In order to be sure you are in a rock solid network marketing company, the company should meet the following 7 Pillars of Success. If it doesn’t you will either not succeed or your company may not succeed. Your company may even steal your check. If your company can not meet all 7 pillars, then you should save yourself years of frustration and failure and find a better opportunity.
1.) Company: Does the company management have rock solid experience? The founders need both “corporate” experience as well as “in the field” experience. The corporate office has to have the infrastructure to support the growth, provide the products, as well as having the experience and knowledge of having built a network marketing company in the past.
2.) High Integrity: High integrity is needed or commissions won’t be paid when you become a big earner. Some companies even change their structure from being a network marketing company to stop paying their distributors. Examine closely clauses in the policies and procedures regarding terminating a distributorship.
Research the founders and find out if any of them were in a company before and if they changed the structure of their companies in the past to do away with paying their distributors.
3.) Timing: Timing in the company. Timing in the profession of network marketing. Timing within national and global trends. Is the company in the early stages of growth? Is it advancing into other countries? Do the products focus on a huge expanding market which is projected to grow within the next few years?
4.) Products: Will people buy these products even without a compensation plan attached to them?
Are the products unique, remarkable, high quality, consumable products, with sizzle, all at a price point that makes them easy to share with others? Or are the prices high in order to pay everyone in the marketing plan?
5.) Compensation Plan: A compensation plan that rewards the top builders as well as fairly rewarding the
Part-time person. Most companies do not reward the average part-time person. In most companies unless you become a big builder, you will lose money. Look to see if part-timers are rewarded for their results also.
6.) Proven System: A “proven” duplicable system that allows part-time people to create a significant royalty income and full-time people to create an extraordinary royalty income. Most people claim to have a duplicable system, but if it was duplicable more people would be successful with it. There needs to be leadership teams with proven systems of duplication, with coaching, training, skill development, partnership and unprecedented support.
7.) The company must be for the distributors: The bulk of the profits should go to the distributors, not stock holders or company owners. The company should keep the overhead low. Does your company advertise a big building, or a lot of corporate personnel on the company website? I was formerly involved with a travel company that bragged about its big building it built. Why does an online travel company need a big building? No wonder it stopped paying a lot of commissions that was suppose to go to its distributors.
When evaluating a network marketing company, you must take into account all 7 “Pillars of Success”. Without all 7 pillars, your success may be temporary through no fault of your own.
I modified this article from Freedom Magazine. If you like this type of info and would like for me to send you a copy of the latest issue of Freedom Magazine, then send me a request with your contact info.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Top 10 Reasons Why Network Marketing
1.) Low-to-No Financial Risk. Start your own business for as little as few hundred dollars-plus all your need to start and stay profitable.
2.) Be Your Own Boss. Working for yourself. Part-time or full-time, when and where you want.
3.) Superior Quality Products. Innovative, one-of-a-kind, high demand and high-impact products and services not found in retail stores, spas, clubs or mail order catalogs: Unlimited market potential.
4.) Impressive Tax Advantages. Legally putting thousands of dollars a year in your pocket from the home-based business tax-savings.
5.) No Restrictions. No set hours. No commuting. No employees. No high overhead. No territorial restrictions. No dress code. No franchise fees or royalties to pay. No limitations on how you can go!
6.) $100 Billion+International Sales. More than 20 million independent business people in North America alone, where annual company growth rates of 30% to 1500% are common! An expanding global market.
7.) Open to All regardless of age, sex, race, education, experience, income level, capital investment, family or business background, past success or failure.
8.) In-Depth Training/Support that promotes the highest levels of personal and professional growth, business and leadership skills and development.
9.) Immediate Income. The very real opportunity to earn from $500-$2500 a month part-time replacing your full-time income in two years, plus the possibility of $10,000, $20,000 month and more as a full-time career.
10.) Freedom. Living the “Lifestyle of a Millionaire” without the burdens, hassles and responsibilities. Your time and your life are yours; more fun, travel, play, meeting new friends, enjoying your family.
I got this informative article from Freedom Magazine. If you are interested in this type of info and would like for me to send you the latest issue for free, then send me your contact info.
2.) Be Your Own Boss. Working for yourself. Part-time or full-time, when and where you want.
3.) Superior Quality Products. Innovative, one-of-a-kind, high demand and high-impact products and services not found in retail stores, spas, clubs or mail order catalogs: Unlimited market potential.
4.) Impressive Tax Advantages. Legally putting thousands of dollars a year in your pocket from the home-based business tax-savings.
5.) No Restrictions. No set hours. No commuting. No employees. No high overhead. No territorial restrictions. No dress code. No franchise fees or royalties to pay. No limitations on how you can go!
6.) $100 Billion+International Sales. More than 20 million independent business people in North America alone, where annual company growth rates of 30% to 1500% are common! An expanding global market.
7.) Open to All regardless of age, sex, race, education, experience, income level, capital investment, family or business background, past success or failure.
8.) In-Depth Training/Support that promotes the highest levels of personal and professional growth, business and leadership skills and development.
9.) Immediate Income. The very real opportunity to earn from $500-$2500 a month part-time replacing your full-time income in two years, plus the possibility of $10,000, $20,000 month and more as a full-time career.
10.) Freedom. Living the “Lifestyle of a Millionaire” without the burdens, hassles and responsibilities. Your time and your life are yours; more fun, travel, play, meeting new friends, enjoying your family.
I got this informative article from Freedom Magazine. If you are interested in this type of info and would like for me to send you the latest issue for free, then send me your contact info.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
3 Ways to Use NLP in Goal Setting
Here is are 3 ways to use NLP in goal setting.
1.) Decide what do you want to achieve in a reasonable amount of time. What I learned from studying NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) is that you should not think about what you don't want but, think about what you do want. Your subconscious mind does not create in terms of negative wants but will in fact will work to give you your negative result. For example tell yourself do not think about a white rabbit. You pictured a white rabbit in your mind didn't you?
2.) Use positive self talk. Don't tell yourself in self talk "I don't want to be fat", because your mind will be programmed to make yourself fat. Instead your self talk should be, if you are using the present tense, "I am healthy", "I am releasing (state how much weight you are releasing)", "I am physically active", "I am an athletic", "I am attractive", "I am thin", “I am successful,” etc. You can use the future tense, " I will be...", etc.
3.) Visualize your goals as already achieved.
For example if you want to lose weight or be healthier, use visual imagery too see yourself thinner and healthier. A NLP technique is to "associate" your images you are visualizing by seeing the world through your own eyes looking out of your new body and seeing what the world would be like in your new body. What do you see yourself doing from the view point of your eyes looking out. Involve your senses in this imagery. What do you see, hear, smell, and feel in your new healthy environment of new activities you are doing? Feel how proud you are and the warmth of your family and friends interacting in new activities with you. Imagine the smiles and looks of approval as people are looking back at you in a new way while you are looking at them.
You can also "disassociate" your imagery by imagining you are looking at yourself and you are seeing yourself and seeing your new healthy, attractive, and thinner body. What does your new clothes look like? What expression do you see on your face? How is your posture standing, walking? Watch yourself doing new activities and the expressions of other people as they interact with you. Involve your senses, feelings, etc. as you did when you associated your imagery.
Use the 3 ways to use NLP in goal setting, decide what you do want, use self talk to declare who you are, visualize your goals as already achieved.
1.) Decide what do you want to achieve in a reasonable amount of time. What I learned from studying NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) is that you should not think about what you don't want but, think about what you do want. Your subconscious mind does not create in terms of negative wants but will in fact will work to give you your negative result. For example tell yourself do not think about a white rabbit. You pictured a white rabbit in your mind didn't you?
2.) Use positive self talk. Don't tell yourself in self talk "I don't want to be fat", because your mind will be programmed to make yourself fat. Instead your self talk should be, if you are using the present tense, "I am healthy", "I am releasing (state how much weight you are releasing)", "I am physically active", "I am an athletic", "I am attractive", "I am thin", “I am successful,” etc. You can use the future tense, " I will be...", etc.
3.) Visualize your goals as already achieved.
For example if you want to lose weight or be healthier, use visual imagery too see yourself thinner and healthier. A NLP technique is to "associate" your images you are visualizing by seeing the world through your own eyes looking out of your new body and seeing what the world would be like in your new body. What do you see yourself doing from the view point of your eyes looking out. Involve your senses in this imagery. What do you see, hear, smell, and feel in your new healthy environment of new activities you are doing? Feel how proud you are and the warmth of your family and friends interacting in new activities with you. Imagine the smiles and looks of approval as people are looking back at you in a new way while you are looking at them.
You can also "disassociate" your imagery by imagining you are looking at yourself and you are seeing yourself and seeing your new healthy, attractive, and thinner body. What does your new clothes look like? What expression do you see on your face? How is your posture standing, walking? Watch yourself doing new activities and the expressions of other people as they interact with you. Involve your senses, feelings, etc. as you did when you associated your imagery.
Use the 3 ways to use NLP in goal setting, decide what you do want, use self talk to declare who you are, visualize your goals as already achieved.
Monday, August 17, 2009
12 Ways Of Handling The Objection The Price Is Too High
Because products or services do not sell themselves and customers raise objections that need to be answered; opportunity is created for the skilled salesperson to earn salary or commission. Handling the price is too high objection is a sales skill that must be mastered by the professional salesperson, especially if they are selling high end products or services. Product here could also be a business opportunity. Here are 12 ways of handling the objection the price is too high.
1.) Answer the common objections during the sales presentation. If the salesperson believes the price is too high and other common objections for their industry are likely too occur, then the best way to handle it is the raise the objection and answer it during the presentation.
2.) Use a good well rehearsed sales script. A good sales script will eliminate most objections before the close, and may contain a trial close, and keep the salesperson from saying and doing the wrong thing. If you need more help obtaining a sales script or more information then contact me.
3.) Tell a success story about a customer who had the same objection and explain how the product or service was successful in solving their problem.
4.) If the customer asks about price too soon before value is built, postpone stating the price until the benefits are built up to increase value to exceed the cost. It is more important to explain benefits then features.
5.) If a big package is being sold, then maybe a smaller package option can be offered to lower price.
6.) Financial options can be discussed.
7.) Show what the cost is in smaller increments such as per month, per week, per day.
8.) Compare the price to other vendors or service providers if their price or value can be beat.
9.) Compare using the product or service to what the customer is currently doing and how the customer can save money or increase the customer’s value or service using the product or service.
10.) Offer a guarantee to reverse the risk away from the consumer.
11.) If the objection is constantly being raised then the salesperson should do a better job of target marketing for wealthier prospects before setting the appointment for the sales presentation.
12.) If in fact the price is actually too high for its value and benefits then the sales person should change company or industry.
As a member of the National Association of Professional Salespeople I have agreed to only offer quality products and services that are competitively priced to qualified customers and clients.
The NAPS can be contacted at P.O. Box 2481, Placerville, Ca 95667-2481, (800)248-3555
1.) Answer the common objections during the sales presentation. If the salesperson believes the price is too high and other common objections for their industry are likely too occur, then the best way to handle it is the raise the objection and answer it during the presentation.
2.) Use a good well rehearsed sales script. A good sales script will eliminate most objections before the close, and may contain a trial close, and keep the salesperson from saying and doing the wrong thing. If you need more help obtaining a sales script or more information then contact me.
3.) Tell a success story about a customer who had the same objection and explain how the product or service was successful in solving their problem.
4.) If the customer asks about price too soon before value is built, postpone stating the price until the benefits are built up to increase value to exceed the cost. It is more important to explain benefits then features.
5.) If a big package is being sold, then maybe a smaller package option can be offered to lower price.
6.) Financial options can be discussed.
7.) Show what the cost is in smaller increments such as per month, per week, per day.
8.) Compare the price to other vendors or service providers if their price or value can be beat.
9.) Compare using the product or service to what the customer is currently doing and how the customer can save money or increase the customer’s value or service using the product or service.
10.) Offer a guarantee to reverse the risk away from the consumer.
11.) If the objection is constantly being raised then the salesperson should do a better job of target marketing for wealthier prospects before setting the appointment for the sales presentation.
12.) If in fact the price is actually too high for its value and benefits then the sales person should change company or industry.
As a member of the National Association of Professional Salespeople I have agreed to only offer quality products and services that are competitively priced to qualified customers and clients.
The NAPS can be contacted at P.O. Box 2481, Placerville, Ca 95667-2481, (800)248-3555
Sunday, August 16, 2009
12 Ways To Be The Expert In Your Niche
By Gary Sager
Find something you are interested in knowing about and other people will be interested in it too. Here are 12 ways to be the expert in your niche and direct traffic to your website.
1.) Make your name known on the internet. Search for your name on Google.com, Yahoo.com, and Bing.com. How do you rank? What page are you on? Search for your name with quote marks and without quote marks. Most people will search for you without quote marks.
2.) Set a Google alert for your name so you will be alerted if someone mentions your name.
3.) Own your own URL with your name.com.
4.) Have your own branded website. You can get an inexpensive branded website and logo from BrandYourselfMarketing.com.
5.) Start your own blog and update consistently, preferably every week. You can link to your blog from your own branded website or forward your own name URL to your blog, and make your blog your primary website. If you are new to blogging and want to learn, you can start with a free blog hosting at Blogger.com or Wordpress.com. After you’ve gained experience you can pay a small fee to host your blog on a commercial hosting site. This will give you control of your data. And prevent being shutdown from being too commercial or some misunderstanding. There was an incident where Blogger shut down several bloggers mistakenly for being spammers. Bloggers temporally lost access to their blogs.
6.) Read my blog post from my Success Blog about how to generate backlinks and use Social Bookmarking to position your sites as authority sites for search engines.
7.) Sign up for free social media sites and post your public profile in sites like LinkedIn.com, Twitter.com, Friendfeed.com, Plaxo.com. If you vary each profile a little, search engines may think your are a different person at these sites and list more of your profiles on the first page.
8.) Write articles for Ezinearticles.com. Ezinearticles.com is the best site to write articles for. It is big and search engines consider Ezinearticles.com an authority site and you will have links and traffic back to you. If you want an alternative you can submit articles to Ezine.com.
9.) Do Keyword research for your articles, headlines, blog posts.
10.) Use Latent Syntax Indexing when you write articles and blog posts.
11.) Comeback to read more blog posts and articles to teach the above.
12.) Contact me to get access codes for team training on all the above.
Be passionate about your niche and these 12 ways to be the expert will get you there.
Find something you are interested in knowing about and other people will be interested in it too. Here are 12 ways to be the expert in your niche and direct traffic to your website.
1.) Make your name known on the internet. Search for your name on Google.com, Yahoo.com, and Bing.com. How do you rank? What page are you on? Search for your name with quote marks and without quote marks. Most people will search for you without quote marks.
2.) Set a Google alert for your name so you will be alerted if someone mentions your name.
3.) Own your own URL with your name.com.
4.) Have your own branded website. You can get an inexpensive branded website and logo from BrandYourselfMarketing.com.
5.) Start your own blog and update consistently, preferably every week. You can link to your blog from your own branded website or forward your own name URL to your blog, and make your blog your primary website. If you are new to blogging and want to learn, you can start with a free blog hosting at Blogger.com or Wordpress.com. After you’ve gained experience you can pay a small fee to host your blog on a commercial hosting site. This will give you control of your data. And prevent being shutdown from being too commercial or some misunderstanding. There was an incident where Blogger shut down several bloggers mistakenly for being spammers. Bloggers temporally lost access to their blogs.
6.) Read my blog post from my Success Blog about how to generate backlinks and use Social Bookmarking to position your sites as authority sites for search engines.
7.) Sign up for free social media sites and post your public profile in sites like LinkedIn.com, Twitter.com, Friendfeed.com, Plaxo.com. If you vary each profile a little, search engines may think your are a different person at these sites and list more of your profiles on the first page.
8.) Write articles for Ezinearticles.com. Ezinearticles.com is the best site to write articles for. It is big and search engines consider Ezinearticles.com an authority site and you will have links and traffic back to you. If you want an alternative you can submit articles to Ezine.com.
9.) Do Keyword research for your articles, headlines, blog posts.
10.) Use Latent Syntax Indexing when you write articles and blog posts.
11.) Comeback to read more blog posts and articles to teach the above.
12.) Contact me to get access codes for team training on all the above.
Be passionate about your niche and these 12 ways to be the expert will get you there.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Google and Social Book Marking: Your Keys to Backlinks and Traffic To Your Websites
By Gary Sager
When your website has good content and Google sees other websites with similar interest have links to your website or blog post then Google and other search engines will believe your site is an important site. Google will give your site a higher rating in its searches and traffic will be directed to your site from searches and inbound links from other sites. These in links are called back links. When you link out to another website, it is called an out link. To rank higher in Google it is better to have more back links to your site then to have more out links. So if your site is new, I think it would be better to not have affiliate links out if you are not making money on them. When your site has several back links and you are getting the benefit of more traffic then it makes sense to have some good affiliates to generate income.
Likewise when you write posts for you’re your blog don’t have a lot of buy links that takes one away to your retail site. You can have a buy button/link on a sidebar your customers can go to so you don’t have excessive out links to make sales. This also better so your customers don’t feel pressured to buy and quit coming to your site and customers will still continue to get good benefit from your posts. The same can be said about your business opportunity if you are a blogger. If you blogs are all about your opportunity and not about building relationships and adding value, people will stop coming to your blog and will be afraid to link to your site.
The old method to get back links is to go to other blogs and forums to leave comments and to link back to your website. This is a slow process. A good and effective way to back link is to join Social Book marking sites like Digg.com, Propeller.com, StumbleUpon.com, Del.icio.us, etc. There are many of these social marking sites and their services are free. These sites allow you to link to your and your friends sites and blog posts, videos, etc. You create a profile at these sites, add friends, etc. but the important thing is to promote your site by a “digg” on Digg and “prop” on Propeller. You submit an URL and write a brief description and pick a category so friends will know why they should go to your site or blog post. You can digg or prop any of your own sites and also other news stories that are interesting. You need to submit other sites so these services won’t think you are only promoting yourself. The other members of these social marking sites will digg or prop your picks too. Even if your submission doesn’t become the most popular you will have created a good quality back link and will have promoted your site there. If others find you have listed interesting stories and keep looking at your submissions you will have increased chances they will check your URLs out too.
What search engines are looking for are that there are back links by people with different IP address and social book marking accomplishes this. Don’t make the mistake of creating several Digg accounts and point them to your website because eventually you will get caught and lose your account. Likewise don’t create a bunch of websites to link to your sites or just one website that has lots of links to your website as that is artificial because when Google finds these sites have the same IP address you will be blacklisted. It is ok if you have a few other websites that have just two or three links. Don’t just make a share exchange were you and others equally have websites that link to each others as Google won’t give much credit to that, unless you all join social book marking services using their IP address. This might work a little while, until Google figures it out, if you and others have similar themes, such as Health and Wellness, Weight Loss, Business Building Tips, etc. There is also the problem of free loaders who want all the links to them but they won’t link to you. I know where you can get a free back link tool that will create a list of people who will do this, if you are interested in trying it, but I think it is a bad idea. Traffic Exchanges are set up to create back links but Traffic Exchanges will create back links that are not related in content and if you grow back links too fast and when Google catches on you will be downgraded. Bottom line is we are in it for the long haul and we should keep to best practices.
There are two more social book marking sites that will speed up your book marking tremendously, Socialmarker.com and Socialposter.com. These two free sites will allow you to book mark to several book marking services in a hurry. At social marker.com you can post to 50 social sites, and social poster.com has 79 social websites. Go to one of these two sites and see the list. In order to post to the social sites listed you will have to pre join the social sites. This will be a project to work on whenever you can to join the various sites. You start by choosing the ‘best” sites button on social marker.com or “top” button on social poster.com. Join the best ones first then gradually add the others if you want. When I started doing it I found some of the sites weren’t taking new members because they were upgrading or improving their site, etc. Keep it simple and use the same username, password, email so you won’t forget or have to keep track of different info. You can always go back and update your profile with more detail later with copy and paste.
If you want to put an icon button on your browser, Firefox allows you to drag the icon to its menu bar. There is information on how to do this with Explorer too, it is just easier with Firefox.
I learned a lot of this information from a recorded call hosted by Don Standard from the Mentoring For Free group and by doing what I just wrote about. If you like this kind of training keep coming back to my blog and submit this article to the social sites. The Mentoring For Free info is listed on the sidebar of my blog.
When your website has good content and Google sees other websites with similar interest have links to your website or blog post then Google and other search engines will believe your site is an important site. Google will give your site a higher rating in its searches and traffic will be directed to your site from searches and inbound links from other sites. These in links are called back links. When you link out to another website, it is called an out link. To rank higher in Google it is better to have more back links to your site then to have more out links. So if your site is new, I think it would be better to not have affiliate links out if you are not making money on them. When your site has several back links and you are getting the benefit of more traffic then it makes sense to have some good affiliates to generate income.
Likewise when you write posts for you’re your blog don’t have a lot of buy links that takes one away to your retail site. You can have a buy button/link on a sidebar your customers can go to so you don’t have excessive out links to make sales. This also better so your customers don’t feel pressured to buy and quit coming to your site and customers will still continue to get good benefit from your posts. The same can be said about your business opportunity if you are a blogger. If you blogs are all about your opportunity and not about building relationships and adding value, people will stop coming to your blog and will be afraid to link to your site.
The old method to get back links is to go to other blogs and forums to leave comments and to link back to your website. This is a slow process. A good and effective way to back link is to join Social Book marking sites like Digg.com, Propeller.com, StumbleUpon.com, Del.icio.us, etc. There are many of these social marking sites and their services are free. These sites allow you to link to your and your friends sites and blog posts, videos, etc. You create a profile at these sites, add friends, etc. but the important thing is to promote your site by a “digg” on Digg and “prop” on Propeller. You submit an URL and write a brief description and pick a category so friends will know why they should go to your site or blog post. You can digg or prop any of your own sites and also other news stories that are interesting. You need to submit other sites so these services won’t think you are only promoting yourself. The other members of these social marking sites will digg or prop your picks too. Even if your submission doesn’t become the most popular you will have created a good quality back link and will have promoted your site there. If others find you have listed interesting stories and keep looking at your submissions you will have increased chances they will check your URLs out too.
What search engines are looking for are that there are back links by people with different IP address and social book marking accomplishes this. Don’t make the mistake of creating several Digg accounts and point them to your website because eventually you will get caught and lose your account. Likewise don’t create a bunch of websites to link to your sites or just one website that has lots of links to your website as that is artificial because when Google finds these sites have the same IP address you will be blacklisted. It is ok if you have a few other websites that have just two or three links. Don’t just make a share exchange were you and others equally have websites that link to each others as Google won’t give much credit to that, unless you all join social book marking services using their IP address. This might work a little while, until Google figures it out, if you and others have similar themes, such as Health and Wellness, Weight Loss, Business Building Tips, etc. There is also the problem of free loaders who want all the links to them but they won’t link to you. I know where you can get a free back link tool that will create a list of people who will do this, if you are interested in trying it, but I think it is a bad idea. Traffic Exchanges are set up to create back links but Traffic Exchanges will create back links that are not related in content and if you grow back links too fast and when Google catches on you will be downgraded. Bottom line is we are in it for the long haul and we should keep to best practices.
There are two more social book marking sites that will speed up your book marking tremendously, Socialmarker.com and Socialposter.com. These two free sites will allow you to book mark to several book marking services in a hurry. At social marker.com you can post to 50 social sites, and social poster.com has 79 social websites. Go to one of these two sites and see the list. In order to post to the social sites listed you will have to pre join the social sites. This will be a project to work on whenever you can to join the various sites. You start by choosing the ‘best” sites button on social marker.com or “top” button on social poster.com. Join the best ones first then gradually add the others if you want. When I started doing it I found some of the sites weren’t taking new members because they were upgrading or improving their site, etc. Keep it simple and use the same username, password, email so you won’t forget or have to keep track of different info. You can always go back and update your profile with more detail later with copy and paste.
If you want to put an icon button on your browser, Firefox allows you to drag the icon to its menu bar. There is information on how to do this with Explorer too, it is just easier with Firefox.
I learned a lot of this information from a recorded call hosted by Don Standard from the Mentoring For Free group and by doing what I just wrote about. If you like this kind of training keep coming back to my blog and submit this article to the social sites. The Mentoring For Free info is listed on the sidebar of my blog.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Landmark Education and Landmark Forum: An Inside Look
“The possibility I am inventing for myself and my life is _________” You fill in the blank. What possibility do you see for yourself? Landmark Forum teaches the technology for producing new possibilities and breakthrough results. It teaches personal transformation as a way of living.
I just completed my first Landmark Forum presented by Landmark Education in San Jose, California, July 17, 18, 19 and evening of July 21, 2009. I was introduced to Landmark Forum by a friend who was completing the Landmark Forum last year and she called my wife and me and invited us to a free evening session to find out about the Landmark Forum.
Landmark Education does not use paid advertising and marketing to promote the Landmark Forum but relies on word of mouth advertising by the participants much like sharing about a movie or restaurant. The participants enthusiastically share what new possibilities they’ve created for themselves and invite guest to attend the final evening session of the Landmark Forum. Word of mouth advertising keeps the cost way down and now is a good time to take advantage of the low cost to attend for early enrollment in the programs. The drawback, I see in not having paid marketing, is a lot of people have never heard of Landmark Education or Landmark Forum and its benefits, but the low overhead and use of volunteers keeps the Landmark Forum affordable. Compared to the high cost of taking a weekend training of NLP from Richard Bandler’s organization, the Landmark Forum is a bargain.
During the Landmark Forum I experienced self examination. I examined what happened in my past and what “story” I tell about what happened. Over time the story I tell myself becomes “the way it is “. It becomes the reality I know. This limits what is possible in my life, and robs me of much joy and effectiveness. What I have discovered is when I am able to separate what happened from my story or interpretation, I discovered that what I considered already determined and established is just my story. Situations that are challenging are now open to change and I no longer have to let limiting beliefs keep me from creating new possibilities and I can achieve with new ease and enjoyment.
Many participants through out the Landmark Forum experienced breakthroughs and were encouraged to renew relationships that had been strained and to communicate more meaningfully with family and friends. In my opinion effective communications can increase the value that one brings to the market place as well. Participants were encouraged to take immediate action and to telephone and renew and improve relations during the breaks in Landmark Forum. Throughout the Landmark Forum participants would volunteer to speak at a microphone what the concepts meant and applied to their lives.
During the Landmark Forum certain words are given slightly different meanings or viewed differently. This jargon is used to explain the concepts. For example ”integrity” is highly emphasized. It means to be true to ones word; honesty, sound, to speak the truth, to do or not do what you say you will do. To me this is the morale meaning of the word. I believe that most of the participants had integrity in this morale sense of the word and people who do not, would not be interested in transpersonal transformation in the first place due to their lack of morality. Integrity is used in the Landmark Forum as William Shakespeare wrote …”to thine own self be true…” To live life to the fullest, not to lie to yourself by listening to your own negative self talk, your own limiting beliefs. The psychologist Abraham Maslow said to “self actualize”. I call it to “awaken” or to be “conscious” of your creative power. I am not going to rehash the entire Landmark Forum here in this blog post, what I just gave you should be sufficient to show how words can be distinguished to teach concepts of transformation. For more examples go to the Landmark Education link at the bottom of this article.
I have read some nonsense written by some bloggers calling the Landmark Forum a cult, or false religion, etc. The people of Landmark Education are not a cult as I previously stated the Landmark Forum encourages renewing relationships with family, not living in isolation away from family. All participants go back to their homes and there was no Kool Aid to drink. Although jargon is used to teach transformation (all subjects of study have their buzzwords to learn) in the Landmark Forum what is actually taught has been taught by psychologist, philosophers, life coaches, counselors, various religious leaders, etc. for several years now. Landmark Forum teaches these concepts in a compact long weekend and at a price at a lot lower then the thousands of dollars competitors charge.
For more information and to watch an interesting video about the Landmark Forum go to http://landmarkeducation.com/.
I just completed my first Landmark Forum presented by Landmark Education in San Jose, California, July 17, 18, 19 and evening of July 21, 2009. I was introduced to Landmark Forum by a friend who was completing the Landmark Forum last year and she called my wife and me and invited us to a free evening session to find out about the Landmark Forum.
Landmark Education does not use paid advertising and marketing to promote the Landmark Forum but relies on word of mouth advertising by the participants much like sharing about a movie or restaurant. The participants enthusiastically share what new possibilities they’ve created for themselves and invite guest to attend the final evening session of the Landmark Forum. Word of mouth advertising keeps the cost way down and now is a good time to take advantage of the low cost to attend for early enrollment in the programs. The drawback, I see in not having paid marketing, is a lot of people have never heard of Landmark Education or Landmark Forum and its benefits, but the low overhead and use of volunteers keeps the Landmark Forum affordable. Compared to the high cost of taking a weekend training of NLP from Richard Bandler’s organization, the Landmark Forum is a bargain.
During the Landmark Forum I experienced self examination. I examined what happened in my past and what “story” I tell about what happened. Over time the story I tell myself becomes “the way it is “. It becomes the reality I know. This limits what is possible in my life, and robs me of much joy and effectiveness. What I have discovered is when I am able to separate what happened from my story or interpretation, I discovered that what I considered already determined and established is just my story. Situations that are challenging are now open to change and I no longer have to let limiting beliefs keep me from creating new possibilities and I can achieve with new ease and enjoyment.
Many participants through out the Landmark Forum experienced breakthroughs and were encouraged to renew relationships that had been strained and to communicate more meaningfully with family and friends. In my opinion effective communications can increase the value that one brings to the market place as well. Participants were encouraged to take immediate action and to telephone and renew and improve relations during the breaks in Landmark Forum. Throughout the Landmark Forum participants would volunteer to speak at a microphone what the concepts meant and applied to their lives.
During the Landmark Forum certain words are given slightly different meanings or viewed differently. This jargon is used to explain the concepts. For example ”integrity” is highly emphasized. It means to be true to ones word; honesty, sound, to speak the truth, to do or not do what you say you will do. To me this is the morale meaning of the word. I believe that most of the participants had integrity in this morale sense of the word and people who do not, would not be interested in transpersonal transformation in the first place due to their lack of morality. Integrity is used in the Landmark Forum as William Shakespeare wrote …”to thine own self be true…” To live life to the fullest, not to lie to yourself by listening to your own negative self talk, your own limiting beliefs. The psychologist Abraham Maslow said to “self actualize”. I call it to “awaken” or to be “conscious” of your creative power. I am not going to rehash the entire Landmark Forum here in this blog post, what I just gave you should be sufficient to show how words can be distinguished to teach concepts of transformation. For more examples go to the Landmark Education link at the bottom of this article.
I have read some nonsense written by some bloggers calling the Landmark Forum a cult, or false religion, etc. The people of Landmark Education are not a cult as I previously stated the Landmark Forum encourages renewing relationships with family, not living in isolation away from family. All participants go back to their homes and there was no Kool Aid to drink. Although jargon is used to teach transformation (all subjects of study have their buzzwords to learn) in the Landmark Forum what is actually taught has been taught by psychologist, philosophers, life coaches, counselors, various religious leaders, etc. for several years now. Landmark Forum teaches these concepts in a compact long weekend and at a price at a lot lower then the thousands of dollars competitors charge.
For more information and to watch an interesting video about the Landmark Forum go to http://landmarkeducation.com/.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Six Reasons Why You Should Be Working With A Virtual Assistant
By guest blogger Katie Gutierrez
Working with a virtual assistant is an increasingly popular solution for business owners and entrepreneurs. Virtual Assistants, or VAs as they are also called, are support professionals who telecommute from their home offices. They can provide assistance with anything from the most fundamental level administrative tasks and duties, to more advanced functions like project management, editing, or bookkeeping. Many small business owners are choosing to use virtual assistant services, and we’ve identified the top six reasons why:
Geography is no longer an issue. You can work with person best suited to your needs, regardless of location. Working with a virtual assistant who possesses the exact skill set, industry knowledge, and work style you need is much more effective that hiring a partially qualified person who happens to live nearby. The time it takes your new assistant to become acclimated to your business is reduced, allowing the individual to meet your desired goals quickly and accurately. This benefit allows you to increase your income and grow your business in much less time.
Virtual assistants are paid only for the number of hours you need. Because virtual assistants only “clock in” when they are working on your projects, you will not pay for time during their breaks or other downtime. In most situations, you would not need to guarantee to utilize a specific amount of hours per week. Just delegate work as needed, and pay only for the actual time it takes to complete the tasks.
You will no longer need to establish a work station or purchase expensive equipment for your assistant. Virtual assistants have fully functioning home offices. Your work space will remain yours, and there is no need to share your office and furnish computers, telecommunications devices, or office supplies.
Virtual assistants can function as well, and sometimes better than an onsite assistant can. With today’s technology, sharing files, calendars, and email with a remote assistant is easy. Phone calls can be routed to your assistant, and you can work with that person as smoothly as if they were sitting at a desk next to yours. VAs have the ability to complete work efficiently, without all of the distractions that often occur in a busy office environment.
No need to worry about workers compensation, payroll taxes, or other costs associated with hiring an employee. Virtual assistants are independent contractors who are able to manage several clients and tasks. They pay their own taxes, which means more cost savings for you.
Virtual Assistants are professionals committed to your success, rather than employees looking for the next job. The livelihood of virtual assistants depends on their relationship with you and results for your company. Most are looking for long term working relationships and are committed to giving you their best. VAs succeed when their clients succeed. That is a quality that all business owners desire in an assistant.
There are fewer things that can make such a positive impact on the bottom line of a business and the sanity of a business owner than working with a virtual assistant. If you are looking for a way to receive assistance in a cost effective and flexible manner, give virtual assistance a try.
Katie Gutierrez is the founder and CEO of Assistant Match, a company that matches busy people with the right virtual assistant. Katie is an international speaker who teaches people how to work with virtual assistants to increase income. She created the Virtual Assistant Quickstart to train virtual assistants to build successful businesses. Assistant Match has been featured in media across the U.S. and was recommended on NBC’s Today Show. For more information, visit http://www.assistantmatch.com/.
Working with a virtual assistant is an increasingly popular solution for business owners and entrepreneurs. Virtual Assistants, or VAs as they are also called, are support professionals who telecommute from their home offices. They can provide assistance with anything from the most fundamental level administrative tasks and duties, to more advanced functions like project management, editing, or bookkeeping. Many small business owners are choosing to use virtual assistant services, and we’ve identified the top six reasons why:
Geography is no longer an issue. You can work with person best suited to your needs, regardless of location. Working with a virtual assistant who possesses the exact skill set, industry knowledge, and work style you need is much more effective that hiring a partially qualified person who happens to live nearby. The time it takes your new assistant to become acclimated to your business is reduced, allowing the individual to meet your desired goals quickly and accurately. This benefit allows you to increase your income and grow your business in much less time.
Virtual assistants are paid only for the number of hours you need. Because virtual assistants only “clock in” when they are working on your projects, you will not pay for time during their breaks or other downtime. In most situations, you would not need to guarantee to utilize a specific amount of hours per week. Just delegate work as needed, and pay only for the actual time it takes to complete the tasks.
You will no longer need to establish a work station or purchase expensive equipment for your assistant. Virtual assistants have fully functioning home offices. Your work space will remain yours, and there is no need to share your office and furnish computers, telecommunications devices, or office supplies.
Virtual assistants can function as well, and sometimes better than an onsite assistant can. With today’s technology, sharing files, calendars, and email with a remote assistant is easy. Phone calls can be routed to your assistant, and you can work with that person as smoothly as if they were sitting at a desk next to yours. VAs have the ability to complete work efficiently, without all of the distractions that often occur in a busy office environment.
No need to worry about workers compensation, payroll taxes, or other costs associated with hiring an employee. Virtual assistants are independent contractors who are able to manage several clients and tasks. They pay their own taxes, which means more cost savings for you.
Virtual Assistants are professionals committed to your success, rather than employees looking for the next job. The livelihood of virtual assistants depends on their relationship with you and results for your company. Most are looking for long term working relationships and are committed to giving you their best. VAs succeed when their clients succeed. That is a quality that all business owners desire in an assistant.
There are fewer things that can make such a positive impact on the bottom line of a business and the sanity of a business owner than working with a virtual assistant. If you are looking for a way to receive assistance in a cost effective and flexible manner, give virtual assistance a try.
Katie Gutierrez is the founder and CEO of Assistant Match, a company that matches busy people with the right virtual assistant. Katie is an international speaker who teaches people how to work with virtual assistants to increase income. She created the Virtual Assistant Quickstart to train virtual assistants to build successful businesses. Assistant Match has been featured in media across the U.S. and was recommended on NBC’s Today Show. For more information, visit http://www.assistantmatch.com/.
Gary's Books
“The person we will become five years from now will be determined by the people we associate with and the books we read”, Charles “Tremendous” Jones. If you can’t find a mentor to teach you a particular area of expertise you need, you should be able to find a good book to teach you.
I personally own many personal development, self improvement, business, and psychology books. In my collection I have two personally autographed Napolen Hill books. The first is The Master-Key To Riches and the second is Think Your Way To Wealth. I also have an autographed copy of Earl Nightingale’s biography This Is Earl Nightingale.
If you would like to download Napolen Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich” in PDF format sign up for my Success Newsletter. If you would like to join a Mastermind Group that discusses Think and Grow Rich, then contact me for the bridgeline number and acess code.
If you want to analyze a business for investment purposes or to take an active part in one, I recommend the following book: The E Myth, by Michael Gerber. (The E Myth Revisited is the updated version). Mr. Gerber makes an enlightening observation .
"Things need to be sold, and it's usually people who have to sell them.
Everyone in business has heard the old saying: 80 percent of our sales are produced by 20 percent of our people. Unfortunately, few seem to know what the 20 percent are doing that the 80 percent are not.
Well, let me tell you.
The 20 percent are using a system and the 80 percent are not.
A selling system is a soft system. And I've seen such systems produce 100 percent to 500 percent increases in sales in almost no time!
What is a selling system? It's a fully orchestrated interaction between you and your customer that follows five primary steps:
Identification of the specific Benchmarks-or consumer decision points-in your selling process; The literal scripting of the words that will get you to each one successfully (yes, written down like the script for a play!); the creation of the various materials to be used with each script; the memorization of each Benchmark's script; the delivery of each script by your salesperson in identical fashion.
A career development company we worked with put it in the hands of people with no experience, and revenues increased 300 percent in one year.
An advertising agency put it in the hands of people with no experience in either selling or advertising, and revenues increased 500 percent in 2 years.
A health spa put it in the hands of people with no experience, and revenues increased 40 percent-in two months.
If you put it to work in your company, it will do the same for you, no matter what kind of business you are in."
My understanding of this is you need a business with systems in place so if you choose to walk away from the day to day operation, your business will continue to grow and produce income. This will allow you to take vacations and build other businesses to increase your wealth. Don’t seek a business or investment that is just another job, but seek a business or investment that will increase wealth.
Another book is The Keys to the Vault, by Keith Cunningham. This is an informative book that teaches you how to pick a business.
How to Read A Financial Report, by John A. Tracy is a nuts-n-bolts book on reading financial statements so you will know how to audit the books.
For a free eBook that will save you years of frustration of failure in the networking business download Success in 10 Steps from my site Gary Sager's Success in 10 Steps. After you download the eBook I can email you some live and recorded skills calls.
I personally own many personal development, self improvement, business, and psychology books. In my collection I have two personally autographed Napolen Hill books. The first is The Master-Key To Riches and the second is Think Your Way To Wealth. I also have an autographed copy of Earl Nightingale’s biography This Is Earl Nightingale.
If you would like to download Napolen Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich” in PDF format sign up for my Success Newsletter. If you would like to join a Mastermind Group that discusses Think and Grow Rich, then contact me for the bridgeline number and acess code.
If you want to analyze a business for investment purposes or to take an active part in one, I recommend the following book: The E Myth, by Michael Gerber. (The E Myth Revisited is the updated version). Mr. Gerber makes an enlightening observation .
"Things need to be sold, and it's usually people who have to sell them.
Everyone in business has heard the old saying: 80 percent of our sales are produced by 20 percent of our people. Unfortunately, few seem to know what the 20 percent are doing that the 80 percent are not.
Well, let me tell you.
The 20 percent are using a system and the 80 percent are not.
A selling system is a soft system. And I've seen such systems produce 100 percent to 500 percent increases in sales in almost no time!
What is a selling system? It's a fully orchestrated interaction between you and your customer that follows five primary steps:
Identification of the specific Benchmarks-or consumer decision points-in your selling process; The literal scripting of the words that will get you to each one successfully (yes, written down like the script for a play!); the creation of the various materials to be used with each script; the memorization of each Benchmark's script; the delivery of each script by your salesperson in identical fashion.
A career development company we worked with put it in the hands of people with no experience, and revenues increased 300 percent in one year.
An advertising agency put it in the hands of people with no experience in either selling or advertising, and revenues increased 500 percent in 2 years.
A health spa put it in the hands of people with no experience, and revenues increased 40 percent-in two months.
If you put it to work in your company, it will do the same for you, no matter what kind of business you are in."
My understanding of this is you need a business with systems in place so if you choose to walk away from the day to day operation, your business will continue to grow and produce income. This will allow you to take vacations and build other businesses to increase your wealth. Don’t seek a business or investment that is just another job, but seek a business or investment that will increase wealth.
Another book is The Keys to the Vault, by Keith Cunningham. This is an informative book that teaches you how to pick a business.
How to Read A Financial Report, by John A. Tracy is a nuts-n-bolts book on reading financial statements so you will know how to audit the books.
For a free eBook that will save you years of frustration of failure in the networking business download Success in 10 Steps from my site Gary Sager's Success in 10 Steps. After you download the eBook I can email you some live and recorded skills calls.
Why Start Your Own Business?
Are you considering starting your own business? I believe you should, that is why I have started Gary Sager's Official Blog, to provide you with resources, business building tips, and tools to help insure your success. Bookmark this site and come back often to build your business and wealth.
Think about the advantages of owning your own business.
1) By building your own business and investments, you have multiple streams of income to recession proof your income. Housing prices have melted down in many areas of the country, fuel prices have skyrocketed, which affects the price of many goods we buy. Airlines have raised prices and cut service. All of these factors play a role in making our economy what it is today.
2) There is no job security. The only security we have is the actions we take ourselves.
3) Many companies do not have a pension plan, and those that do, their pensions are at risk.
4) Owning your own business can increase your income and is the only predictable way to build wealth.
5) Be your own boss. In other words control your destiny. Put yourself at the helm of your own ship, instead of being at the dock to have to unload the ship. Be in charge of your own time. Do you and your family deserve more? – more time, money, vacations, education or the ability to support the causes you believe in? To get what you deserve you must be in control.
6) Business owners have advantages given to them by the state and federal tax codes. “There are two systems of taxation in our country: one for the informed and one for the uninformed,” Judge Learned Hand. If you have a J.O.B. that is just over broke, or just over bankruptcy, you can immediately increase your take home pay by claiming more dependents to have income to pay for your expenses of building your own business. See your tax advisor for more specific details.
The goal of Gary Sager's Official Blog is to help to create businesses and investments that can run independent of the owner in their day to day operations. The owner then has more time and money to build wealth and more businesses and is not just running a business as another job.
I believe you deserve more and a business is the most direct and predictable way to get financial freedom.
Think about the advantages of owning your own business.
1) By building your own business and investments, you have multiple streams of income to recession proof your income. Housing prices have melted down in many areas of the country, fuel prices have skyrocketed, which affects the price of many goods we buy. Airlines have raised prices and cut service. All of these factors play a role in making our economy what it is today.
2) There is no job security. The only security we have is the actions we take ourselves.
3) Many companies do not have a pension plan, and those that do, their pensions are at risk.
4) Owning your own business can increase your income and is the only predictable way to build wealth.
5) Be your own boss. In other words control your destiny. Put yourself at the helm of your own ship, instead of being at the dock to have to unload the ship. Be in charge of your own time. Do you and your family deserve more? – more time, money, vacations, education or the ability to support the causes you believe in? To get what you deserve you must be in control.
6) Business owners have advantages given to them by the state and federal tax codes. “There are two systems of taxation in our country: one for the informed and one for the uninformed,” Judge Learned Hand. If you have a J.O.B. that is just over broke, or just over bankruptcy, you can immediately increase your take home pay by claiming more dependents to have income to pay for your expenses of building your own business. See your tax advisor for more specific details.
The goal of Gary Sager's Official Blog is to help to create businesses and investments that can run independent of the owner in their day to day operations. The owner then has more time and money to build wealth and more businesses and is not just running a business as another job.
I believe you deserve more and a business is the most direct and predictable way to get financial freedom.
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