I’m back and feeling anxious to give you the answer.  Have you been doing some thinking about what the magic pill for success could be?  Well, you didn’t have to go too far.  Maybe you looked in the mirror asking yourself, “What could it be, what is the secret.”  How do some succeed in this industry and other struggle?  Answer?  You are looking directly in the eyes of it when you are looking in the mirror.  The magic pill for success is YOU.  That’s right, you, you and you.  I can’t say it any clearer.

While this is the biggest reason that 97% of the people fail in network marketing, unfortunately it’s the only part of your business that nobody can help you with.  Why?  Because YOU have to want it and want it bad enough to make some sacrifices’.  Your mentors can give you pep talks, give you script books, teach you how to handle objections and give you many other tools to add to your kit, but without your passion and desire, nothing will happen.  You are in business for yourself, so you are going to have to take yourself to school and learn from others.  This will take time, your own extra time and research on your part.  Just as in college, you pay for someone to teach you a skill or a trade; network marketing is along the same lines. (I will keep that statement simple, so I don’t get on my soapbox about this one.)

Whenever you talk with someone successful in this business they always have a list of books and courses that they have taken the time to read and study; which many of them will share their list with you.  Below is a snapshot and a portion of my “schooling” and personal development readings.

• Think and Grow Rich-Napoleon Hill (you can get this free e-book by signing up for my newsletter)
• The One Minute Millionaire-Mark Victor Hansen and Robert G. Allen
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People-Stephen R. Covey
• How to Win Friends and Influence People-Dale Carnegie
• Influence, The Psychology of Persuasion-Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D.
• The Greatest Networker in the World-John Milton Fogg
• Multiple Streams of Income-Robert G. Allen
• Multiple Streams of Internet Income-Robert G. Allen
• Rich Dad, Poor Dad-Robert Kiyosaki
• The Cashflow Quadrant-Robert Kiyosaki
• The Business School for People Who Like Helping People-Robert Kiyosaki
• The Secret-Rhonda Byrne    

I always jot down any book recommended by someone I would like to duplicate.  This is how I build my list.  The only thing is, they are not going to sit you down before nap time like in kindergarten and read all their books in their library to you. You are going to have to buy the book or course and read or study it on your own.  This is where a majority of people quit, because they have all kinds of excuses about how they don’t have time to do this.  And while they are giving all these excuses, they are still asking themselves how to succeed.  Success will not be handed to you and that’s why I say the magic pill for success is YOU.

P.S.-I also subscribe to many e-mail newsletters because they will also contain valuable information that is free when you sign up. Never stop learning.  If you do, your business will stop.

To your success,

Largent   

PMS, Personal Management System.  This part of your business is just as vital as any other aspect of it, so don’t bypass this one.  Your personal management system consists of your calendar and contacts or your list.  Some people like the old style of a paper/binder organizer and others like the electronic or computer based systems.  Being the tech gadget geek that I am, I have chosen the Palm Treo 755p which I upgraded from the Palm Treo 650.  I started out with the old style paper/binder organizer, but moved to the electronic version.  Ten years ago, there weren’t many options for electronic organizers, but did get into the Palm m100 and eventually moved to the Treo.  You can be overloaded with the options out there.  A lot of these computer based systems are free as when you sign up for a free email account in yahoo or hotmail.  Outlook is another good tool because it combines your email, calendar and contacts.  My point here is to chose ONE for both your calendar and contacts.  Don’t try to use a calendar in one and a contact list in another.  You will find yourself wasting a lot of time moving back and forth.  Look at your needs and find one that fits.  You may need to adjust and find a new system as your needs change, but again, when you change, change both.  Here are some of the reasons I chose the Palm Treo:

1.  Size-The Treo is compact, fits in the Palm of your hand and you can carry it around on your side.  No lugging around a big binder or laptop.

2.  Calendar and Contacts-You will have both tools with you at all times and can store thousands of calendar entries and contacts without having to add pages to your organizer.  You can also organize your contacts into different lists.

3.  Email-This is a great feature.  You can sync many email accounts to your Palm all while on the go.  I have one personal and two business email accounts that I sync hourly to my device.  This is cool because you don’t have to have a laptop or try to find an internet café to send and receive email.

4.  Documents to Go-Another very cool feature.  You can view and edit your Microsoft word, excel and powerpoint documents.  You can also view PDF files.  No laptop to carry around and you can send and receive those important documents on the go.

5.  Add on Applications-You can pick from thousands of third party organization applications and load them onto your Palm.  Some you will have to purchase and some are free.  One that I use daily is called Tryda Directory Assistant.  This is a free Palm only, as for right now, application and it’s like having a phonebook in the palm of your hand.  I find this a bit clunky, but I get into some of my friends vehicles and they will have a phonebook in the glove compartment or in there back floorboard.

Of course the other benefit of the Treo is that it is also a mobile phone.  There are some other great features/applications like Google Maps, but these are my favorite.  The Blackberry is probably another great organizer, but I have not used one nor have I researched it enough to see if it would be better than the Palm.  Any of these systems will work.  Just pick the one that best suits your needs.  I just like the one that is mobile and fits in the Palm of your hand.

To your success,

Largent

Absolutely not!!  I believe the network marketing industry is booming.  Here is the question that sparked the viral subject that network marketing is dead.  Things are changing and the industrial age is out and information age is in.  Some think that the old way of doing network marketing is over and not going to work anymore, so now how are you going to run your business and produce a six-figure income?  Well, with the internet going bonkers, this is a viable solution to attract prospects to you instead of the old style, which is buying leads, making a names list, contacting friends and family, in home presentations and last but not least the three foot rule.  The three foot rules states that anyone within three foot of you is a prospect.

There are many ways to build your network marketing business.  I look at using some of the methods I mention above as working harder not smarter.  Oh and yes buying leads and making cold calls can work, I personally know people that have built a six-figure business this way, but you must have a lot of things in place and the biggest one is MONEY.  To get results with cold calling you must be consistently buying leads which will take a nice size budget to work with.  A majority of people get into network marketing because it is inexpensive and to get out of debt.  So, in the beginning, marketing dollars are very tight.  This is why Mike Dillard came out with the book Building on a Budget.  It shows people how they can run their business with a limited budget.

Another way of marketing your business or the “new” way of network marketing is marketing on the internet, which also works very well.  I personally like this one because first I love technology and the automation of all the tools and second, it is relatively inexpensive and you can produce results on a limited budget.  Actually, when you start getting into it, you can get a lot of resources for free.  I look at internet marketing as working smarter.  The only problem with internet marketing is that people tend to forget that this business is about relationships and although you can build relationships with internet marketing, the personal touch of network marketing will never go away.  So, you are still going to have to pick up the phone and talk with people, sorry if I have burst your bubble with that one.  I know it sometimes feels like the phone weights a ton, but the more you use it, the lighter it becomes.

I don’t want to get to deep into these marketing techniques.  I mainly wanted to shed a little light on the issue and share Todd Falcone’s response to The Death of Network Marketing.  For those of you who don’t know who Todd is, he is a multi-million dollar earner, trainer, personal coach and mentor to thousands of top-performing home business owners.  He is well respected in the network marketing industry.  To check out his podcast response, click here.

To your success,

Largent

While the following saying may not be a complete blueprint for success, it will get you started and take you a long way.  You may or may not have heard this simple life changing phrase and that is “Pay it Forward.”  There was even a movie with this title that is remarkable and I highly recommend picking it up at your local movie rental spot.  The reason I say it is a life changing phrase is that it will not only help you in business, it will help you in life.  Pay it forward simply means the gift of giving without expecting something in return.  But what you will find is that it usually comes back to you in some way, shape or form and bigger than what you gave in the first place.  It’s an amazing concept that seems very few people apply and the best part is that it gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling inside like none other.

This can be in any form you can think of giving something to someone else whether it be a complete stranger, close friend, family, charity, etc.  The options are endless.  In the movie “Pay it Forward,” a kid in school was given an assignment from his teacher.  The assignment was to come up with an idea to change the world.  I won’t give it away; I’ll let you be the judge after watching it.

I mention giving in any form because this can be something very simple, like a complement.  I find myself thanking a complete stranger and telling them that you don’t find many people like them anymore because they noticed that I was in line ahead of them and when the attendant asked for them to move forward, a person I have never met asked me to go first since they noticed that I had been there first.  The next time you find yourself wanting to pay a complement to someone you don’t know, but feel a little odd by approaching them, just do it.  I know it’s scary, but you’re not selling them anything.  You’ll be amazed by the results.  People love to hear good things about themselves, especially from strangers.  They will more than likely thank you and you may make a good friend out of it.  There is a key to this though; you must speak to other people with sincere appreciation and not flattery.  Flattery is from the teeth out and true sincere appreciation is from the heart out.  Believe it or not, people can tell flattery from appreciation.  Flattery is like counterfeit money, when you use it, it will get you in more trouble than good. 

How would you apply this in your business, very similar.  Giving free information or advice to others is a good start.  Maybe start a free weekly coaching call or training program.  A lot of people try to withhold information thinking that if they give the information out for free, business will be lost, but this is usually not the case and is the complete opposite. 

I know this story doesn’t have to do with network marketing, but it’s something I will never forget and would like to share it with you.  My transmission was slipping in my vehicle and I was getting worried that I was going to have to get a new one, which is not a small price.  I took it to a couple of mechanics who assured me that my transmission was done and I needed a new one.  Each one gave me a quote.  It then came to mind that one of my friends had told me about a mechanic who works on nothing but transmissions, so I took it to him for the final answer.  You wouldn’t believe what happened.  Bare in mind that I have never met this guy in my life.  He didn’t even pull my vehicle in his shop.  He lifted the hood, looked around and minutes later pulled on cord that led to my transmission.  He closed the hood and asked me to drive it around to see if this worked.  Well, it worked and that was eight years ago and my transmission still works great.  He had told me that sometimes this so called cord will get stuck and all it takes is a little tug, can you believe that.  This guy could have ripped me, but instead saved me about $2,000.00.  Now, I have not been back to him in eight years, but I will guarantee you if I ever have future problems, I will go straight to him.  I have also referred many people to him, who have been completely satisfied with his service.  I’m sure he is still getting referrals and reaping the rewards from that one simple thing he did for me that took about five minutes of his time.

Remember, when you give others more of what they want, you will get more of what you want.

Be creative with this concept, the sky’s the limit.  Always feel free to leave comments.

To your success,

Largent