Tuesday, September 11, 2007

How Is YOUR Belief Level?

Do you think you CAN be a success or do you have doubts? It's not what you are or who you are that makes a difference but it's what you THINK you are. If you think you can, or if you think you can't, you are exactly right.

Have you ever seen a person that is highly successful, yet to you they look like a dork? They don't seem all that smart, yet they make a LOT of money. Then you see another person, dressed to the hilt, and mortgaged to the bone, that seems to be beautiful and smart, yet they are dead broke. WHY? ATTITUDE and BELIEF.

It's your attitude that determines your success and your future. It's all between your ears.

If you truly believe in your heart in what you're doing and where you're going, that belief will trigger your enthusiasm, and that will literally explode. Enthusiasm, passion and belief can carry you any place you want to go.

Have you ever heard anyone say "Ignorance on fire is much better than knowledge on ice any day of the week"? It's the pure and simple truth.

If you're excited about something and you know where you're headed people will come for miles around to join you and want to do what you're doing. If you do NOT believe in what you're doing, why would anyone else? People want to be around those with vision and passion.

We all have good days and bad days, ups and downs, but what will carry your thru is your passion and love for what you're doing as well as your belief level. When I'm feeling sad, I stop, start to count my blessings and think of only good things. I state my goals in the present tense, and read them daily. I focus on where I'm going as if I'm already there, and it propels me along.



I had a call yesterday from a girl, that wants to join my business (eventually). I say eventually because every time she calls, the first words out of her mouth are what is wrong today. She says she will save up the money to start her business, but this month the car broke down, last month the TV broke (like who would not be richer without a TV), or she had medical bills, but one thing after another. She is so focused on what is wrong, she is attracting other things to her.

Personally, these things happen in life to everyone, yet, it's how you react and how you focus that makes the difference. If you are always saying you are broke or don't have the money for something (no matter what) you never will. You have to reach beyond those circumstances, and start to act and live as if you DID have the money, believe that you are moving ahead. When you believe that, all heaven and earth will open.

Years ago, when I was struggling, having quit my job way too soon. I had a belief that I would succed but I made many bad choices and spent a few years struggling. I watched one mlm after another crash and burn, till I hit rock bottom. I didn't know where I was going but I KNEW it was NOT going to be back into that JOB world I left. I believed I would climb out of the whole, find a company that truly cared about distributors, and was honest and ethical. I was not asking much just that they paid on time, had good products and were fair to all. I had a belief I WOULD find it and I would do well in time.

It didn't happen over night but 3 years ago I found my dream company, jumped in and went to work and today I'm doing very well. I have been blessed to find a team of fantastic people to work with, and was honored to be named distributor of the year by my company last month. It was really an honor that has to go to my team, they are amazing people and I love all of them. I love the company, the product and everything has been going well. It truly started with a dream and a belief, and it happened because I KNEW it would.

When you hit bottom, remember, the only way you can go is UP, and it's your choice. You can chose to win or you can chose to WHINE. You can complain or you can do something about it. It's all up to you and it all starts with your belief.

So what about you? Where are you headed? What do you believe you can do? If your attitude stinks, change it. Only you can do that. If bills are getting you down, believe you can make that change and take action to make it happen.

Say this every day: "If it's to be, it's up to me." You can change your future if you believe you can. You can make a difference in the world, if you take action. NOTHING Starts without you putting thing in to motion, but I know that if I can do it, anyone can. I had no special skills, talents or anything more than a desire for things to change, and a willingness to take action and make it happen. I knew and believed I had to do something, didn't know what or how, but the belief fueled me into action and here I am.



POOF….. You ARE what you believe. Go to work and change the world, one person at a time. Make a difference. You can do it. You are special.

I hope to see you at the top one day.

Diane "AKA MLMBlonde" Walker is a professional network marketer and author who has built her business using the power of the internet. She has also developed MULTIPLE income streams and is committed to helping others reach their dreams. She has a book coming out soon. For notice when it releases, go to http://jackanddianebook.com

For more articles by MLMBlonde visit http://mlmblonde.com

Reprinting this article is permitted with this footer included. Copywrite 2007 - Legendary Ventures

Friday, July 06, 2007

Be Accountable To Yourself

I was talking with one of my team earlier today and the subject came up of accountability. She shared with me it has taken her all this time to learn what it really takes to grow a business, and that is being accountable to herself.

As I thought of it, I thought that makes TOTAL sense. Think about this… if you want to build a business the top thing you need to do is take action. Many people take the action to start, and many go out and start sharing their business. They talk to lots of people, but they fail to follow up.

They also plan to work on their business. Sometimes they plan to but then the phone rings. It's someone inviting them to a movie, or out to dinner, or maybe a shopping trip. They think about that offer, and say to themselves, I'll work when I get back and go out just for a little while. After all, many work a JOB during the week so growing a business is in the spare time. Yet all too often they never get back to follow up with those they talked to. They spend time making excuses for themselves.

When they start they are all gun ho for a week or so, then, when things come up they need to do, they do not hold themselves accountable. Ask them if they are working their business or how it's going. They will say, fine. Ask them how much time they worked, and they begin backpedaling. They will say, they MEANT to work last week, but they were "tired" or they sneezed once so they must be coming down with a cold. Maybe their wife or husband, "demanded" they come watch a movie. They would have worked their business, but the MALL was calling them, or they thought they would watch one TV show before starting and fell asleep. When they woke it was too late, so they put it off another day. Or else, they could not make that phone call, because they misplaced the number. Then need to clean the office and get "organized". They are afraid to pick up the phone because the person they are calling might not be home, or might be eating, or whatever excuse they tell themselves.

I say if you want to make an excuse ANY will do. Just make a list of all the excuses you make, copy it and give it to your business partner and then when you find your business is not growing, you won't have to waste time making excuses, just say EXCUSE # 10 and move on.

If you ever intend to grow a business, you must be accountable. If you do not hold yourself accountable, you'll never make it in this business or any other. If you had a JOB, and decided to show up when you felt like it, you'd not have a job long.

If you commit to working 10 hours a week on your business, DO IT. Budget your time so you spend 10 PRODUCTIVE hours each week. Productive means talking to prospects about your products or services, and following up. The fortune is in the follow up. If you don't take time to follow up, you will one day run into that person you talked to at a meeting sponsored by someone else or worse yet, one day arrive at a company convention to find that person you "judged" as not interested is the key note speaker and lead distributor.

I've seen much in my career. I've seen MANY people that have told me they didn't follow up because they didn't want to bug anyone, only to later run into that same person and find they joined with someone else. The fortune is in the follow up and consistency. Learn to be accountable first to yourself and watch your business grow.

Speaking for myself, there have been many times over the years that I did NOT feel like working. It happens to everyone, you just get "lazy". I have found when I don't feel like working, I read my commitments and MAKE myself work anyway, and when I do, I'm always glad later I did. I take time off to enjoy life, but I also show up to work my business when I planned and don't let things get in my way. Stay on track, and over time, you'll be glad you did.

Early on you do have to work long and hard to get your business growing. If you want to have a future, it starts and ends with you. NO EXCUSES, just make it happen. Be accountable to yourself and you'll be glad you did.
I've always said you can make money or excuses but never both.

Hope to see you at the top one day.

Diane "AKA MLMBlonde" Walker is a professional network marketer and author who has built her business using the power of the internet. She has also developed MULTIPLE income streams and is committed to helping others reach their dreams. She has a book coming out the in a few months that will give a realistic look at our industry. http://mlmblonde.com


Reprinting this article is permitted with this footer included. Copy write 2007 - Legendary Ventures

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Sticking it Out - Will you?

So many people just get blown out of the water and fail simply because they didn't stick around long enough to have success. Success is the result of good old fashioned work and effort.

What about you?

Did you ever decide you'd like to change things? Maybe you're sick and tired of making your boss rich? Sick of being told to get up and go to work day in day out, rain or shine and not enjoying your job. You may want to do something different, but what?

You look around. You begin to think "maybe, just maybe", you could find something to do that could help you break free of that hum drum existence. You see something that seems "easy" so you sign up and get started with a network marketing company or some affiliate type program that you could work online and you jump in, with little or no experience.

You're excited! You think you found the answer to freedom. You tell a few people and they laugh at you, and tell you you're crazy. They burst your bubble but you set out to prove them wrong.

A few months pass, and you find you're not rich, and retired and the "work" gets old. After all you have a day "job" and then may have to come home and work on learning a 2nd career…so you start to fade away. Friends invite you out for a night on the town and it's much more inviting than trying to build your business, so you go. You drift away and you eventually either give up, OR see another offer where the grass looks greener so you jump over there. You start over again and again, maybe with 2 or 3 different opportunities, but NONE make you rich, so you give up. You decide this won't work.

On the flip side of the coin, maybe you did sponsor a few people, but with a few people, you still are not rich and this is too hard, so you quit.

I find that SAD. Many times, those that gave up, and quit, left behind someone they sponsored that went on to do well, and that one person could have made the difference in their life. Many times it's NOT who you sponsor, but maybe someone they sponsor or someone that leads you to a person that becomes a great leader. However, remember you quit, so you don't even know it. Some of the best leaders on my team, came to my organization as a result of people that gave up.

I made a vow to myself 15 years ago when I decided to break out of the working world, and learn about this industry they call network marketing. That vow was this, "no matter how hard it gets or how many times I have to start over, I will NEVER QUIT. I saw that there really were people that were earning a living and many of them I saw were really kind of goofy people. I thought, it they could do it, I could too.

I never bought in to those stories of billionaires, and that. I also found many times there are stories about lifestyles and most of the time, while they may be true or semi true, the stories are NOT stories but more paid advertisements. I never bought into that kind of thing. I found that misleading. The masses do NOT make millions,however, what if you could make a decent living? What if you could replace your full time income in a few years? What if you could make a little more than your full time income but work for yourself instead? That's more realistic and that is more reality.

Sure there are millionaires in our industry, just like there are millionaires in every industry, but at what price? To get that kind of income takes much hard work, much effort. In the traditional world it may even take 6 or 8 years of expensive colleges, and also starting at the bottom and working your way up, and it's not easy. Why would anything think that becoming a millionaire in the networking industry would be an easy task? IT IS NOT and most people won't make it to the top of ANYTHING but it a job or be it network marketing. It's doable of course, but it's really more of a pipe dream.

Now… if you are truly serious, and you want to build a residual income that comes in and grows over time like interest in the bank, you can do it but you MUST be realistic. You must work. You must find a product you can believe in and you must sell it. YES I said sell. I do not care what business you're in, you are either selling a product or a service, or there is no business. A real business depends on people moving products.

Even if you have a JOB in accounting, someone in your company must be out there selling "SOMETHING" or your company is not going to be around long. You also had to sell, no matter what you do. If you went on a job interview, you had to sell them on hiring you. I don't know why people get scared when someone mentions "SALES". The world revolves around sales. No company survives without sales.

To be successful, you must be willing to get started with whatever you choose. You also must be willing to stick it out. The quote I live by (and I don't know who started it but it's been my very existence) is simply "Quitters Never Win and Winners Never Quit".

I chose NOT to quit. I chose to stay thru thick and thin. I decided if I stuck around long enough eventually I would find a winner of a company and product and move forward to build it. I had to start over many times but I never gave up and never let anything stop me and today I'm glad I did. What about you?

Remember…we all have the same choices. It's what we chose that makes the difference. You can chose to stay where you are in that job, and learn to live with it, love it and hope they don't downsize you….or you can chose to find something you can do to become independent, and build a future.

I am thankful I chose the later. My family on the other hand, chose the first "JOB world". This past year was a nightmare for both my kids. It breaks my heart to see, but they are of the menality that network marketing is like the company that started it all years ago, and they just don't believe in it even though they know I make a good living at it.

In 2007, I watched as both my son, and than later my son-in-law's companies came along and downsized them right out of their jobs that they had worked hard at to advance with. My son was fortunate enough to find another job within 2 months, and "start over" with a lesser salary where he can work his way back up. He also had to relocate and is presently stuck with a 500K home in another state he has to work on selling. This is the 4th time this has happened to him in his career. He has worked his tail off for the companies, and worked up running million $$$ operation only to have his head on the chopping block when they don't need him anymore or want to "cut back"

My son-in-law just lost his last "job" about a week ago. This has happened to him in the 15 years they have been married at least 5 times. He was relocated about 7 years ago to the north and a year later the company that sent him there downsized and closed that operation and he found himself without a job for the 2nd time in as many years. Each time he manages to find another "JOB" work hard, turn around operations for the company, and they take all his ideas, and suggestions, use them and then find someone that will work for less. This time, it is the company he WAS with, had a merger, they came in with all their own management staff. They downsized the entire company management and brought in their own… demoting everyone from the prior company and keeping them on…. (For 6 months or so). As soon as they learned about the new company they bought, they canned EVERY person from the old company cause they could now operate for less with people they didn't have to pay. So he's back in the JOB market.

Both of these are my "family". This is the "family" that has watched me build an income in network marketing thinking I'm not working, cause I don't report to a JOB. They also within the 4 or 5 companies they each were promoted thru got transferred to other states. Both were top performers in their companies so many times got sent on "trips" with company management, cruises and such and of course, I was the one to fly up and take care of the grandkids when they went. I didn't mind, I love traveling and I can work any place I have a cell phone and laptop…but again, perception. They think I don’t "work".

I say all this to say, many times your family can be your worst critic. Many times they don't GET it. Many times they think that JOB is security…but is it?

To me the reality is what I see, and in the Corporate America world these days there is NO Security. IMHO, I watch as big companys chop jobs, and ship our job over seas. Ever call for an air reservation, or a computer question these days and not be able to talk to a person that you can understand? Call your hotline for service? You talk to machines, that press 1 for this and go into a loop forever before finally gettting a live person. I'm not at all prejudiced, but I would like to talk to a LIVE person, that can speak fluent English. After all I live in America and am calling an American company. Bottom line, the companies are farming out our jobs overseas, cause they can pay peanuts and they only care about the bottom line $$$ so where is the security in that?

For my kids and family they are still trying to hang on to the past where you went to work for 40 years and retired with a gold watch. I think that only exists today in fairy tales. We have to carve our own future. If you have a good paying job today, consider yourself fortunate and blessed, but also stay on your toes because they may decided to hire someone for less and you may be out the door, just as my kids were this year.

Who's better off, them or me?

I could have quit early on, when people laughed at me or told me I was nuts. I could have easily thrown in the towel when companies failed me and closed, or I found out they were NOT what they said. Companies in network marketing are no better or worse than the corporate world in some cases so you do have to do your homework and find the right fit. However, with the skills and education I've gotten plowing thru the failures and weighing the options, I am thankful I didn't give up and stuck it out.

You have the same choices and same options. The thing is will you stick with it or will you give up and quit when the going gets rough. It is NOT an overnight thing, you will NOT be rich over night. You can make a living at this but it may take time to learn. If you are willing to get started and vow to NEVER a quit, you can become all you want to be.

I challenge you … take action. Action is the key and the future is here. Too many people put off making decisions, and then the years pass and they life in regrets. They WISH they had listened 2 or 3 years ago, but then again the only time you have is NOW. If you're considering doing something, do it NOW. Don't wait because tomorrow could be to late. Today is all any of us have.

Hope to see all of you at the top. Find something you love and get started carving out a future and don't wait another day. DO IT NOW!

Diane

Diane "AKA MLMBlonde" Walker is a professional network marketer and author who has built her business using the power of the internet. She has also developed MULTIPLE income streams and is committed to helping others reach their dreams. She has a book coming out the later part of 2007. Watch for the publication.

Click Here To learn more about MLMBlonde

Reprinting this article is permitted with this footer included. Copy write 2007 - Legendary Ventures