One of my favorite leaders in the Network Marketing Industry is Eric Worre.  For those of you who have not yet become familiar with his work and writing, I'm posting some insight from him that I think is extremely beneficial for anyone looking at becoming involved in network marketing. It is my pleasure to share this information with you!
Eric Worre tells us that he is asked every day, what he thinks is a good company or if he would review one for people. He likes to stay neutral and not make recommendations. He does however, have a good basic criteria for picking a home in the Network Marketing Profession.

Eric Worre’s list is:

1. The company ownership. The CEO and/or owner is the most important factor in any business. If you have a good one with a good mind and good heart, that will solve almost any problem. A good leader will always find a way to create a great opportunity for you. If you have a bad leader, it doesn't matter how good the product or compensation plan is, they will find a way to mess it up

2. The product. Is there a need for the product? Does the company's product meet that need? Is it competitively priced in the marketplace? Is there enough margin so the field and the company can thrive long term? Most of all, do you LOVE IT? If you don't love it, you shouldn't do it.

3. The financial opportunity. No comp plan is vastly superior to another, even though everyone likes to say there plan is best. There are dominant companies with breakaway plans, Uni-level plans, Binary plans, even forced Matrix plans. Today everyone seems to be a hybrid of all of the above. See if other people in the company are enjoying the level of success that you are looking for. If they are, then you should be fine.

4. Support structure. This is less important for strong leaders who can create their own culture, systems, training, events and tools, but for the lesser experienced, a good solid support system is very important. Are there good tools available? Are there events you can plug into? Is there a good communication platform that will keep you in the loop? If you've followed me for some time, you'll know I don't think your upline is a factor in your long-term success. You should always consider yourself front-line to the company, at least in your mind, and act accordingly.

5. Timing. Yes timing is important, but it's not the only factor. On one side you'll have stability with mature companies. On the other side you have the newness and excitement of a new company. I can make a good case for both.

Eric goes on to say …. “ EVERY company has problems, challenges and faults. Every single one. You won't find a perfect company out there. Some people get frustrated with that, switch companies and find out they traded one set of problems for another. I will tell you this, I have a unique view of our profession and get to work with a lot of different companies around the world. Overall, I've never witnessed a better time to get involved and go to work in the Network Marketing Profession than right now.”

Tracking visits to your website...

Do you think it would be of some benefit to know when somebody clicks on the link to visit your website or your facebook page?
This is entirely possible!  Wow!  That was a revelation to me when I first learned about it and I'm sure some of you haven't heard of it yet, so here is some information to help you get started.....
Go to www.bitly.com and create a free account.
Put the URL of the website you would like to track into the box at the top left of the page.  Click the funny looking little icon there and voila, you have a new link for your website.  (Click on it to test....you will see it takes you to the page you expected, right?)
Instead of using your 'old' link, now when you are directing people to your website, whether you are handing out business cards, or attaching to your signature on your emails etc....use the new bitly link.
Go to bitly whenever you want to see if you've had any 'bites'.....You can see exactly how many clicks you have on any website you've used and also you can look even closer and see the dates and even the hour that you got clicks to that website.
Definitely a bit of insight that you previously didn't have if you've not used bitly before.....
To your success!

We need some skills

For anyone starting out a new job it would be a legitimate expectation to get some training to do that job, wouldn't it?  One of the reasons some people don't succeed with their network marketing business is that they aren't made aware of certain skills that need to be acquired in order to be successful.
The excitement and enthusiasm of a new distributor is an awesome sight to behold, but unfortunately in a lot of cases that very excitement and enthusiasm combined with lack of certain skills can stop them dead in their tracks.
Rather than focusing on 'selling' a product or a business, think of your job as a distributor as just helping your prospects to make a Decision.....to either join your business or be a customer.  That's all.
When you ask people questions and listen to their answers, you'll be well armed for what to ask next.
Most people are so excited about their new venture that they start off their introduction with something like
"I just got involved with......"
They don't realize that more than likely they  just succeeded in closing the mind of their prospect to anything and everything they say next.
How about a few of these examples instead:
             Would it be ok if:
  - you got an extra paycheck every week?
  - you could fire your boss?
  - stay home with your children?
  - retire 10 years early?
  - take a one week holiday every month?
Given those examples,  just think about your network marketing business and what products are part of your plan and you will come up with a whole variety of similar questions that will open the door to more dialogue and get your prospect closer to making a decision either to join your business or become a customer.  

How Can Problem Solving be the best way to gain business partners and/or customers?

This is a topic that has come up more times lately than I care to count, so I've been thinking about this a lot.  The first thing on the agenda of a new business owner or a new distributor in a Network Marketing Company is usually to get some new business partners and customers FAST to get a jump start on their new business, right?  
The best thing a new person can do is to stop and take a second look at that plan.  Usually when we go ahead with that agenda as our main focus, we tend to concentrate on what a good product, pay plan, company, etc that we have and set ourselves up to try to convince our friends and family what a great thing we have to offer them.  Often we end up disappointed because guess what?....Our family and friends either didn't believe us or were just not interested and the next thing you know we're hanging our heads and thinking we've failed and why did we start this crazy new venture in the first place?  
What if you approach this with a whole new agenda that entails discovering what your potential client or business partner's needs are by simply Listening carefully when you approach them with some pointed questions.    
If you can establish what their needs/wants are and show them how your business can solve their problems for them, you will in essence have them begging to join you in your business as opposed to you feverishly trying to pitch them on your business because you THINK it's going to be good for them.
It's far better to have people join you because they see the value in your business for themselves than to try to convince somebody of something they may or may not believe in.  When they make the decision to join you because by answering your questions they have discovered that you indeed do have a solution to their problems, you will not be faced with 'buyer's remorse' when they go home and wonder if they were coerced into something they really aren't sure about.  
Stay tuned.....
More to follow.....
 

Who Wants an Outdoor Office?

Who wants an outdoor office?

If you could have your dream ‘job’……. where and what kind of office would you like to have? How about the idea of no office at all? What if you could own a business that was so portable you could just take it with you?
When I sold my business I had no more paperwork to do, no employees to be concerned with…..Do you know what I mean? All the headache of owning my own business was suddenly gone. I was FREE! I was HAPPY! I could spend time to enjoy the things I love to do…..sewing, artwork, reading, cycling, etc, etc.
Why would I give that all up to have another business? I’d be crazy, wouldn’t I?
Well, I got myself a portable business! What is THAT? You ask? My business can be conducted anywhere in the world as long as I have access to the internet and a smart-phone or computer. This means I can be sitting on the beach, by the pool, or anywhere else I might choose and make my business work for me!
Internet Marketing is global, which means I have business partners around the world, some of whom I have never met. Would I have thought this would be in my future the day I sold my ‘Normal’ business? Not on your life! But here I am the CEO of my own ‘empire’ sitting outside in my gazebo beside my pool in Canada enjoying a cup of coffee while I write this little story for you. When I’m done here, I’ll take a little ‘tour’ through my virtual office to check out what’s happening with my business, send out a few emails, perhaps, maybe have a skype meeting with some of my team members, and then who knows? The day is MINE to do what I choose!
I live in Canada for 6 months and Mexico for the other 6 months. So when I’m in Mexico, my ‘office’ is still poolside…..just a different pool with different people nearby.
So, if you could have an office anywhere in the world what would it look like to you? Would you want an inside office with the big desk and filing cabinet….. or would you have an outside office like I do; poolside?

I welcome comments! If you have questions don’t hesitate to contact me. I’d be more than happy to help you pick your dream office!