” Starting a new home business is VERY
exciting!  There are a lot of things that you can do.  You can get your home office all set up, you can load up on office supplies.  You can spend hours designing marketing supplies. You can take time to write out a business plan.  You can spend weeks reading, training, listening to calls and watching videos online.  All of these things are very exciting and will certainly benefit your business in the long run.  However, your first goal is to make back your initial investment and get to the point where you are earning enough income to cover your overhead.  So it’s important to do just the basic necessities and then jump right into working your business.  Sometimes in the beginning people are afraid to get out and start talking to people.  It is new for them and it puts them outside their comfort zone.  This is normal and about 70% of people experience these feelings and that perfectly ok.  I know I did.  The mistake is made when these people “hide behind” the busy work mentioned above.  That keeps them from having to face their fears.  The way to avoid this mistake is know from the beginning that 15% of your time should be focused on the “busy work” and 85% on actively marketing and prospecting.

Mistake #5: Having unrealistic expectations with income Most home business owners are looking to be a part of a legitimate business and not a “get rich quick scheme.”  For most of us this statement should be true.  However, the mistake happens when people think, “Sure, I want a legitimate business, I don’t want a get rich quick scheme but I do want to make money real fast.”  Well, there is a problem with this and don’t worry if this is you because about 90% of people feel this way.  There is an easy fix though.  We have to remember the first part, we want a real, legitimate business and those don’t create tons of money overnight. Most new businesses are in business for 1-3 years before they even make a profit.  Fortunately for us it doesn’t take nearly that long.  In this industry, it’s usually only 1-3 months maximum to start making a profit.  Of course that is up to each individual person, how driven and committed they are.  And it is very possible to make hundreds even thousands your first month, many of us have.  I encourage you to strive for your financial goals from the start, however I advise you to have realistic expectations.  “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”  But if you still feel like things are moving too slow, get with your enroller and they can advise you on how to get things moving quicker so you can start building those monthly residual checks we all love!

Mistake #6: Having unrealistic expectations with advertising and results It takes time for advertising to work.  In most cases you won’t get tons and tons of replies from doing 1 or 2 forms of advertising only 1 or 2 times.  Those familiar with the advertising industry will tell you that it’s about repetition. Doing the advertising again and again is what creates true success.  They say that it takes a person three times of looking at something to actually SEE it.  Think of the work you do each day with advertising and marketing as planting seeds in your garden.  This has to be done in order to see the flowers.  It also takes some time for the seeds to start to grow.  The seeds are working and starting to grow under the soil, but you can’t see it yet even though it’s working or they’re growing.  Then, after several weeks you start to see a little bit of green poke out of the soil.  You can actually now see some results of your planting seeds although still only very small results.  And, if you are patient, before long, you will see beautiful colorful flowers!  A big thing that will help here is for you to work your way up to having five forms of advertising or marketing going on at the very same time each and every week. This can take months to accomplish but make it your goal.  Those who master this have very successful businesses!   If you feel you are not getting anywhere with your advertising, get with your enroller and revamp what you currently have going on. That’s what they are there for and they can help!

Mistake #7: Not setting a schedule This step is so simple but SO many new home business owners don’t follow it.  You really need to set a schedule for yourself.  For example:  I work Monday – Friday from 8-5.  Create a schedule that works best for you and try your very best to stick to it.  This is your own business, so now and then it’s okay to make some changes to your schedule.  Life happens and other things come up, but if you miss some of your set hours try to make them up somewhere else in the week.  I do this.  If something interferes with my M-F schedule, I make the time up on Saturday or Sunday. Also, and this is important, treat your business just like a part time job outside the home.  If you stopped showing up to your part time job outside the home, were late every day, were not reliable or didn’t put in 100% of your effort, you’d stop getting checks, because you’d get fired.  With your home business, no one will fire you, however, you will stop getting checks or worse not even start getting any. You wouldn’t do those things with a job outside the home so don’t do it to a job inside the home.  TREAT YOUR BUSINESS WITH AS MUCH RESPECT, IF NOT MORE, THAN YOU WOULD TREAT A JOB WORKING FOR SOMEONE ELSE!  I promise that if you don’t value and respect your business, soon enough you will find yourself working outside the home.  And everyday when you go to that job, you will think to yourself, “Man!  I wish I didn’t have to work this job!”  Well, you don’t, but NOW is the time to make sure you never have to go and get another job again.  Work your business, set a schedule, make a commitment and give 100%!

Mistake #8:  Not setting goals or having an action plan

You need to set goals for yourself so you can always know where you are and where you want to go.  Your goals can be when you want to get to a certain promotion level or income level or how many pieces of business you wish to sign up per month, how many forms of advertising you want going on each and every week, how many full conversations you want to have with prospects each day.  Set goals, define where you want to go, and hold yourself accountable.  It isn’t always whether or not you reach your goals, but sometimes it’s just looking and asking yourself did you do everything possible this week to help you reach your goals.

Mistake #9: Failing to participate in your team’s training calls

A simple and easy to explain mistake.  Most companies with successful teams have MANY training calls available to you each week and they are a HUGE part of your ongoing training to master your business.  You will learn ways to market and advertise, how to talk to prospects, close them and overcome objections. You will learn about your products/services. You will even hear from other successful leaders as they share with you exactly what they did to reach their level of success.  So the fix here, attend these calls!  If you are part time you should be listening to at least two calls per week and if you are full time you should be listening to 3-4 calls per week.  If your team doesn’t have training calls, suggest they start them!

Mistake#10:  Getting emotionally attached to your prospects
What this means is you talk to a prospect today, let’s call her Mary…and you and Mary have an awesome conversation, you really hit it off and you talk on a friendly level with her and she tells you at the end that she is very excited and will be ready to start on Friday and asks you to call her back at 1:00 on Friday to help her get started.  Then you call her on Friday at 1:00 and she doesn’t answer the phone.  That’s not a good feeling, I know.  It got me down a lot in my business when I was new.  And who knows why Mary didn’t answer the phone, she may have just told you that because she couldn’t tell you no, or maybe her husband talked her out of it or maybe she just got scared, who knows.  The best way to avoid this is to always focus forward and not backwards.  It’s great that you had a nice conversation with Mary last week but don’t focus on that.  Only focus on talking to new people, focusing forward.  If you call Mary back on Friday and she answers, that’s great!!  But if she doesn’t (which happens sometimes) don’t allow yourself to get upset, just bless and release and keep pressing forward.

Mistake #11: Going into management mode
A new home business owner will enroll a team member or two or three and they go into complete management mode.  A lot of new team leaders fall into this trap.  They focus too heavily on training and leading their team members and discontinue looking for new people.  This will kill your business and completely put a halt on earning new checks.  You need to continue working on personal production.  Not only will it help you earn more checks and find great leaders but it is a great example for your team.  If you’re adding business, your team will follow you.  To build a successful team, it is so important to lead by example!!!  This business is a numbers game.  To find the leaders you need to new levels and beyond, you will need to add the quantity to get the quality.  Your first three or four team members will most likely NOT be the leaders that will help you promote to the next level.  Trust me on that.  You will need to add many more than that.  Also, there is a power in numbers.  The more people you have on your team that are also looking for new team members, the more your check will grow!!!  Obviously 30 team members can add more business than just you all by yourself.  So, if you’re looking to reach the top level and a six figure income with your company, you need to understand that volume equals results.

Mistake #12: Quitting before the blessing
The most amazing part of your home business is when you can really start to see amazing things happening in your business.  You start to see growth on your team and real significant growth in your paychecks.  This is something that takes time to start to see, it doesn’t happen right away.  Building a successful home business takes time.  However, if you work your business consistently and with a strong desire to achieve greatness, you WILL reach your financial goals. When you do, your dreams become reality and it is an amazing blessing.  The problem lies when a person quits the business before the blessing.  All too many times we have heard people say, “Its going too slow”, “Things are not happening”, “It’s not going to work for me.”  The thing is, it is going to work.  It works for EVERY single person who stays and works their business.  Building a home business is a lot like being on a diet and exercise plan.  It takes a lot of daily effort and dedication.  A week or two can go by and you may not see the results JUST yet.  Would you quit your diet and stop exercising just because you don’t see results right away? No!  You keep going because you KNOW it WILL work if you keep working hard at it.  Same thing with building a home business!  Easy fix here, do not let quitting be an option for you!  If you are a part of a great company, it will happen for you!  The only difference between you and the successful leaders in your company is that they have been here longer and that’s it!

So there you have it, the 12 mistakes that cause women to fail in their home businesses.  Are you making any or many of them??  If so, no worries, a lot of us did in the beginning of our business.  You can correct the mistakes and start moving forward in the direct of great success from home!!  I TRULY wish that for all of you!  My home business has changed my life!  You ALL deserve that same amount of success and beyond!! See you tomorrow!

Who Succeeds?

Who Succeeds?

Have you taken a look at the top earners in the home business world and noticed who the successful are?  If you study them, you’ll discover it’s not one demographic who always succeed.  It’s not whether or not you’re male or female and it doesn’t even matter if you came from money or from a family with a small bank account. College graduates succeed and those who have never had any college succeed. I’ve seen convicts, ministers, tattooed and clean shaven succeed.  I’ve seen highly paid professionals win and those who came off of the streets succeed.  So who succeeds in the home business industry?

A positive attitude mixed with a lot of determination is important when it comes to succeeding.  In other words, you’re not going to allow anything to get in your way of reaching success.  You know that setbacks will come, distractions will come and that you are fighting an uphill battle, but it doesn’t matter because you have an attitude and determination that  is more powerful than the setbacks.
A strong posture, a strong attitude, determination…..they are all important, but is that all it takes to succeed in your home business?

The Key To Reaching Success

Observing top earners and leaders in the home business industry has shown me the key to success.  And the key to success is to have a determination to win.  It’s not a half hearted, take-it-or-leave-it approach to your business, it is a determination so strong that when tough times come your way you scream “bring it” because you know you have the determination to go to the top.

When you make the decision to grow your business big, you are in it to win it.  There is no stopping you, there is nothing that will prevent you from going to the top.

Do you have that kind of determination to win?  Have you decided it you’ll stick with it until you go to the top?

How Do You Increase Your Determination?

It comes down to crafting a vision that is powerful enough to pull you.  It’s deeper than your why and more real than a dream.  It’s your picture of who you want to become and what you want your life to look like.  When you have a clear vision of where you want to go, you then have the choice to do what it takes to get there.  If you make a decision to get there, a true decision to get there, that’s your determination.

And yes, determination comes with dedication, discipline, drive and decision.

Your determination to win is what till take you to success in your home business. Are you ready?

Hope you enjoyed today's post and found value. Feel free to comment and share with your team. Please feel free to reach me directly at 612-562-8219 if you have any questions about building your business. I am also happy to help. I believe in you! Here's to your success. See you tomorrow!

Negative Thoughts?

Ever have negative thoughts?  Yeah me too and everyone deals with it. When it comes to how to stop negative thoughts it is easy not simple.

If you are an entrepreneur you will run into this problem. Things will come your way.  Things will make you want to quit.

You will need to know how to sop the negative self talk if you are going to do anything.

Here are 5 tips I use daily to keep myself in tabs and thinking positive.

1. Be aware of your thoughts.  You have the become aware of your negative thoughts so you can change it. Before you can change anything, you absolutely have to make sure you are aware of what is going on in your mind.

2.  After you are aware, you need to change it.  Right away, when you notice you have negative thoughts, you need to break the pattern. Do something positive.  Go exercise, turn on some music, personal development or what ever.  This is how you stop negative thoughts.
Change your thoughts.

3.  Listen to positive stuff and shut off the media.  It is kinda crazy. But I want you to listen to good stuff. Not the news or radio.  Something that will better you and get you to think bigger.

4. If you want to know how to stop negative thoughts about yourself you need to get around people that think bigger.
People that inspire you and how you can still from.  It is a really big deal! Get around people that make you think bigger.

5. Create a trigger.  When you start thinking negative - make sure you get into action. You can't be in action and thinking you can't do it at the same time.  I promise!

Hope these tips help you become more POSITIVE.  Or at least help you do better in your business. 
 
Feel free to comment and share with your team members as well. Let me know if I can help you in any way. You can call or text me directly at 612-562-8219. Look forward to hearing from you! See you tomorrow!

Almost...

Have you ever had an experience in life that was almost life changing?  An experience that would have changed your life if you would have done something different.

What if you would have taken that job?

What if you would have moved to a different city?

What if you would have asked that girl out?

“Almost” is one of those words that will leave you less than satisfied, especially when you think of them in these terms…

You almost hit that next rank.  You almost recruited that person. You almost walked the stage. You almost hit the pay level you needed.  You almost….

When you are building a business, you have to beware of the word “almost” when it comes to….
You almost picked up the phone to invite them.

You almost booked a home party.

You almost called the person on your chicken list.

The actions that you “almost” take are the very same actions that prevent you from achieving what you want to achieve.

Most of the time, that one action that you avoid is the one action that limits your success.  Do you want to go to the top?  Do you want to hit a certain rank but find that you “almost” get there and then get no further?

Look at your habits.  Look at your actions.  Don’t look at the result and ask “why am I not getting there?”  Look at your activity, look at your calendar, look at your habits and ask “How can I get there.”

“Almost there” will leave you very dissatisfied.  Taking the appropriate actions and creating the right habits are very fulfilling and get you to where you want to go.

You’ve Got This!

If you’re building a business and you have not had the experienced the success you would like, keep building on your skills, keep taking action, get out of your comfort zone and get out of your head.  You were created for greatness, you were created for something big… you’ve got this!

Hear these words:  Don’t quit.  You have dreams that need to be achieved.  You have big plans that need to happen.  You’ve got this.

Determination is key.  Don’t be satisfied with “almost.”

I’m here to help, so if I can help you grow your business, please feel free to reach out to me directly at 612-562-8219. Have a beautiful and successful day and we'll see you tomorrow!

Twitter Anyone?

One of the most common questions I get asked is, “how do I use Twitter?” Luckily for you, I have some useful answers to help you grow your blog or business using Twitter.

First, I want to share this training that I did with my team to help you get signed up and set up so you can start using Twitter:

Once you have your Twitter account set up, here are some quick tips to help you start building your presence and business on Twitter:

Use images in your tweets

Tweets with images are 94% more likely to get retweeted. Holy cow! So the next time you promote that recent blog post on Twitter, make sure to upload a photo, too. Twitter images are 440x220px, and you’d be doing yourself an even bigger favor to create an image of that size, with your post title on it. Not only will your post stand at in someone’s feed, but they’ll be able to quickly glean why it will be useful.

Share other people’s work

This is a no brainer, but it’s SO important! Twitter is a way for you to grow your community and make real connections with other influencers. The best way to do this? Share other people’s work and don’t forget to “@” them with their username. Also? If you share their posts in an interesting way, they might retweet you, which will get you in front of their Twitter audience, too. Plus, your Twitter followers will get bored if you only share your own stuff. Mix it up by sharing relevant work from others.

Use it as the first point of contact for collaborations

Growing your blog can often mean collaborating with others, whether it be other bloggers or Big Time Brands. If you want to collaborate with an individual or brand, sending them a long email right off the bat (if you’ve never spoken before) might seem a little intrusive. Casually say what’s up on Twitter and let them know you’ve got an idea brewing. That will put you on their radar and will help your collaboration idea seem more personal when you pop it into their inbox in the near future.

Pin a tweet that will grow your following

Twitter now has a function where you can pin a tweet to your profile, so it will always sit at the top. Sometimes I just pin my favorite posts, but you can certainly be more strategic with this — like pinning a tweet letting your followers know that you’re killin’ it on Instagram and they should probably follow you there, too.

Hope this helped you. If you have any questions, please let me know, you can connect with me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/theresaswendra. Or call/text me at 612-562-8219. I believe in you! Have a beautiful day and we'll see you tomorrow!  

Texting in Your Business

Texting your prospects to invite them to a presentation can be super helpful for a new person.  Even for a well established network marketer, texting is becoming more ideal simply because of the way we interact these days.

Does texting replace the excitement and enthusiasm heard in the voice in a phone call?  Not at all.  But texting does overcome the awkwardness and weirdness that many reps display when inviting prospects to a presentation.

Tips On How To Use Texting For Inviting

Your one purpose of texting is to set an appointment to show your presentation.  Remembering this allows you to cut out unnecessary words and information.  You are simply texting to invite, not to present or to explain.

Here is a couple of quick tips on texting.

• Keep It Personal – don’t get weird and robotic.  Text just like you would to your best friend (or bff in this case).
• Keep It Simple – you are simply inviting, not presenting.  There is no need to explain, just invite.
• Do Not Over Analyze – just make conversation in a natural way.  If you over think it, you lose.
• Consistently Invite – text at least 10 people each day to set appointments.
• Provide Meeting Options – give at least two options when suggesting a time to meet.
• 24-48 Hours In Advance – invite 1 or 2 days in advance, not any further.
• Confirm The Date – once you have the appointment set, let them know you’ve added the time to your calendar.

Why Texting Your Prospects Works

As I mentioned earlier, many new reps are terrified of the phone.  In order to help your rep get off to a quick start most new recruits will have very little resistance to texting.  For most, that should be reason enough because you always want to help your new rep get off to a fast start.  Having them text an invite will get them started immediately by setting up some appointments and seeing some immediate success.

Another reason texting works for inviting your prospects is because of the way our society has embraced texting.  Here are a few statistics around texting:

• 90% of American adults have a cell phone.
• 58% of American adults have a smartphone.
• 143 Million smartphones are in use in the United States.
• 91% say their phone is in reach 24/7.
• 78% admit they take their phone to the restroom with them.
• 95% of all personal text messages get a response.
• 93% of texts are seen within 3 minutes of receipt.

Keep in mind, this does not say 93% responds in three minutes, so if your prospect does not respond quickly do not freak out.  They may be driving, working, out for a jog or simply busy doing something else.

If you find your texts are not getting a response, evaluate what you are sending and change up what you are sending.  Keep in mind, you are only trying to set an appointment in order to make the presentation, not MAKE the presentation through text.

Here is a training I did on using texting to grow your business:

Get Your Network Marketing Team Started

Here are some suggestions on getting your team into texting activity:

• Get together for a team challenge and do a text blast.  Who can send the most texts in 30 minutes?  Who can set the most appointments?
• Have your team set aside 15 minutes per day and encourage them to send 10 texts.
• Hold a week long challenge and give prizes for the team members who send the most texts and who get the most appointments set up.
• Reward everyone who participates with recognition and praise.
• When someone sets 3 appointments, post about it in your teams Facebook page.  This will inspire others.
• Ask your team to share the texting script that gets the best response.

A Text Invite Challenge For You

Here’s a challenge for you to help you implement what you’ve learned in this post:  Send out 10 texts just to set an appointment to show your presentation.

After you send text and hear back from them, I’d love for you to leave a comment below to let me know how many appointments you were able to set.  I bet you’re going to be surprised at how simple it is!

Once you see for yourself that it works, get your team to do the same thing.  Feel free to share this post with your team too – just think what could happen if everyone on your team set up 3 appointments today just by texting their prospects!  That’s how teams multiply!

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach me directly at 612-562-8219. See you tomorrow! I believe in you!