Jhanna Dawson

The Reason

2011-05-08T09:23:00.000-07:00

On April 1st, 2003 at 8:37pm I became a mom for the first time. Yes, April fool's Day.
On June 6th, 2005 at 1:02 am I became a mom for the second time.

Since then, the decisions I make in life are heavily based on how it will effect my children. True, there have been many times when I have made decisions that didn't make them happy in that moment, however, their short and long term best interests have always played a role in my decision making.

As with countless people who join network marketing, my 'why' was and continues to be based on my kids. For me, however, it isn't just about me wanting my kids to have a good life and future, financially, with all the toys and trips that being successful in Network Marketing can provide.

Here are just a few of the reasons why I want to be in network marketing for my kids:

1. It shows them how we can get everything we want/need, by helping others get what they want/need (thank you, Zig Ziglar for that piece of advice).

2. Self-Development plays a HUGE role in network marketing. How we feel on the inside, is what we create on the outside.

3. Discipline is necessary to produce results. This is a business. If we want to get paid, we need to be disciplined enough to do the work. We reap what we sow.

4. Leadership skills, not management or micro-management skills. This business allows us to lift people up to their highest by leading them.

5. Financial skills. How to create income, how to budget it, spend it wisely, and create more. Then teach others how to do the same.

6. People skills. We learn to work with people. Life isn't a competition, and there is always enough for everyone, so settle down and get to know thy neighbor. It's good for everyone.

These are just a few skills and morals that I want to pass down to my children. Needless to say, there are many others. These aren't skills they will learn in school, but they will in Network Marketing.

The best form of teaching my kids these skills is by example. The best part is, when I associate with other Network Marketers, my kids see others using these skills.

And when I see my kids duplicating these skills and using them in their own lives, I know it will create a happier, more peaceful and prosperous life for them. And that is the best Mother's Day gift I could have.

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful Mothers!

Warmly,

Jhanna

Systems

2011-05-06T07:53:00.000-07:00

It seems as if every day there is a new system in coming out to help the struggling networker marketer. We can spend hundreds, if not thousands, on these systems if we buy into every new one that comes along.

They almost always seem like the missing link in a networker's business. "If only I had that system, I would have a huge organization. I must get that system, THEN, I'll be successful!"

Some people bounce from system to system hoping that it will the be system that works for them.

I'm not saying these systems don't work. I'm sure they are good. But before going out and throwing down all sorts of money for all sorts of systems, I want to ask...have you used your company's system that is in place first?

I mean, have you really exhausted that system, stayed with it for a year, and still not produced any results?

When I partnered with my current company, I was shocked at the system that was in place for distributors and how thorough and complete it is. It was one of the reasons I partnered with my company in the first place.

When/if you are looking at a new opportunity be sure to ask about the system that is in place and designed to support the distributors. By doing this, you are making sure that you system for success is duplicatable for your downline.

These systems are usually FREE and included in your distributorship, or cost much less than many of the programs out there. Your upline wants to see you succeed, so be sure to take advantage of the system that is already in place. Most likely, your upline is already familiar with that system and you'll be able to take advantage of their knowledge of the system.

It can keep cash in your pocket and members on your team!

Happy Weekend!

Jhanna

Active Listening

2011-05-04T07:10:00.000-07:00

We are all good listeners, right? Well, we want to think we are good listeners, anyway.

But how many times during a conversation are you just waiting for the other person to finish their sentence because you are pretty sure you have something even more important to contribute to the conversation?

How many times, while someone else is speaking, are you thinking of the next thing you'll say?

Many times, during those moments, while we are thinking of what we are going to say next, we miss out on some really important thoughts the other person is expressing. Their needs, wants, desires, goals, and more can be discovered when we stop thinking for a moment and just listen. From there we can discover if we are able to help them in anyway with our opportunity, products, or can refer them to someone who can.

Tips for better listening:

1. Look the person in the eye.

2. Repeat back to the person certain thoughts to make sure you understand. For example, 'So what I hear you saying is....'. This will allow for both parties to be on the same page and let's the other person know you are listening.

3. Don't interrupt.

3. Ask follow up questions. Again for clarification and it shows the other person you are listening, not just hearing.

Start to pay attention to when you are with other people to see how you are doing with your listening skills. Then check back here and let me know how you are doing with it!

Sweet Regards,

Jhanna

Want More Clients? This One Tip Can Help

2011-04-15T08:39:00.000-07:00

I just got back from Disneyland. I took my five and eight year old for their first visit. While I enjoyed the magic and wonder through my children's eyes, I mostly experienced it this time through a marketer and business person's eyes.

From the moment we walked up to the gates of the magic kingdom, I observed the 'cast members' and how they approached the guests visiting the park.

The person who checked our napsacks smiled at us and welcomed us. My son said, 'it's our first time!', and without skipping a beat, the bag checker said, 'Great! Welcome, be sure to go to City Hall right inside the gates to get a button that says, '1st Visit'. You'll get some special attention!'

My son then also mentioned that the next day was his birthday. Again, without skipping a beat, the bag checker said, 'Go back to City Hall inside tomorrow and you'll get a button that states it's your birthday. That's load of fun too.' All was said with a genuine smile on her face.

I was blown away at the customer service the bag checker had delivered without hesitation. From then on, I watched every cast member I came in contact with to see if they held the same attitude. And they did. Each one, no matter their job. Towards the middle of the first day, I started thinking, 'what job would I want if I worked at Disneyland.'

I thought of the experience they were giving the park's guests. The only people who presented sour attitudes were the guests themselves, often becoming disgruntled for instances such as the park shutting down a ride down due to safety concerns, or the lines were too long.

Not once did a cast member break their positive attitude. I think I was mostly shocked at the approach each one had because I was comparing it to the usual poor customer service received outside the magic kingdom.

I did some research on Disney and their employment practices. I discovered that it is a lengthy process to become employed by Disney. Disney wants to make sure that the cast member wants to work there as much as Disney wants them to work there. Once hired, cast members are trained for at least two weeks before appearing in front of guests. Amazing!

After we had left Disneyland and stepped back into life outside the magic kingdom, I continued to think about the amazing attitudes of the cast members there.

When I returned home, I attended to some errands with thoughts of how awesome the experience of Disneyland customer service was. My first stop was the bank. I was painfully disappointed with the poor customer service I, and other customers received, with one teller at the bank greeting a customer by saying, 'hey, how's it going.' Not once did she smile.

The next stop was at a bix box store, informing them that I was charged twice for a product. I was told the store would have to do a full inventory on the product to make sure that over charge was correct. Basically, insinuating that I was lying about a $12 over charge.

When my son's watch that he had purchased at Disneyland stopped working, I emailed the company Disney. I received an email within 24 hours with an apology, and directions on how to send the product back for either a refund or replacement, and to be sure I included the shipping costs so I could get reimbursed for that as well.

BIG difference, don't you agree?

I tell you all of this, so you know that your customer, client, or prospect's experience of you will make all the difference in the world. If there is a choice between two distributors with the same company, I will always go with the person that is willing to offer me the best experience. No question.

Start offering the best experience to people. Step up and your business will explode.

I'd love to hear examples of great customer service that you've experienced! The more we share, the more people will realize just how important it is!

In Service,

~Jhanna

Bad News

2010-04-05T10:41:00.000-07:00

My kids aren't here this week, so I turned on the tv this morning and watched national news for the first time in months. Yike.

It was mostly background noise for a bit, then I heard a story about a new website that is out there. I'm not giving the name, because I don't want anyone going there. Of course, since it's been on national news now I'm sure it will skyrocket in ratings.

The basis of the website is for people to be able to post criticisms about other people. People actually get to rate YOU. Heck, in fact they can create an account about you, so others can just rate you without doing much. Ouch. And, apparently, the only person who can take the profile down (aside from the webmaster), is the person who created the profile. You have no control over this profile.

Of course they interviewed someone about it and they stated, 'everybody has the right to criticize someone'

Doesn't that just shock you? How does this resonate with you? Personally, I'm disgusted. I couldn't believe people will spend their time and energy 'tattling' on other people instead of just finding people of a higher calibur to surround themselves with.

So, two things here. First, look around and if there is someone you just can't stand, stop hanging out with them! Step up the calibur of your friends. People don't realize that more than likely, if they are hanging out with wieners, there is a good chance that they wiener themselves, right?

Second, within five minutes of watching the news, I had turned that tv back off. It's full of crap. It's nasty stuff. Stay away from it and free your mind from what mainstream America wants you to think.

People will say to me, 'did you hear the news about...isn't it horrible? The world is CLEARLY coming to an end! The economy! What will we do! aacckk!!'

Talk about the sky is falling. Stop watching the news. Try staying away from the tv altogether for a while. You'll be amazed at how much time you have, and how much better you feel! Keep your head clear!

~Namaste,

Jhanna

Renewal of Hope

2010-04-04T08:04:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks. I hope you have a very peace filled Easter weekend. Easter/Ostara/Spring, which ever you prefer to call it, is about re-birth. Rebirth of a savior, the Sun God, the Earth, opportunities in life, renewal of hope and so on. It's a very beautiful time, when we let out a long soft sigh, knowing warm weather, and longer days are on the way.

Today, take a bit time today and observe yourself with the people you are around. If you can, discover your authentic self. How you speak with friends, and family.

Then, next time you are speaking with a prospect or client, observe yourself. Is this the same authentic self you were with friends and family? Or, perhaps, you have taken on the persona of 'sales' or 'network marketing' you.

Many times, we leave the authentic self behind, thinking that is what it takes when working with clients or prospects.

Well, stop it. They don't want the network or sales person. People want to talk with you. Drop the act and be you. Use the FORM method as part of your conversation, all the time, so it becomes natural.

Then watch your closing ratios skyrocket.

Namaste,

~Jhanna

Can't Seem to Find It?

2010-03-17T17:15:00.000-07:00

I talk a lot about MLM, Network Marketing, Transformation, and all sorts of other goodies on this blog.

Guess that makes sense, huh? I mean, MLM and NM IS about transforming from who you are, to who you can truly be in all your glory.

But there are times when we are just beat down. Lots of bad news on the media (I keep telling you, stop watching!), lots of 'no, I'm not interested', and giving giving giving (not that that's a BAD thing).

Well I found this little nugget of hope today and I want you to pass it along. Pass it along to EVERYone you know. Even better, bring them to this blog and have them link through from here. (can't hurt to ask spread the joy, right? ;) )

Anyhoo, it's a site called Gives Me Hope.

http://www.givesmehope.com/

GMH for short. I've started tweeting about it using the hashtag #GMH . I'm sure on Twitter people think, for the most part, think it's a business link, or there's a price attached, or some sort of catch.

But if I can get even ONE person on my followers (which is now nearing 1,000 quality followers) to link through to it and be affected by it, AND create their own 'gives me hope' moment, then I'm happy.

Go take a peek. Read some of the very short, beautiful moments. Bring kleenex. Get ready for your heart to grow 1,000%.

~Namaste',

Jhanna

Don't Forget Your ABC's

2010-03-14T17:16:00.000-07:00

Don't tell me you don't say them anymore? Hmmm, well, class, let's get to it then. It's probably gonna be a different version than what you learned at such a tender young age.

Now that I think about it. I'm going to teach my children this version of the ABC's. Keep on lovin' each other and keep on dreaming.

Remember Your ABCs:
by Wanda Carter

A -void negative sources, people, things and habits.

B -elieve in yourself.

C -onsider things from every angle.

D -on't give up and don't give in.

E -njoy life today: yesterday is gone and tomorrow may never come.

F -amily and Friends are hidden treasures. Seek them and enjoy their riches.

G -ive more than you planned to give.

H -ang on to your dreams.

I -gnore those who try to discourage you.

J -ust do it!

K -eep on trying, no matter how hard it seems. It will get better.

L -ove yourself first and foremost.

M -ake it happen.

N -ever lie, cheat, or steal. Always strike a fair deal.

O -pen your eyes and see things as they really are.

P -ractice makes perfect.

Q -uitters never win and winners never quit.

R -ead, study and learn about everything important in your life.

S -top procrastinating.

T -ake control of your own destiny.

U -nderstand yourself in order to better understand others.

V -isualize it.

W -ant it more than anything.

X -ccelerate your efforts.

Y -ou are unique of all of Nature's creations. Nothing can replace you.

Z -ero in on your target, and go for it!!

What's With Your Company?

2010-03-11T07:00:00.000-08:00

So, let's really find out why you joined your current MLM company. It's anonymous, so if your mom really did tell you which company to sign with, it's ok, go ahead and let us know. We won't know that it's you.

Then, if you want to expand on your answer, scroll below, hit the comment button, and give us the details.

We'll give the poll a few days for people to answer. Feel free to send it out to your team and upline, so we can get a decent idea. Tweet it, put it on facebook, and any other social media site. Let's get some numbers going here.

Then we'll look at the results and go from there.

Online Surveys & Market Research

Don't Fall Victim to 'Shirt Day'!

2010-03-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

I was recalling today with network marketing rock star, Patty Gale, about what it was like working in corporate America. I'm sure it's still the same in todays workforce (for those still employed), but I've been out of that workforce for almost 10 years, so things may have changed. And people in hell now get ice water.

Anyhoo, we were reminiscing about the days when the upper management 'rewarded' the staff by having special shirt days, allowing the employees to kick off their heels, loosen their ties, and dig deep into their dresser drawers or into the back of their closet to find that crazy Hawaiian shirt, that seemed like such a good idea at the time or, in my case, the green shirt to wear on St. Patrick's day, or whatever else those wild and zany employee board members came up with.

Actually, if I remember correctly, upper management had nothing to do with those ideas anymore than they had to do with 'bring your kid to work day', but I digress.

This was when 'casual Friday' was still in its infantcy, (that's a whole 'nother post) so having an opportunity to wear something that didn't have to be drycleaned was considered their best effort at throwing the dogs a bag of bones.

So my memory was this. We all got the notice (on green paper, of course), that St. Patrick's Day was coming up. (I should be saving this post for St. Patrick's day, but oh well, I'm feeling creative today.), and we all were 'given' the opportunity to get as crazy as we could in order to celebrate this one day furlough from pinched toe shoe hell.

For me, as much as I couldn't stand my job, my best idea to celebrate was to put as much Irish Whiskey in the sludge they called coffee and actually be happy during the eight hours I had to put in.

But I didn't. I found, in my extensive collection of crap clothes that I had yet to take down to Goodwill, a greenish shirt with hints of blue in it. I knew it was pushing the envelope, but hey, WHO is to say what 'green' is? So many shades, and what if someone is color blind? I figured it was good enough, and put it on with my best pair of 501's.

Ahhhhh, never mind the color, it was a T-SHIRT & JEANS. YA, BABY. The way I saw it, I was more productive than when I was in my 'office attire'. I was willing to be reprimanded if I could just be comfortable for once.

As I suspected, every one went stone cold crazy, wearing mile high hats with shamrocks on them, lime green and shamrock green shirts, socks, oversized clown sunglasses that were green and, dare I say, green pants.

Sure enough, about two hours into my workday, I was approached by the head of the 'employee morale board' (I'm not kidding) in my very official cubicle and started speaking softly to me.

"Jhanna", She leaned in and half whispered to me. "Ummmm, a few of the employee morale board members have come to me and have mentioned that your shirt really isn't (insert air quotes here) "green". You know, this is green." She gave the thumbs up to her own putrid green shirt with shamrocks on it.

I leaned forward in my synthetic fiber office chair. "uh-huh. Go on." I said, squinting my eyes slightly to express that, perhaps, this news might actually have me concerned.

"Well, here's the thing. If you don't abide by the rules of the fun shirt day, well, we just won't have them any more. And I can understand if you don't, you know, have the (air quotes again) "funds" to purchase a real green shirt, then you'll just need to wear your normal professional office attire." (thanks for acknowledging how little the company actually paid me.)

She leaned back and stared with her head cocked to the side, and furoughed her brow, like a concerned cocker spaniel.

Dear God, I thought, is she really someone's mother? I wanted to pinch her arm until she cried. But I didn't.

I gave a sigh, slumped my shoulders a bit and said, 'I understand, and am truly, truly, so ashamed. I mean, look at me.'

She cocked her head even further, to the point I thought it might fall off her shoulders. She gave a small smile and perked up.

"I'm glad you understand because, hey! This is supposed to be FUN! We work for such a fun company! (it was a credit union), and we want everyone to have fun! Ok, then! Let's go have some green Tampico punch and shamrock cookies in the break room!"

I could not make this up if I tried, folks. This is corporate america at its best. Or it's worst. I dunno. I'll let you decide.

As I sat in the bar that night, slurging down my beer I couldn't help but think, 'What the F*CK am I doing WRONG?! Why don't I get it? Why do I not fit in at ANY job I work?!"

I had answered my own question. "Why do I not fit in at ANY job I work". Because it's a JOB!

Corporate America is not intended to allow people to thrive. It's just not. They have a bottom line that they want to accomplish, and you are just there to help fulfill that goal. You get paid a certain amount and, if you're in a 'good' job, you get two weeks vacation after exchanging FIFTY TWO weeks of your life for it.

Ya, I'm sure some readers will say, 'Hey, now! My company is great!' Great. Live long and prosper.

But the majority of people who work corporate J-O-Bs are M-I-S-E-R-A-B-L-E. It's where their dreams go to die. Nothing will kill your dreams faster.

The reason someone's dreams succeed while working at a corporate job is to get OUT of the corporate job.

Ok. Enough of that. Go. Go work on your business. Go create your dream career. Go get to your MLM company's convention. Just promise me, if you'll get out of the corporate world as quickly as possible.

If you don't have a company yet, contact me. If you've got one and you don't know where to start, then contact me and we'll talk. Just GO and release yourself from the pain of a possible Casual Shirt Friday.

Sooo, IF it's too late and you already have your story. Feel free to share them here! If nothing else, we'll all get a good laugh!

Rock On,

Jhanna

Is This Part of Your 'Thing'?

2010-03-08T11:46:00.000-08:00

I went out with my friend, a respected professional in the area, the other day, for lunch at a nice restaurant.

When the server delivered our drinks to us I asked, 'What's your name?"

"Cheryl", She said with a smile.

"Thank you, Cheryl". I said.

My friend looked at me, 'That was nice that you asked her name. Is it one of those things you do in order to start the conversation about your network marketing business?'

I looked at her and laughed.

'No', I said, 'It's one of those things I do as a matter of respect. I always ask the person's name. If I'm just getting a coffee, I'll ask the person who is serving me and then thank them by name. To me, it's reminding them, and me, that they are important.'

She sat and thought for a few moments.

When the server came back with our food, my friend looked up at her and said, 'Thanks, Cheryl.'

The server smiled. "My pleaure."

"Wow, that felt good.", My friend said.

"Think how she feels. We took the time to learn her name. Validate and appreciate. It's important to others, and just feels good."

For the rest of the meal we received the most outstanding service I have ever experienced.

Something as small of an act such as asking a person's name can mean the world to someone else. Don't rob them of it, and don't rob yourself of it. We're all connected and when you remember to do this, you'll be reminded of our connection to each other.

Get out there and spread the love.

~Namaste'

Jhanna

Referral What?

2010-03-07T07:39:00.000-08:00

As mentioned in my last post, selling is the backbone of our industry. No one makes money until something is sold, whether it's a product line or services.

One of the big keys to success with any kind of business is the word of mouth referral service we all have access to. If we take care of our clientele, the chances of them referring business to us become much higher than if we just sell our product or service and let it be.

Our clientele can create more business than we ever thought possible if we give them permission and let them know we are looking for referrals. Here's the trick to this: You've gotta ASK for the referral. Now this can be done one of two ways, or both.

1. You can ask your client if they know of anyone who might benefit from your services, product, or opportunity and have them give you their contact information with the intention of you contacting them. Now with this path, I give my client the opportunity to contact the other person first, let them know I'll be calling, and endorse me before I even contact the person.

2. Give the client your information, and allow them to go out and bring people to you. A referral program is the perfect way to reward your current clients for bringing new business to you. That reward can be product from your product line, which also gives the opportunity to introduce your current client to a product that they, perhaps, would not have tried otherwise which, obviously, can turn in to future sales. Or extra services for discounted cost or free.

Your client is receiving something for just telling friends, family, co-workers, and perhaps their own clients about you. They receive a gifty from you, which is always cool, and their referral gets introduced to some really great products, opportunities, and/or services from you.

HOLY CRAP, EVERYONE WINS. WHAT A CONCEPT.

Next time you're with your client, bring it up. In fact, put it on the back of your business cards. What? You don't use the back of your business cards? Get on that.

Here's a few tips for your referral program:

1. Give your clients at least three business cards. That way, when the time comes, they'll have extras to give to people.

2. Always ask for more than one business card from your clients. This is so you can return the courtesy.

3. Make sure you deserve those referrals. Don't do half assed work and then expect a referral.

4. Let your clients know your process for contacting referrals. This way, your client will be more comfortable giving the lead, if they know your process is simple and professional.

Let people know you have a referral system in place and give them an idea of what they are able to receive should one of their referrals become a new client of yours. We refer people all the time without even realizing it, ('oh, hey try this restaurant!') so reward people for sending people your way.

It's is a huge business tool. HUGE.

If you have a program already in place or, if you implement one, go ahead and put the results down below.

The world is your oyster, my friends. Get crackin'.

~Namaste'

Jhanna

Are You Doing This With Your Product Line?

2010-03-06T07:21:00.000-08:00

For most MLM companies, selling product of some sort is the backbone of revenue, and most distributors have a tendency straight out of what it looks like in their catalog or website.

Some companies are getting smart and are now grouping products that are designed to be sold together. This increases sales, and exposes the customer to different products that they otherwise might not have tried.

Ok, so perhaps your company does not do this. Who is to say that YOU can't do this? The company I am a distributor for doesn't group products together. I'm actually ok with this, because it gives me the freedom to create packages for my customers that suit their needs.

You can do the same. Create generic packages that give, for example, a sampling of each product line. If you're in nutritionals pick one product from each line, perhaps a multi-vitamin, a probiotic, and something else that enhances the general well being of your customer. If it's makeup, a lipstick, a foundation, and a blush, or powder. Then let them pick the colors.

Your packages don't have to be big, in fact, you can have different sized packages. I use, from my line, a package that has three products, four, and up to 10 products.

Now, here's the trick. Don't discount these packages. We're inclined to think that because it's a package, it needs to be discounted, but that's not the case.

There is no reason to discount your products because you are packaging them together. You are only packaging them together, to make it convenient for the customer. Trust me, busy customer's will appreciate that you have taken the time to do this. With a large product line, it can actually be quite overwhelming to pick only a few. Customer's can go into 'analysis paralysis' with too many options. In the end, many just end up not ordering.

Make it easy for them to order. It's why meal deals are so popular at fast food restaurants. They can just say, 'give me meal # whatever.' They can now do the same with you, 'Oh, I'd like package #3'. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

You're making your customer's life easier, and respecting their time by doing this, and you're increasing your sales and income! Rock on!

~Namaste'

Jhanna

I Dare You To Check This Video Out.

2010-03-02T13:52:00.000-08:00

I use the word dare because it's long. It's almost two hours. But DANG. It's entertaining, informative, and could transform the way you think, approach people, and do business. So there's that.

The other reason I say dare, is because sometimes it takes a dare in order for people to do something. This is some heady, life changing stuff, and I don't want you to miss out on the potential.

You've heard me mention and show some of Frank Kern's stuff before here on this blog. I think he's brilliant. Anyone who gets me thinking out of my normal programmed thinking in ways that are going to benefit me and others is okee dokee by me.

This one rocks. Now, a couple of things. It's FREE. No strings, no selling, no pressure, nothing like that. He does ask that you opt in. Needless to say, you can opt right back out if you so choose, so don't let a minor thing like 'having' to opt in as an excuse, because that would be a lame excuse, and I know if you are a subscriber to my blog, you aren't lame. So there.

Here's the link.

Core Influence

Get ready to take notes. I think I took probably about 10 pages. I kept stopping the video and writing stuff down. It's rare I feel the need to do that, but there is a lot of stuff here you're going to want to go back and read right after.

Then do the exercise he talks about. Don't just watch the video and do nothing. Do it. As I said, it could change the direction your life is heading. Maybe not, but maybe so.

So go on. Putt, putt, putt put wings on yer butt and head over. I dare you.

Core Influence

Namaste',

Jhanna Dawson

What is Not Being Understood?

2010-02-28T12:28:00.000-08:00

This is kind of a rant, so bear with me, because I'm sure I'm not the only one who is thinking this.

I haven't been on Facebook or Twitter for even a year. For the most part, I have had some of the most amazing connections occur, some of the most incredible conversations, and some great business acheived.

By now, we've all read the post of do's and don't's on social media. The biggest one is to imagine social media like a big party. Most of the time, as far as I know, we don't bust into a party and start going up to people barfing our business opportunities. You'd be thrown out of the party for sure.

Like other life situations, there is certain etiquette expected. When we enter a party, we introduce ourselves, get to know these new friends, ask about them, find out what they do, and see how we can help them. We listen. We become friends.

And this has been working quite nicely. Up until recently.

In the past month or so, people have seemed to forgotten these tips. I dunno, perhaps the turn of the calendar really threw people off. It seems we are back to people striking up conversations with the total agenda of puking their opportunity onto us. And it's rather disgusting, if I do say so myself.

One person asked me what else I do, aside from my mlm opportunity. I told him I am a private coach for people who request coaching in mlm. His response was, and this was after he had heaved his presentation all over my computer screen, 'well, you'd LOVE our company, our sponsors and coaches are the best! Check it out! Here's my link! What do you think? Interested?'

Oy. I politely thanked him and unplugged for a bit.

Today, I wished someone on FB a happy birthday. I love birthdays, so I really love wishing people happy birthday.

I kid you not, not half an hour later I received a response on my FB wall. It said,'thanks for the birthday wishes. Here's my new website, with lots of things for you and your friends to buy from ME. Please share with ALL of your friends. Buy from me.'

Oy. I deleted the message. That was probably one of the tackiest business barfs I've encountered.

Folks, don't piss people off. Behave. Mind yer manners. Otherwise, you'll end up the subject of blogs like mine and others.

We've been nice with gentle reminders that are accompanied by smilie face icons. Now, we're just annoyed. Don't be one of 'those' people. We're all begging you, please stop it.

~Namaste'

Jhanna

The Old 'Do As I Say'

2010-02-26T11:50:00.000-08:00

"Just pick up that phone!" "Get to ALL the conventions that you possibly can!" "Here's all you need to do"

Heard those in your NM career? Wise words, to be sure. Have you told your downline things like this? Great.

The real question is, are you walking your talk? Are you picking up that phone and making calls? Are you getting to conventions? Are you doing all you need to do?

I remember when I worked for corporate America, I worked for two kinds of employers. One was the 'boss' that told us what to do. He delegated, but never would any of us employees catch him in the warehouse where it was cold and dirty, helping out with the staff on a large order that needed to go out that day.

The other was an employer, that had told me, 'I won't ask you to do anything that I'm not prepared to do myself.'

That was his truth, and he walked it. Every now and then he would be helping the staff with whatever needed to be done. He had the experience of doing it. He knew what it felt like. He had walked through the experience.

Same thing with NM trainers. If they are telling you, 'what you need to do is parties!' and haven't done one in their NM career, how are they going to help me?

Don't get me wrong, I don't expect everyone to do parties continually throughout their career, however, if someone tells me 'do this' I expect that they have done it. Otherwise, how would they know?

Same with making calls. Telling me to pick up that 90lb phone without having done it themself, how are they going to help me?

Look at what you are suggesting to your downline, and see if you've done what your expecting of them. Have you attended your company's corporate convention? No? What about talking to two people a day, while out and about. No? How, then do you expect others to overcome their fears and hesitations if you can't?

Only by walking through the fear itself, can we help others walk through it as well.

Or do you think otherwise? Do you think you can teach without having the direct experience? I'd like to hear your thoughts on this.

~Namaste'

Jhanna

Bedtime Stories

2010-02-20T19:23:00.000-08:00

Yet again, my kid's shows provide for a life lesson. This time, the kids and I were watching Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler. My friend had let us borrow it and said it was a cute kiddie film, and it was, but I found a really good life lesson in it as well.

The basic story of the film is about an uncle who is watching his niece and nephew for a few nights. Each night, he creates a bedtime story where he is the hero. Towards the end of the bedtime story, the kids jump in on the play and create the ending for the hero.

The next day, Adam Sandler's character, Skeeter, actually experiences the story, and it's outcome, in real life. Once he discovers that this is happening, Skeeter realizes that it's the kid's input that is actually controlling the outcome of the story and he starts to depend on them to dictate how his life will be. He stresses on it daily, and starts manipulating the kids in hopes that they will create a fairy tale outcome for his life.

As expected, the kids create an ending that Skeeter never expected, leaving him high and dry without the girl, without the love of his niece and nephew, jobless, and homeless.

While alone and packing his things, the spirit of Skeeter's dad starts talking with him. Skeeter expresses his disappointment in the fact that the kids didn't give him a happier ending. Skeeter's dad answers with, 'why don't you just create your own happy ending? You have just as much power to do it as they do. It's your life.'

Needless to say, the hero jumps into action, rights the wrongs, gets girl, defeats the villian, and they all live happily ever after.

HELLO. Did ya get the lesson? How often do we let others dictate our outcome? How many of you allow life to happen 'to' you?

Skeeter goes from the ultimate victim, 'poor me, others have determined my fate and my life, and look at how it ends. Woe is me!'

Unfortunately, this is how most people live. Little do people realize that we can create our own ending. We have the power to do this. We just haven't given ourselves permission to have that happy ending. Perhaps we are 'afraid' that we might screw it up, because, god forbid, if we are actually held accountable for our actions, and we look around at our lives, that can be a bitter, bitter pill to swallow. But, for some it can be a very rewarding thing.

Ultimately, it's true. We are responsible for our own happy endings. I'm sure all of us at some point in our lives have depended on others to make it 'right', to create our future, then were disappointed because it didn't work out the way we 'expected' or thought it 'should' be.

Weeelllll, guess what my peeps. Just like Skeeter, we DO have the opportunity to create our own outcome and we can start right now.

Think you can do it? I know you can. I recommend watching the movie and see what experiences Skeeter had to go through in order to realize his own personal power and how he created his own happily ever after. Then go and create your own. ;)

Namaste'

Jhanna

The Close, Cont'd

2010-02-19T07:18:00.000-08:00

Here's the thing with the 'close'. Everyone has a tendency to get freaked out about it. The common belief that the close is this manipulated, controlling, and directed procedure is enough to not ask for the business. It is true that in the past that is how the close of the sale happened.
However, if you have read and have applied the lessons from 'The Go-Giver', you'll understand the relationship that has been developed, the value that has already been given, and the close then becomes a natural movement in the conversation.

Asking someone, 'So can you see the benefits and ready to sign today?' is a bit different then the conversation flowing towards a natural close of, 'How does this opportunity feel to you? Does it feel right? If not, that's ok. I want what works best for you, even if it's not my opportunity.'

People are so terrified of asking, for fear that they are pressuring the other person that they end up just leaving the opportunity dead on the floor. Have you ever heard the story of the person who told their friend about their opportunity, stating how great it was, how well they were doing with it and so on? Then they were shocked when their friend signed on to the company but with someone else.

Confused, the person asked why. The friend said, 'You never asked me, they did.'

It's ok to ask. It's not ok to pressure someone. You can close the conversation with asking without 'closing' the sale. There's a difference. :0)

Namaste',

Jhanna

The Close

2010-02-17T07:02:00.000-08:00

This has been a hot topic lately, which is good, because it is where the action is happening. It's something that every sales person must learn and must learn as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, most, and this included me for a long while, learn everything but the close. We find hot prospects, people looking to create extra income or replace it, we talk with them, learn about them and their needs, introduce our product line and opportunity and then.....nothing. We get nothing. They don't sign up.

What happened?

We don't ask for the business, that's what. We don't ask, 'so are you ready to get going?' We don't ask! It's as simple as that. Because when it comes to brass tacks, this is where most of us won't make it. We can talk a good talk, but start to choke when the actual question comes up.

Why?

Because it might result in a 'no'. And that 'no', for most, is taken personally. We suddenly start to think that perhaps what we have isn't the best thing since sliced bread. But that's a whole other entry.

Is it safer for you to never ask the question? True, you'd never hear that 'no', but you'd never hear that 'yes' either. What you might end up hearing is, 'hey I just signed on with your company with so and so, do you know them? I'm LOVING this!'

You've got to ask the question. Learn how to close the deal. Don't tell the prospect everything and then leave them hanging. Ask them question, get them thinking, get them intrigued, and then ASK.

If you don't know how to close, get with your upline, and learn from them. Read books on sales and closing. Trust me, you don't have to sound like the used car salesman down the road saying, 'so what do I need to do in order to get you into this car today?' (although that's a pretty fun line).

Closing is a learned thing, just like most everything else. Remember, this business is about growth. If you didn't have any where you could grow in your life, you'd already be where you want to go.

So learn the close. Learn to ask the prospect, learn to ask the person about holding a party, learn to ask the person about purchasing product.

Now, real quickly I want to remind you, you aren't begging. No begging! You're asking. Know the difference.

If you've already got your close down, tell me what works for you. What's your best close? How did you discover how to close? I'd love to hear it.

In the meantime, keep on growing!

Namaste',

Jhanna

How To Learn a Lesson, Better Yet....How to Teach One.

2010-02-07T16:55:00.000-08:00

Ok, well, I don't know if it's the ONLY way to learn, but it's something that works best for me.

I remember reading years ago, and every year since, John Fogg's memorable, 'The Greatest Networker In The World.'

Hands down one of my favorite reads of all time. Engaging, entertaining, and offers the ability to teach lessons.

Today, I just read, for the first time, 'The Go-Giver', by Bob Burg & John David Mann. I cannot believe I have not read this book yet. I guess it's one of those instances of, 'when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.'

I'm usually one to get my hands on books like this, and lordy knows I have seen this book everywhere, but for some reason I only borrowed it from the library today.

I drew up a nice, hot bath, and figured I'd start the book. It's pretty short, so hopefully I could get through it by the end of the weekend.

Well, it had me so involved, that I read the whole thing while in the tub. The water in the tub was pretty much cold by the time I got out. I just had to finish this book.

My head is still spinning, digesting the lessons taught in this book.

And then I realized something that was told to me once. The best way to teach is to put it into story form.

If we offer up lessons such as what is in the Go-Giver and TGN, and place them in just an outline or in a business outline, more than likely we'd forget the lessons quickly.

Why? Because it doesn't hit our emotions. Our brains don't allow it to get past our conscious thought. With stories, we are given the opportunity to attach emotion to the story, the characters, and the lessons involved.

Look at the great books on the market:

Who Moved My Cheese
The Go-Giver
The Richest Man in Babylon

and more....

The lessons are given to us in story form. The lessons sink in, in a different way then if they were presented to us in a standard, 'here are the lessons', type of book.

Another way to do this is to present the lesson, then give an example of how it was applied to a situation in real life.

So when we are working with people, whether it's with our kids, or with co-workers, team partners, speaking to a crowd, etc, think about getting the message across with a story. Capture their imaginations and present the lesson in the story.

~Namaste,
Jhanna

How is This Done & Do You Do It?

2010-02-06T07:11:00.000-08:00

How many times have you heard the saying, 'think outside the box'? Countless, right? Ya, me too.

But what exactly IS thinking outside the box? How does it get done? How is it some people can do it so easily and it's so hard for others?

I'll tell you, it has taken me years to learn how to do this, and still when I see people do it easily, I'm blown away. Som e people come about it naturally, while others have to learn it.

Our 'box' is the limits of our ideas and how we approach different situations in our lives. This is part of what allows people who have challenges in their lives to take those challenges and make something positive and productive out of them.

Our 'box' is defined by our upbringing and programs. To think outside the box means to think outside of our every day programs, and since most people do the exact same thing day after day after day, it really does become extremely difficult to think outside that box.

When someone says, 'you'd do best by thinking outside the box', and what you know is just your box, or way of thinking, it becomes damned hard think outside of it.

So what can you do? You can shake up your programs. Shake up your thinking. Actually start moving outside your box. Start with simple ways of moving outside your box. Do thinks differently. Nothing major, you don't have to buy a truck if you currently have a car, or go out and buy a completely new wardrobe that is so not you.

Here's an extremely simple way to start moving outside of that box. At your next meal, if you are left handed, like me, use your right hand to eat. Drink with the cup in your right hand. Obviously, the opposite if you are right handed.

Try to drive (if you're one of the unfortunate ones who still commute ;) ) a different route on the way home from work.

Take a class that interests you but you never thought you'd take (underwater basket weaving, anyone?).

Attempt a different workout program that has nothing to do with your current one. If you run, like me, take a completely different route. Try Bikram Yoga, instead of just a yoga session, or if you don't do yoga at all....DO YOGA.

Get onto http://www.blip.fm/, and listen to music you never would have heard otherwise, because these dj's are from all over the world.

The smallest things can shake up your thinking. Most importantly be OPEN to doing things differently, and be open and receptive to new ideas. Sometimes new ideas come and we don't even acknowledge them.

If you get a spark or hit of an idea, write it down. You can analyze later, just write it down now.

Here's a recent example of thinking outside of my box. There is a woman's expo in town. It's usually sold out, and is expensive to get into. Yet I wanted to have a presence there.

'Inside the Box' thinking would be that I either sucked it up, paid, and attended, or not go, right?

Here is my outside the box result. I looked at the vendors and realized many of them are MLM companies. The ones we all expect, Arbonne, Jafra, Avon, and others will be there.

So, I emailed the director of the event. I mentioned to her that since there were so many MLM vendors, it woud behoove her to have someone speaking ON MLM, the differences between direct sales, party plans, traditional MLM, and so on. I told her it would add value to the vendors and to the attendees of the event.

I then offered my services to speak on the industry. For Free. All I want is to have a table with my information on it, as well as my contact information on the website and brochures.

Total win-win situation. I made sure she knew this would be a win to not just her, but to her vendors and attendees.

It can be something as simple as that, which can produce huge results.

With that in mind, what are you doing to get yourself out of your regularly scheduled programs?

Namaste',

Jhanna

Nuts & Bolts

2010-02-03T07:34:00.000-08:00

I have a new client who is in one of the best MLM companies out there. I mean, if anyone has a system in place, it's them.

She told me her upline is local and they are wonderfully special people. And I have no doubt they are. She's been given the system, but is still contacting me for coaching.

So what's the deal, right? She told me she needs the nuts and bolts of the industry. Who does she contact? What does she say? Where does she go to 'find' these people?

These are really good questions, and I think most that are overlooked by 'systems'. Most systems say, 'write up your warm market' or 'contact two a day'. These are true, but what happens when that warm market has been called? How does one bring up the subject? Then what??

Today, when you are out doing your 'thing' take notice of how many people you run in to who:

1. Have complained about their job
2. Are worrying about making ends meet
3. Who have been laid off
4. Is distressed over the current economy

I'm guessing you hear people ramble on quite a bit regarding these. Hell, I complained constantly about my job when I was working outside the home. I still can't believe I didn't have MLM'ers coming at me in droves. Actually, I had to go out and find one. No one ever approached me.

Anyhoo, ith the approach you can do it a couple of ways. The traditional way:

"You know, Bob, I can't help but notice how often you bitch about your job. I mean it's ALL the time. I, personally don't know how you can stand it. (ok, maybe that's not how you would say it.) How open are you to opportunities that would allow you to leave your job and work from home within a certain amount of time? Totally open? Great. Here's my business card, let's talk."

If they say, 'Not open at all.' I hand them my card and say, 'Great, here's my business card, let's talk.'

Ok, maybe I will say that, maybe not. Depends on the person. But I DO say:

"Well, if you happen to know someone who is, perhaps someone at your job, would you be willing to give them my card? I'd like to help out as many people as possible."

Voila. Done.

You could approach them the way I mentioned in one of my earlier posts (similiar to above). The bottom line is, you need to get your opportunity in front of them.

Figure out a way that works best for you. Your way might be different than your upline. If you try to stammer out something that doesn't fit who you are, it's going to sound phony, contrived, and uncomfortable. As long as you keep with getting the question out "are you open" then you're golden.

The same process can be used with strangers. I've approached women in the park while my children played, I've approached people standing in line at the bank, the store, the post office, whatever.

Now, we need to go back to the 'some will, some won't, so what, next!' Give them your business card and let go of the results. I'm gonna repeat that.

Give them the business card and let go of the results.

You'll drive yourself nuts and burn out fast if you give a person your business card and then obsess on whether they are going to call or sign up or not.

The farmer, when seeding his fields does not throw out seeds and obsess over each one. He knows some will take and some won't. Do yourself a favor and let it go.

Eventually, you'll find the ones that take and the ones that don't. But none of them will take if you don't give them the opportunity.

~Namaste',

Jhanna

Letter by Letter

2010-02-01T07:36:00.000-08:00

I swear, I get the best lessons from my kid's tv programs. This is good feedback for me, as I realize that I'm having them watch the right programs for great lessons.

Today's lesson is from Arthur. On this episode, Arthur takes on the mail at the post office. He goes in with the best intentions, is excited, and ready to take on the world. Arthur goes in and when he sees what needs to be accomplished, he's totally overwhelmed, stressed, and, by the end of the day is ready to quit.

It's then that his mentor takes him aside and says, 'Arthur, if you use a system, the work gets done, and the results are there. All you have to remember is break it down. Focus on this: You deliver the mail letter by letter. That's all you need to do. Letter by letter.'

Arthur, tries it and goes from ready to quit to loving his work. Even his friends say, 'Arthur, come out and play, your work shouldn't be taking that long.'

To which Arthur replies, 'But I love doing this, this IS my play!'

HELLO! Did someone in MLM write this episode?

In the end, the mail 'master' gives Arthur something else to do AND, the ultimate reward, because his method has been so effective he gets to teach the next person.

If Arthur were in MLM, however, he'd get residual income from him training the next person. ;)

Remember, letter by letter. Friend by friend, step by step. It's all in front of us to accomplish and it's completely do-able.

Here's to YOU!
~Namaste'
Jhanna

How to Ask THE Questions

2010-01-30T08:14:00.000-08:00

So you've got everything going in order to be an MLM rockstar. You've watched the amazing videos by some of the best trainers, you've memorized the scripts, you're using the products and so on. You have your business cards with you at all times and your opportunity CD, and whatever else you need in order to rock it.

But when push comes to shove, and we need to do the most important thing possible, ASKING if someone is interested, you suddenly choke. It's on the tip of your tongue, your lips are forming the first words, your heart is pounding, but it stops there.

The conversation ends, you go your own way and, more than likely, berate yourself and mull over it the rest of the day, convincing yourself that tomorrow will be different. Only, it's not.

Does this sound familiar? Do you have team partners who do this?

Trust me, I know the feeling, because I did that. My heartbeat gets going still, every time.

A few things I have learned is that your language and how you present things can make a world of difference in how you are received.

Here's a few of my favorites when approaching people that helps take the edge off of you and them, and still produces some rewarding results.

1. First, I don't ask the person directly if they are interested. Well, sometimes I do, but for the most part, this puts a person on the spot and can be uncomfortable. Here's what I say:

"Do you happen to know anyone who ___________ "(is trying to release weight, burns scented candles, loves chocolate, takes supplements, is looking to created extra or replace their income, etc.)

I've learned that, no matter what, we humans like to help out when we can. By me asking this question, 'do you know anyone who...', it takes the person directly off the hook and puts them into a position of being able to help one of their friends out.

Most of the time, they are contemplating their situation and whether they can take advantage of the product line as well.

I ask the question and then I wait. I stop talking and wait. I give them a moment to think about it. I have yet to have the person respond with, 'No. No I don't know ANYone like that.'

Now, granted the product line I represent is a very popular and widely used product, so the chances of someone using it is pretty high. Regardless, more than likely they will know SOMEone.

When they answer, 'yes, of course.' I then pull out a business card, or a sample, or a catalog, information, whatever I have, but I DON'T hand it to them yet.

I then ask the 'If...would' question.

"If I give you this ___________ (catalog, sample, catalog, etc), would you give this to them and have them contact me?"

If they, themselves, are the ones who are interested I will then say, 'If I give this to you, will you ____________(go through the catalog, read the information, watch the CD, try the sample, etc), and get back to me?'

I ask them this in all honesty. If they say 'no', then I don't want to give it to them. I'll hang on to it. I'll say, 'well if you can think of anyone, just let me know.'

Really, I've yet to have someone say no, and I know that they are taking a genuine look at the product, or trying the sample and getting back to me with feedback.

Sometimes the feedback is, 'may I please have more information' and sometimes the feedback is, 'Thanks, I'm not interested'.

Regardless of the answer, it's taken the paralyzing feeling of fear out of the approach.

Finally, this person will continue to think of you and your product because now they know what you have to offer.

For example, if a friend approaches them and says, "ugh, I'm trying to lose weight again." Immediately, you will pop into your friend's mind and the chances of them recommending you to your friend is pretty high.

Eventually, you'll start to lose the fear of approaching people, and you'll discover what works for you in regards to talking to people about your product and opportunity.

Have fun!

~Namaste'

Jhanna

Welcome to the Tribe

2010-01-29T17:14:00.000-08:00

Ooh, it sounds so Survivor-ish, doesn't it?

And it kind of is. Except instead of booting people off the island, we're bringing people ON to the island.

Last night, I got onto the webinar that I told you about in my last post to learn more about tribes, tribal syndication, and what it all means.

Well, WOW. I am not kidding you, my head was still spinning while dreaming last night from all the value packed content this webinar held.

So here's the premise of tribes. Tribes are created in order to support and promote others in the same tribe. We visit each other's blogs, throw down some content rich comments, create back links, get on twitter and retweet each other's tweets, blogs, and sites, and more.

It's a support system and it's GREAT.

This tribe that I belong to, and now plan on getting WAY more involved with, has an incredible group of leaders and contributors I think I have ever seen. I mean, this group has got it going on.

For almost three hours last night, trainer after trainer got online and discussed their specialty, giving examples, ideas, tips, suggestions and little known, but easy, tricks to creating a better, more effective, and yes, more profitable social media experience. It was intense.

And it was all free. When was the last time you attended a three hour webinar that was interesting and helpful ALL the way through for FREE?

It was in support of their tribe. They gave all of that away to help support their tribe. Giver's gain. They are really go-Givers. I love that philosophy and therefore want to be a part of it.

The question is, do you? Do you want a piece of that action? It's not just about taking, and this isn't a sales pitch. Don't come on board unless you are willing to give.

So with that in mind, here are some people that I HIGHLY suggest you follow on twitter, friend on facebook, and get on their blogs. You can find out how to connect on all the social medias with them via their pages listed below:

www.karyrogney.com
http://jonalfredsson.com
www.michaelfeil.com
www.createwitheric.com
www.thenetworkdad.com
www.meetnicklogan.com

If I missed anyone directly involved, please leave a comment and I'll get their info up here.

Again, another tribe that I dig on is:

www.thatmlmbeat.com

Great mlm content, great people to work with.

By presenting a tribe, access to new people, and having them help each other, brings some amazing results to all of our business endeavors, whatever they may be.

If anyone has ANY additional information they'd like to contribute regarding tribes, I'd love to hear it. I'm still totally green to this and am looking to soak up as much information as possible.

As I learn more, and meet more leaders in this field I'll be sure to bring them on and write about them and the results I'm personally seeing using a tribe.

~Namaste',

Jhanna

Meet My Posse

2010-01-28T07:05:00.000-08:00

Ok, well, not really a posse, but my tribe. I have a few, actually.

Tribal Syndication seem to be the latest and greatest for online social networking. The premise is, a tribe is created on a social page, such as facebook. We, as members, post our blog posts on our tribe page (I belong to a few) and then get to look forward to our tribe visiting our posts, therefore creating new eyes reading our blogs, fresh opinions, search engine exposure, blog exposure, and stellar growth in our businesses.

That's what I'm guessing.

To be honest, I'm not quite solid on that understanding, though.

But I'll tell you what. I'm going to find out. I'm going to find out for you and for me.

I'm attending a webinar this evening held by Kary Rogney, one of the tribe 'leaders' on facebook, where he'll be explaining the benefits to belonging to a tribe.

I'll report back and fill you in on all the details. In the meantime, if you want to check out a tribe or two, and you have a blog that you'd like to promote, here's a really great site besides Kary's.

www.thatmlmbeat.com

George is a fantastic person to work with, promotes the site like crazy and is really pro-active in this endeavor.

Here's Kary's website. Get in on the webinar if you can. It's tonight, so short notice, but I think you'll walk away with some great information.

http://karyrogney.com/my-tribe/

And here's his facebook Tribe Syndication page.

http://www.facebook.com/tribesyndicationnetwork?ref=mf

There's a lot of tribes out there, these are just two of my favorite. :0)

Namaste'

Jhanna

Release That Party Diva

2010-01-27T08:03:00.000-08:00

Ok, you might think this is a post about hosting a party or party plan ideas. And, you'd sort of be right.

So then you'd think, 'well, I'm not IN a party plan company. I wouldn't do one of 'those'.

Sweet. But I'm going to suggest here that you CAN and it would be WISE of you to hold at LEAST one party. You're own open house or home party.

Just to back up a bit here, the reason why home parties are so successful, aside from the high quality products and good time everyone has these days at them, is the distributor is able to get in front of many prospects at once.

Instead of talking to one or two people at a time, the distributor can now be in front of 10 or more at a time. Do two or three parties a week, we are talking 20-30 people a week the distributor is introducing their business and products to.

Now, perhaps there are some non party distributors who, when they open their mouths, everyone is fair game to hear about their products and opportunity but that ain't how most of us roll.

With a party plan, a distributor can potentially get in front of thousands. No wonder someone can skyrocket right up the line in a short amount of time in a party plan.

Ok, so there's the concept behind party plan companies. Now here's YOUR chance to hold at least one party.

Remember when you signed on with your company and you wrote up your warm list? It was necessary to contact each one separately and talk with them each about your new opportunity.

I'm going to suggest that, whether you're new to your company, or have been with it for a while, to hold an open house or party with your products and opportunity as the star.

Create a simple evening with a two hour window or so, and put your products on display. If your company offers a diet plan with shakes, make those shakes! Let people taste what you have to offer. Delicious and healthy chocolates? Great, put them out. Put out ALL of your products as samples, if possible. Put out a kit so they can see and touch what they get if they sign with you. Get the computer out and show the website.

Juices? Put it out. If it's something other than food, make a grand display and offer samples. You are smart enough to get into the MLM industry, I know you're smart enough to come up with something to show off your products and offer your guests a small sampling of it at the same time.

With the parties I've done, I always offer a theme. So come up with a theme. Fiesta theme, wine and chocolate, relax and chill (I've had a massage therapist show up for one of the parties and give shoulder massages), and so on. It doesn't have to be expensive either. Just like with MLM itself, keep it simple.

To get more people to the party, offer incentives. Pull some ideas from the party plan companies. For example, offer up prizes.

If someone brings a friend, they get a gift. If someone purchases product, they get a small gift, and so on. These gifts can be something from your product line or a small something from the Dollar store. You pick.

When everyone is there, give your speech. Now if you're not from the party plan industry, you might not quite know how to do this without sounding like a sales pitch. There are loads of qualified party plan trainers that you can tap into to help with this. And really, if you learn from one of them, you'll discover that you can use the techniques and language all the time, not just that one time, when discussing your opportunity.

JulieAnne Jones is the one trainer that comes to mind immediately to learn about the ins and outs of party language. Her website is www.julieannejones.com and she offers a LOT of great information on her website for free.

Now you have the potential to introduce your product and opportunity to a larger amount of people in a very small window of time, and it gets the word out about what you're up to. Remember, word travels. Your mailcarrier might not be interested, but the next day that person can be talking about what they did the night before and it goes from there.

When you sign a new distributor on, you can help them with their own open house/party, to show them how easy it can be. It's easy and totally duplicatable.

So learn from the party plan and party your way to success. Oh, ya, and have fun!!

~Namaste'

Jhanna

STOP IT.

2010-01-22T17:40:00.000-08:00

Two words is all it takes, if you could just take it to heart. Two words could change the course of your world, if you allow it.

But Bob Newhart explains the process better, so I'll let him take over from here.

Now this is tongue and cheek, but imagine if you made a conscious decision to just 'stop it', without bringing up your childhood, or dreams you've had, or other excuses?

So let's try it some time. Next time you start to feel that fear or hesitation...STOP IT, and see what happens.

Namaste'

Jhanna

Fall Down 100 Times....

2010-01-21T21:27:00.000-08:00

Get back up 101 times, right?

As I've mentioned in previous posts (perhaps I haven't) I can be a slow learner. So here I am getting back up again.

I love this industry and I love writing about it and giving tidbits to help people out along the way. Hell, I'll give you the farm, if I think it might help you along. I take that back, I won't give you the farm, I'll teach you how you can get your own.

But you've heard the saying, 'Dr., heal thyself', right? That can be me.

I had a TON of stuff spooned onto my plate this holiday season, and while I was able to keep it together overall in a positive way, I would look over at my MLM business and think, 'I just can't do something else right now.' and look away.

The more I did this, the more the old voices started chanting their old songs. Suddenly, I started hearing the whole choir in my head saying things like, 'well, you've disappointed your sponsor and upline.' 'perhaps this isn't what you are wanting to do.' 'why is it THAT person is wildly successful?'

Then the REAL demon showed up and plopped one word right into my lap. FAILURE.

There it was, like an elephant in the living room. The feeling of failing. Man, that can be a real heavy word if we allow it to be. But, I just let it be and kept reading blog posts, and books, and articles about our industry. For a couple of weeks I did this. I even examined the thought process of the feeling. Whose voice WAS that? Who was telling me that?

Then, I got a message from my old sponsor. "how ya doin, kiddo?" She asked. She's been through quite a bit lately herself, and interestingly enough, as much as I tried talking with her about how SHE was, she just gently brought the conversation back to me. She asked me how I was doing with my business, and I told her.

"I know you've got the passion, the drive to really make this big", She told me. "You see the big picture. You get it. You can do this. I believe in you."

She believes in me. What a GREAT thing to tell someone. ANYone. It can make the difference between getting up 100 times and getting up 101 times. It kicked the word 'failure' right in the ass and out the door.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this post, if there's a point, or if I'm just trying to get back into the habit of writing.

I guess it's enough for me, with this post, to just pass on my experience of how things sometimes go in this industry. Perhaps one of you will be able to relate and think, 'It's ok. I'm ok.'

And if that's the case, and even if it's not, know that I believe in you. I know you've got the passion and you have the ability to make it big in this business.

I. Believe. In. You.

~Namaste',
Jhanna

I Have a Dream

2010-01-18T16:12:00.000-08:00

Today, is MLK Day. What a day. Below, I've posted the "I Have a Dream" Speech, originally delivered on August 28th, at the Lincoln Memorial, in Washington, DC.

I've also embedded the video because, while the words are powerful on their own, MLK delivering those words make it one hundred times more powerful.

You know, up until last year, I had never heard the full speech. A local radio station playe it and, while I was filling up my truck with gas, I turned it up and listened to it.

I was riveted. And, as MLK spoke those infamous words of, 'Free at last, Free at last, Thank God Almighty, we are free at last,', I had tears in my eyes.

Truly moving, to say the least.

So, I encourage you to read the words, and watch the video. And give a moment of silence. ~Namaste'

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I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."¹

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:
My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

What Game Are You Playing?

2010-01-18T13:19:00.000-08:00

Are you playing to win? Most people would answer 'yes'.

More than likely though, people are playing another game. I'm going to suggest that many are playing the 'Not to Lose' game.

Eyew, huh? That game doesn't sound like there's much success or empowerment involved, for yourself or others.

The Not to Lose game is what most of us play, by being content with where we are in life. It's our safety zone. What we're really after when we play the not to lose game is comfort and convenience. We don't want to rock the boat, so we settle. We don't want to lose.

This is the game we play when we're afraid of sticking our necks out there. This is the game when we live in fear of rejection, and it can appear in lots of hidden places in our lives.

It appears when we continue to work at a job we can't stand.
It appears when we don't talk or call back those prospects.
It appears when we don't live our passions.
It shows up all the time, throughout our lives.

The Not to Lose game puts our fears in control. We don't want to lose and be miserable, we just want to keep on keepin' on, whatever that may be.

So what game ARE you playing?

How to Make More Money? Become a Cre8tor

2010-01-06T12:12:00.000-08:00

Robert Pagliarini, the author of 'The Other 8 Hours', was kind enough to offer to take the controls of this blog this morning.

"The Other 8 Hours" is a brilliant read and offers excellent advice, tips, and insights on how to work those other 8 hours we tend to let slide by. No wonder his book has been endorsed by Seth Godin, David Allen, & Tim Sanders!

Needless to say, I'm honored to have him contribute to this blog. Please enjoy, and be sure to check out the contact information below to enjoy the free goodies Robert is offering on his website.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Make More Money and Live Your Passion: Become a Cre8tor

Your financial life has a certain trajectory—similar to a train on a track. There will be twists and turns, but you can easily determine where you will end up if you stay on the financial track you’re currently on. What if the traditional methods of working hard, cutting expenses, and saving don’t work for you? Brown bagging it every day won’t cause you to jump tracks and end up somewhere completely different. The guy living in the mansion overlooking the ocean didn’t buy that house by clipping coupons, and the chick passing you in a $400,000 Maybach didn’t get that way by eliminating her morning latte. For most of us, the gap between where we are and where want to be is so wide that we’ll never be able to close it by following traditional financial advice.

What’s the solution? If you’re tired of scraping by you’ve got to create. If you want to move out of your apartment or make more than minimum wage, you’ve got to create. If you want a big house overlooking the ocean, to travel first class, to quit your job, or to drive your dream car, guess what? The answer is in the other 8 hours. The answer is to shift from being a full-time consumer to being a part-time Cre8tor.

A what? A Cre8tor is a creative entrepreneur who has a day job but wants more. He isn’t content with the status quo, and is less than thrilled with the thought of working another 40+ years. He knows that the only way to “jump the tracks” to get to a new financial level is to do something different during the other 8 hours. A Cre8tor utilizes his strengths, passions, and/or expertise to create something unique and valuable—maybe he’ll start a blog, work on an invention, write a screenplay, or start a business. If you settle for a paycheck, you’ll only be worth what your employer pays you. But if you create something valuable, there’s virtually no limit to your worth.

A long commute, brainless boss, and an empty bank account can wreak havoc on your outlook, hope, and purpose, but a side project or venture can bring inspiration to your life. When you’re passionate about what you’re creating during the other 8 hours, you can endure even the worst day. It will change your whole morning routine.

Creating provides purpose and it provides a reason to get out of bed in the morning. It provides the hope that life can improve. When you create, it engages your mind and your soul.

Should you really spend some of your precious other 8 hours creating, or would we be better off having fun and enjoying ourselves? Studies show that most of us are not fulfilled mentally or emotionally in our day jobs. We work, not because we are passionate about what we’re doing, but for a paycheck. Even though you might be stuck at your day job doing something that doesn’t fully capture your mind and heart, that doesn’t mean what you create during the other 8 hours has to feel like work. In fact, it shouldn’t feel like work at all. I want you to be excited and passionate about what you create and about the potential results you can achieve.

With very few exceptions, anybody who has attained any level of financial success has created something. It might be a book, a CD, an invention, a website, or whatever. Look around you. Everything you see was originally just an idea in someone’s head.

You are living in the most exciting and mind blowing time we have ever experienced. It is rich with opportunities that literally didn’t exist just a few years ago. Unless your last name was Rockefeller or Carnegie, it used to be incredibly difficult to become rich. Becoming a millionaire wasn’t even a dream or an ambition. It was such an impossibility that it wasn’t worth a moment’s thought.

Because of technology, efficiencies, and a global economy, it’s much easier to become wealthy with much less effort than at any other time in history. As a Cre8tor, you’ll add more excitement and purpose into your life. You will live your passion and make more money.

The benefits to becoming a Cre8tor are clear. Now let me show you step-by-step how to become a Cre8tor. Go to other8hours.com to discover how you can become a Cre8tor and experience new wealth and purpose in your life.

P.S. - As an exclusive bonus, get four free critical resources that will help you live your richest life. Go to other8hours.com to get an Other 8 Hours assessment, poster, video, and audio now!

About The Other 8 Hours & Robert Pagliarini

In his new book, The Other 8 Hours: Maximize Your Free Time to Create New Wealth & Purpose (http://www.other8hours.com), Robert empowers people to live life to the fullest by radically changing the way they spend “The Other 8 Hours” – the 8 hours not spent sleeping or working. With Robert’s guidance, people will begin looking beyond their job, hour-long commute, credit card debt, or even just that gnawing feeling that life is sometimes passing them by. They’ll get fresh solutions for carving out more time. And they’ll find the inspiration to spend that free time in a more productive way -- whether it is starting a business, writing a blog, losing weight, or developing a hobby.

Robert is obsessed with making the most of his other 8 hours to create an ideal life. He’s also obsessed with sharing what he knows, inspiring others to achieve their ideal life, and learning from others who are improving their lives.

Robert has appeared as a financial expert on 20/20, Good Morning America, Dr. Phil, ABC Morning News, NPR’s Marketplace and in The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, BusinessWeek, Money Magazine and many others.

Release That Which Holds You Back...

2010-01-02T07:57:00.000-08:00

Sounds pretty powerful, doesn't it?

I decided that for my first post of the new year, 2010, I thought I'd explain what the Burning Bowl Ceremony is and how to go about it. Even though we're into the new year, you can do it any time. It's about the ceremony and intention, not the time of year.

The Burning Bowl ceremony is an opportunity to take a look at what might be holding you back from stepping into your greatness, and releasing it back into the universe. If all things are pure energy, then this energy can be released, and recognizing and consciously accepting other energy into your life that will help you grow and learn can be done.

So, what has held you back? Has it been fear? Doubt? Lack of self-respect? Negative thinking? As I've brought up in the past, most of us have 'things' that have held us back for what we can accomplish. Even just a lousy childhood can hold us back, if we allow it. And, it could very well be that these traits have served us in the past, for some reason or another.

But you want to continue to grow and become a bigger person, so now is the opportunity to let it go and give it up. Burn it up and release it with gratitude.

The Burning Bowl Ceremony is a native american tradition, that has been recognized and used by the Unity church for years. I've had the honor and pleasure of experiencing this ceremony several times through my local Unity.

But this time, however, I noticed a step that I had missed in the past. A step that changed how I approached this ceremony, and changed how I released things this time.

For this ceremony, you'll need the following, if you choose to do it.

1. Two pieces of paper
2. pencil
3. Lit fireplace, BBQ, or something else that will safely hold a flame

Ok, here's the steps:

Take some time to quiet your mind and listen to what it is you want to release from your life. It can be something like ~ Worry, regret, victimhood, lack, beliefs surrounding money, jealousy, etc.

Really take some time to discover what you'd like to let go of. It can be different for everyone.

Now here's where I learned something new that made a profound difference in how I handled the ceremony this time.

Don't just write down on paper what is holding you back. I want you to take the time to think about how those things served you, or what you learned from it.

These things and energy came into your life because you needed to learn something from them. You invited them in, manifested them into your life. Recognize how they served you and appreciate that.

For example, for me a big one to let go of was victimhood. As ready as I was to let go of that, I took some time to thing about how being the vitcim served me. I appreciated it, because it did serve me, when I needed it, and I did learn from it.

However, it doesn't serve the person I am anymore. So I released it back to the Universe.

Write all of these down. Take as much quiet time as you need.

Then go to your fire, and drop the paper into it. As it burns up really let go of it. Thank those energies and know you are being washed clean of it. Stay and meditate on it as long as you'd like. It really is a purifying experience.

When done, grab another piece of paper. Again, sit quietly and think about what you would like to manifest into your life this year. Now, I know usually the first thing that comes to mind is material things such as money, a bigger house, a leaner body, etc.

But you know what? You're more powerful of a being than that. Really dig deep. If you're into it, ask your higher power, whatever that may look like to you, and ask to be given those answers.

What would it take from you to create the truly abundant life you are looking for?

Here's a few of what came to me: Creativity, Pure Love, Joy, Abundant thinking.

These are qualitites that I believe I am to manifest this year.

I've got big things on my plate that I'm looking to create this year and I do know I'll need all of those to manifest what I'm looking to do.

So write all of those down. Place it in an envelope. Now, you can either give it to a friend or a family member to mail back to you in six months, or just hang on to it. Hang it somewhere, so you can see it through the year. This way you can be reminded that you are looking to bring some amazing qualities into your life.

The final step. Within the following 24 hours of you releasing, I want you to tithe to the organization of your choice. It is important that the flow of energy continue to moves, so find an organization that you love whether it's your church, the humane society, salvation army, whatever, find what feeds your soul and tithe to it. This is hugely important as it's recognition that energy moves through us, as we give, we receive.

And that's it! Simple yet powerful steps to releasing and accepting. I've done this ceremony with friends, and with my four and six year old. My kids LOVE doing this ceremony, even as young as they are.

Let me know your thoughts with this. I'd love for you to give it a go, and get back to me on it.

In the meantime, Happy New Year!!

Namaste',
Jhanna

Holiday Sprinkles

2009-12-25T11:47:00.000-08:00

Well, my friends, here we are. And, as John Lennon wrote, 'And so this is Christmas, and what have you done?'

Last night at a candlelight service with my Unity Church, I really got to ponder that question. My hopes for what I've done is, been able to spead a little love and joy on this space of ours.

I hope that I've been able to help you move forward in your opportunity, to see what a great treaure you have in your hands, and to share it with others.

Most importantly, I hope that I, in some small way, have been able to help you see some things from a different perspective, and to have presented it with love to you.

You are important. Without you, something wonderful would be missing from this world. I'm so full of joy to be on this journey together with you.

How blessed and grateful I am that we've crossed paths. Let's continue together, shall we?

Namaste'~

Jhanna

A Holiday Gift for You.

2009-12-19T19:04:00.000-08:00

I wanted to give you something for the holidays that really has value. No strings attached, except heartstrings.

I don't even remember how I stumbled upon this little treasure chest of fre.e e-books, but DANG, I'm glad I did. It has got most of the classics on here, and also includes the works of the mentors of those classic authors.

That is just in what is considered the 'new thought' section. Now, 'new thought' on this site is considered thought on ideas about your thoughts create things, attraction thinking, and how your thoughts create your reality. Some of these date back to the early 1900s, so I guess 'new thought' is a relative term.

Anyhoo, here's the site....

http://www.sacred-texts.com/nth/index.htm

Then look to the left and take a peek at all the different subjects on this site. It really is a treasure trove of different world philosophies, and ideas.

Be brave and check out something outside your normal scope of thought. You never know what you may stumble on that might change your life.

Namaste', friends......

Jhanna

Are You Using This Tool Every Time You Take Action?

2009-12-13T19:00:00.000-08:00

This may be a simple concept but I want you to take some time and really think about it, apply it to your current and possible future choices. You can even apply it to past choices and see how it's affected your life up until now.

So here's the story:

I approached my son the other day riiiiiggghhhhttt when he was about to punch his sister in the arm. He is six and she is four, and they have the typical loving sibling relationship.

Seems she 'started it' by pushing him or saying something or looking at him wrong, and he felt the urge to retaliate by slugging her in the arm.

I stopped him mid-punch, pulled him aside and said, 'Ok, boy, here's the deal. you're probably not gonna get the concept this first time around but I'm gonna keep telling it to you until it sinks in. For every choice, every decision in life you make, there is a benefit to reap and a cost to be paid.

So let's work this punching your sister in the arm thing out. On the benefit side, it will make you feel better and vindicated immediately. You'll get some frustration out, and get to be the 'victim' because she did something to you first.'

He just stared at me. I continued...

'The cost of doing this is, your sister will come tell me about it, and you'll end up getting busted and sent to your room, after apologizing to your sister of course, and then the long talk will come. Plus you'll be teaching her how to punch and, eventually, she'll have a better punch than you.'

Taking a look at both the benefits and costs of punching your sister in the arm, are you still finding it something you want to do? We could take a look at the benefits and costs of not punching your sister.'

I was ready to go on that end of the argument as well, but as six year old boys commonly do, my son had already forgotten about the incident.

'Can I go play outside?' Sure. Go for it.

Now, while I hope to think that the lesson had sunk in to grasshopper, I kind of looked at is as more of a reminder to me in regards to some choices I've been making, and need to make.

Let me ask you...

Are you procrastinating in your business? Surely, there are benefits to that. You get more time to watch tv and veg out after a long day at your j-o-b. Costs? Absolutely there are costs. I don't need to remind you, you know what they are.

You can also look at it this way. I discovered this way decision making, by the way, from a book written by Suzy Welch called 10-10-10.

It basically goes over the concept of the benefits and costs, but does it in a general timeline.

For example:

1. The first 10, or the 'now', meaning today, or this week, or this month.

2. The second 10. This refers to the near future. The foreseeable future, where the decision has been acted upon, but the consequences are still being played out. You can predict a general outcome with the benefits and costs.

3. The third 10. This refers to a time in the future that is vague. It can be 10 years. But you can speculate on the long term affects of your decision.

It's quick and easy to do, both of those exercises to benefits and costs, but can really show you how your decisions today, can affect you both immediately and in the future.

If you're up for it, let's have someone give an example and we'll discect it.

Namaste'

Jhanna

How to Use the 'F' Word to Make Money

2009-12-10T19:00:00.000-08:00

We've covered this, right? NO?! Well, certainly you've been taught this timeless tip, right? NO?!

Oh, dear. Ok.

How many of you hear objections as to why someone doesn't find your opportunity appealing?

Here's a few common objections:

I don't have time
I don't have the money to get started
I don't have any experience
I don't...I can't....I'm not...

And so on.

And, they really might be good points the prospect brings up. But most of the time, the objections are really based on....get ready for this revalation.....fear. Yes, my friends, the old fear of failure...rejection rears its ugly head yet once again.

However, there is a way to let the prospect know, 'hey, it's ok to have those objections. Heck, even I felt that way.' See where I'm leading with this?

So here's an example of how to help the prospect overcome their own objections. Remember, we're not looking to convince or hard sell the prospects. We want them to come to their own conclusions without the wall of fear overcoming them.

Here's how it would go...

'Well, it sounds interesting, but I just don't have the time to get involved in that.'

'Mr. Prospect, I totally understand how you feel. When I first looked at this I felt the same way. I was over worked and underpaid. I have two kids into sports, plus I wanted time for myself. But here's what I found....'

Feel. Felt. Found.

I know how you FEEL.
I FELT the same way.
Here's what I FOUND.

It helps the prospect to understand they aren't alone in what they are feeling and there are solutions to their objections.

It brings a certain level of comfort to the situation, which allows the prospect to be able to step out of their comfort zone while still feeling a bit of safety.

Now, let me tell you. This wording can be used in tons of different situations in life, not just MLM prospecting. Give it a go and let me know your results!

Namaste'
Jhanna

Finishing your Elevator Pitch

2009-12-08T19:00:00.000-08:00

Last post, I introduced you to the first two components of creating an effective elevator pitch, or your 30 second commercial.

An effective pitch is looking to create a response from the person your telling it to. What is the desired response? When they say, 'tell me more'.

So with the two components, of 1) pushing the pain button and 2) pushing the pleasure button, together we are pushing the Intrigue button.

Here's the last few steps of the elevator pitch you need to have at the ready.

1. Push the Intrigue button. Does it compel the listener to want to know more? You want the first two components to bring the listener to this button themselves. What do you want to hear from them?

"How do you do that?"

Or

"Tell me more."

Yay.

It's here that I introduce my business.

"With (insert your company here) I give them (or help them or teach them)......."

And then insert one to three relevant points as to what you do. Then finish it...

"so they can continue to......" (create an income from home, be home with their children, etc)

Getting it? Great.

You might also, at this point, bring in a few points that sets you and your opportunity stand out from anything else they might hear. Make yourself stand out.

For example, "Most opportunities just help people this way. What is unique about our business is....

Then, quickly, give them a short success story. It can be your success story or, if you don't have one yet, borrow another one from one of the many distributors in your successline or team. There are countless examples of how your opportunity became someone's success story, right?

We're almost done.

The last button is the call to action button. But it's not specifically asking them if they are interested. We're going to get them working for you whether they sign up with your or not. This is the ultimate networking step.

Ready? Here's the last step.

2 Push the 'help a friend' button. You actually are not going to ask them, 'does this interest you?' That question puts people on the spot and uncomfortable. We're going to give them the opportunity to join, don't get me wrong, but we're going in the back door to do that.

Here's the question....

'Do you know anyone who would like to be home with their children while at the same time creating an income?'

(or whatever you've decided your niche market is)
This gets them out of the spotlight and puts them in the position of being able to help you out. People in general really want to help others out and you've just given them an opportunity to do so.

Now, this person will either be thinking of people they might know that your opportunity can benefit, OR they may be thinking, 'I know who you can help....ME.'

This process is really a passive way to get your information out there without being one of 'those' network marketers we all dread coming across.

Write your pitch out. Practice it with friends and family. I've actually practiced it with friends and have had them become interested in the business. Teach it to your team, and watch the positive results roll in!

So have you got your pitch down?

Namaste'

Jhanna

Got Your Elevator Speech Down?

2009-12-06T19:07:00.000-08:00

So do you? No? Not even sure what it is?

Let me ask you this. When someone asks, 'what do you do?' How do you answer? Uhhh, errr....Hmmm?

For a long time, I just answered, 'I'm a stay at home mom.' Can you just imagine how much that moved my business forward? Ya. Not at all.

But it can be confusing on how to tell people. Many times, people have misconceptions of MLM, so if we say, 'I'm with so and so, an MLM company.', it turns people off immediately.

We've got approximately 30 seconds to get our idea across. Here are some steps on how to build YOUR pitch.

1. Start with an 'enrolling' question. Get the listener engaged. It can also be called the 'pain' button, or pushing the pain button. It speaks specifically to a problem my opportunity solves and to whom.

Here's mine geared towards working moms:

"There are so many working women who ache to be home with their chilren, but desparately need the 2nd income. You know what I mean?"

Suddenly, more than likely, they can relate. In fact, many times they'll say, 'I can totally relate.'

By asking the last question back to them, I'm keeping them engaged. I'm looking for a response.

2. Push the Pleasure Button. This is your solution and the benefits of your solution. This is NOT where you go upchucking your compensation plan. Save it for later, after you've developed a relationship.

Here's mine:

"I give these women the opportunity to do just that by offering up a vehicle and the one on one coaching and training needed to succeed so they can create a flexible and rewarding career from home."

That's IT. Two small steps. With those two small steps, I'm hoping for the listener to ask the next few questions.

Stay with me, and in a few days, I'll present those next few steps.

In the meantime, how are you doing with your elevator speech?

To Jim Rohn

2009-12-05T17:18:00.000-08:00

If you've been involved in network marketing for any good amount of time, you've heard his name. If you could see my library, you'd see loads of his books and recordings on the shelves, and on my nightstand.

Today, one of the great gurus has passed on to the next adventure.

Take some time to learn about Jim Rohn's contributions. Then go out, or get online and scoop of some of his great teachings.

http://www.tribute.jimrohn.com/

Great luck to you, Jim. We'll see you on the other side.

Namaste'

Jhanna

How's Your Year Going?

2009-12-05T07:00:00.000-08:00

Ya, I know. You probably thought, 'what does it matter at this point?'

Well, thing is, I'm not talking about 2009. I'm talking about 2010.

I'm sure a lot of bloggers are talking about 2010 right now, as they should be.

Maybe, with all the talk of getting 2010 in order now, people will get it.

Did you know that the beginning of the year is when most people start their search for a home based business?

The holidays are over, and people are having to get back to their job. The job they can't stand, the one that takes up ALL of their time and thoughts, and doesn't pay squat.

That first month back, they are thinking long and hard and wanting a solution.

So are you gonna be that solution? Do you have your elevator speech primed and ready to go when someone asks, 'so what is it you do?'

Are you geared up to hit the networking meetings? Referral groups? No?

Time to get on it my friends. If you are, I'd love to hear your plans..let's get brainstorming for an abundant 2010!

Boy Scout Motto: Be Prepared. Are You?

2009-11-23T06:00:00.000-08:00

I'm borrowing the Boy Scout Motto, Be Prepared, and I'm applying it to Network Marketing for this post.

Now, the reason I'm borrowing it, aside from the fact that it can be applied all the time, is because lately I've been coming across prospects that might want a few tips on being prepared when they are thinking of joining a network marketing company.

So here they are in no particular order.

Be Prepared to:

1. Invest in the larger starter kit. Some companies only have one start up option, but most offer different sized kits for all budgets. Honestly, go with the bigger kit. What other industry can you start up your own business for under $500? Even if the package is $1500 (most are less), there isn't a franchise that you can start for that little.

Remember, it's not just the package you are getting, it's the training, coaching, forms, back office, and more.

So, ok, the first objection I hear when I suggest the larger package is, 'well, if I had the money, I'd do it. But I don't.'

To which I answer, 'then find the money'. Have a garage sale. More than likely there is enough stuff in your house, garage, storage locker, and so on that if you put it on craigs list or held a garage sale you'd make more than enough to purchase the larger kit.

Do odd jobs, borrow it, figure it out. Just don't give excuses. Invest in business, not the excuse, and get the larger package.

2. Be Coachable. I can't tell you how many times while coaching I give suggestions, recommendations, and such, and immediately hear, 'that's a good idea, but I do it this way because (insert feeble excuse here).'

Listen, I don't know how to break this to you, but you don't know it all. Now, don't get defensive about that statement. Once you realize you don't know it all, then you get to have the fun of learning new things. You start to see that there is a ton of great stuff to learn!

What you know has gotten you this far. In order to go further, you're gonna have to learn, grow, stretch, think, and so on.

Be open to coaching. Be open to listening. Be open to trying new ideas, concepts, training and so on.

Here's a perfect example. My mentor has been in this industry for years. I mean, years. Just recently, a few of us and my mentor took a tele-seminar together in regards to a certain aspect of our industry. She took the approach of a brand new student of the industry.

It was really cool to hear her willingness to accept that she didn't know much about that particular topic, and to. When was the last time someone asked you a question and you honestly said, 'I don't know.'

Wake up each and every day and be a new student to this industry. You'll be shocked at what there is to learn.

3. Invest in Your Self & Your Business. This sort of goes hand in hand with purchasing the biggest starter kit possible. It's a business, folks. Not only are there the necessities such as business cards, a phone plan, order forms, catalogs, samples, and other business supplies, there are expenses such as books, product, training cds, training seminars, and other tools to help propel you in your business.

It can't be stressed enough, your business only grows as fast as you do. I have yet to meet a leader in this industry or any other that hasn't stated that it's imperative to read, read, read, take seminars, listen to CDs, and so on. Support your business by supporting yourself.

4. Put your big girl/big boy panties on. The beauty of this industry is, how you handle your business is your business. The reason most people fail in this industry is because, how you handle your business is your business.

It's a double edged sword, and if you don't grow up, be accountable for your actions, and learn to be pro-active, well guess what? More than likely you'll join the statistic of those who drop out of their companies and network marketing completely within the first 90 days.

You can have a blast in this industry, but it does require you to grow up with your attitude and professionalism.

5. Spend Time on Your Business. Yes, I know the thought of coming home from a long day or long week and then working on your business just makes your head want to explode. I get it. I really do.

But listen, don't get off work, go home, and sit your butt in front of the idiot box, and then wonder why your business isn't taking off. I understand the whole 'needing to decompress' idea, but you can decompress for a few hours each night now or, if you work your business instead of zoning out to one of the reality shows, you can decompress for the rest of your life later on.

I know someone who spent $1400 on a kit for a company and he never took all the stuff out of the box. It just sat in the corner of the room like the ugly step-child. Then he berated himself for purchasing the kit, blamed the company for this and that, and this was all while he played Farkle on facebook. Suprisingly, he never made a dime in the business and is still broke. Go figure.

If you aren't willing to work on your business, then just don't bother.

6. Work with your sponsor, but don't abuse their time. I LOVE working with my team. I love brainstorming, supporting, and developing relationships with my team. And I love my upline. When I started I had loads of questions and ideas I wanted to bounce off them.

They are there to help guide you, point you in the right direction, support you and suprisingly, learn from you as well. But do respect their time.

Ok! I think that's it (to start, anyway :o) ). This isn't to dissuade anyone from joining. Then again, maybe it is. If you aren't ready to Be Prepared, perhaps you might want to consider just chillin' at your day j-o-b for a while longer.

We do hope you will join us at some point and see what all the excitement is about.

At that point, come on in....the water is fine.

Namaste',

Jhanna

Less Talk, More Walk. (not what you think!)

2009-11-22T04:33:00.000-08:00

I love the way life presents lessons to us almost continuously. How these lessons don't actually appear as lessons at first, but eventually, hopefully we get it.

A recent example of this is, I strained my back a while ago while running. First time ever in my years of running. So yesterday it was really bugging me, was tight, and nothing I did would loosen it up.

Aside from my mentoring and coaching business, I also am a certified indoor cycling instructor. I teach at a few gyms around town. It gives me a workout and I know I'm delivering a challenging workout to those who attend my classes.

Tuesday, I had volunteered to teach a class for someone who was unable to teach her scheduled time. I especially love to sub classes because it shakes up the athletes routine.

However, with my my back being so tight and sore, I didn't think me actually being on the bike going through the routine with the class was the best idea for my back.

But I still wanted to deliver the workout, so I decided to stay off the bike during the workout and just give instruction.

For an hour, I instructed the athletes to gear up on resistance, gear down, stand up, go faster, sit down, push harder, slow down and climb, and so on.

I was able to walk around the room, help with pedalstroke, body postures, and really coach them.

At the same time I realized because I wasn't ON the bike doing the workout, it just wasn't quite as much fun. I didn't feel quite as much part of the team, because I wasn't doing the workout.

Along with that, I love take other instructors spin classes. As I mentioned before, it shakes up my routine.

All of this to remind me of my business (you knew I'd come around to it eventually, right?)

I know of many mentors who have done the business, but aren't doing the business. They tell others how to do it, how it's done, and how they did it in the past.

For me, anyway, doing it and working with people is the best of both worlds.

Network marketing, MLM, direct sales, whatever you want to call it. It's a fun business! Many might disagree with me, but I'm having a blast. I continue to learn from others, and get to help teach others while working my own business.

I mean, just recently I learned how to create a great home party experience. Six months ago, I wouldn't have had the first idea what to tell people if asked about parties. Because I'm actually working my business just as you are, I get to continue to grow and learn.

We're all in it together folks, and that makes it even better. I know I'm glad to have you along, and I hope you don't mind me being along on your journey as well.

Namaste'

Jhanna

I'm Here to Get Validated

2009-11-20T01:00:00.000-08:00

A friend turned me on to this video.

PLEASE watch it. LEARN from. TEACH others how amazing you are and how amazing they are.

Enjoy.

The Moral of the Story

2009-11-18T01:00:00.000-08:00

Last post, I wrote down a story I had heard years ago about a man, a dog, and a very long trip for the dog.

I then asked my readers if they knew the moral of this story.

Here it is:

Even though all of those rabbits looked extremely tempting to chase, offered reward after reward, and presented a new challenge each time, all it ended up doing was nearly kill the dog.

The dog, time and time again, became more tired, more bruised and, eventually, in the end gained nothing.

The same can be said for those who have a goal in mind and allow 'chasing rabbits' to distract them from their ultimate goal.

If you are in a networking company, and suddenly there is a new opportunity being flashed in front of your eyes that will 'earn you bajillions with one email', or a different opportunity that promises you a 'better and easier compensation plan with a product that sells itself', it can distract you terribly from your main goal.

As has been said, 'keep the main thing, the main thing.'

Eventually that dog did get to town, and I'm guessing that eventually in the quest for your goal, you will get to it. But if you continue to allow yourself to be distracted by shiny object after shiny object, more than likely, it will take you much longer, and burn you out of energy and money before you get there.

So you can do what the man did, get on the road, enjoy the ride and get to your goal in time to enjoy yourself and relax, OR you can do like the dog and get distracted, and possibly take much, much longer than the average person to hit that goal.

So what's it gonna be?

How Many Rabbits

2009-11-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

There's a story that goes like this...

A man needed to go to town. He lived way out in the country, and it was going to take a bit to get into town on those dirt roads, so he started out early. He packed up his dog into the back of the truck and off they went.

As they drove down the dirt roads, the dog spotted a rabbit and took off after it. The man had seen the dog do this in the past, so wasn't worried. The dog always came back.

A while later, the dog caught up to the truck and jumped into the bed of the truck just a bit tired, and a bit beat up. He'd run through brambles, crops, and such, but just as the man knew, the dog was fine.

As they cruised down the dirt road, the dog saw another rabbit and took off again. This time the dog was gone for longer. Eventually, as always the dog came back to the truck and jumped in the back. Worn out, and with some cuts and scratches, but generally ok.

As the day went on, this happened again and again, with the dog spotting a rabbit, taking off, and eventually returning back to the truck.

The last time it happened, the man didn't see the dog for a while. He pulled into town, parked his truck, got out, and headed to the general store. When done, he put the items in his truck and looked around for his dog. No sign of it.

So he stopped to talk with his friends, had some dinner and relaxed. As he and his friends walked out to his truck to say goodbye, the man noticed the dog limping into town. There were small tufts of fur was missing, and cuts and scratches all over.

The man went to the truck, pulled out some water and poured it into a bowl for his dog, which was panting heavily.

His friends were wide eyed at the sight of the dog. 'What happened? Where has your dog BEEN? What took him so long to get here?', they asked.

'Oh,' the man answered calmly, as the dog climbed into the bed of the truck and collapsed in exhuastion, 'he's fine, he'd have been here hours ago and not so beaten up, but he was busy chasing rabbits.'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ok, anyone get what is the moral of the story? I'll give you a few days to answer, then we'll come back to it next post.

In the meantime, have a fantastic start of the week!

Who is Really Saying No?

2009-11-13T20:00:00.000-08:00

In this industry we hear all sorts of 'no' answers.

'No, I'm not interested' being the most common answer. And honestly, it's something we learn how to handle if we're in this industry for any certain amount of time. It takes a while to learn how to handle it, and really sets up apart the long term winners from the short time faint of heart.

It's part of the growth process that is required to succeed in this business. It teaches us to not take things personally. A 'no' doesn't have anything to do with us.

But the one 'no' that I'd like to address today is the 'no' we tell ourselves.

As with other things in our lives and, until we learn how to 'undo' the beliefs surrounding it, we have a tendency to protect ourselves from hearing the word 'no'.

One of the ways is to prevent ourselves from being in situations where we might hear the word no. Not talking with people and not presenting our opportunity to people is certainly one way.

But one of the more hidden ways of protecting ourselves, is telling ourselves no.

And here's what I mean by that. One of the biggest 'quiet' habits that network marketers develop is pre-qualifying prospects.

Meaning, we look at people or talk with people, and we make the decision as to whether we are going to present our opportunity to them.

WE are the one's saying 'no'. We look at who we come across and we pre-qualify them. Wanna hear some examples of how we tell ourselves no?

We tell ourselves:

- They are too busy, they wouldn't be interested.
- They are already too successful, they wouldn't be interested.
- They already tried it and it didn't work, they wouldn't be interested.
- They are broke, the couldn't afford to start up, they wouldn't be interested.

Do any of these sound familiar? We've already pre-qualified them and counted them out. Instead of allowing them that decision, WE'VE told ourselves 'no', without giving them the opportunity to look into what we've got.

Here's a secret. All of those 'types' of people up there? They are usually the BEST people to have look into the business. Have someone in your life who posseses a few or all of those qualifications above? Good God almighty, you've got a heavy hitter in your midst!! RUN to them. Look at them and say, 'if I give you this dvd, would you watch it?' and thrust that opportunity dvd into their hands.

They will thank you later, because these people are tired, broke, and sick of trading their life working for someone else.

So, instead of telling yourself 'no', give people the chance to make that decision for themselves.

With that being said, I want you to re-examine the people that you have already come across that perhaps you told yourself 'they won't be interested because....'. Connect again with them. Stop being selfish about your opportunity. Stop picking out only the ones that you think would do well. Stop telling yourself no.

Namaste'

Jhanna

What Does it Take & What's the Difference?

2009-11-11T19:00:00.000-08:00

Lots of times I'll peruse through MLM blog posts, and for the most part I'll think, 'ok, ya, I get that. People need to be reminded of that. Good stuff. Movin' on.'

But in one day, I read two really good articles on MLM that, I think, are two articles that should be presented to everyone looking at the industry for the first time, or for the second, third, or fourth time for that matter.

I dunno, perhaps I look at my business too much as a 'business'. I've seen people stumble happily into MLM and be wildly successful.

Perhaps I analyze it too much. Then again, perhaps not. Perhaps others don't analyze it enough. Perhaps there would be a higher retention rate in this industry if we presented these two articles to prospects instead of the fluff that is floating around.

The first one is by my mentor, friend, and upline, Jackie Ulmer. Jackie is amazing. The thoughts she presents, the questions she asks, and her insights are thought provoking. I mean they actually get one to think, and offer fantastic solutions. What a concept. No wonder she has created a huge business and a wildly successful career in this industry.

The blogpost asks, 'are you mentally prepared to succeed in this business?'

Here's the link:

Mentally Prepared to Succeed?

So ARE you mentally prepared?

The next one is from industry giant, Dough Firebaugh. What a powerhouse. Even the domain name is powerful. Passionfire.

The article asks,

What is MLM and Network Marketing REALLY

Read it carefully, digest it, then apply it to your business.

Both of these articles are simply brilliant. They approach the business as a business, and yet, recognize that this industry asks so much of us. But in a good way. In a way that insists we grow.

I have yet to work for a company that was willing to invest in me as much as I'm willing to invest in me.

Now there are people who think they want to invest in themselves, and those are usually the ones who leave in the ninety day, because the thought of actually being in control of their lives freaks them out.

Then there are the ones that take the suggestions in the articles to heart, apply them to their lives and businesses, and skyrocket to the top.

So which one are you?

Namaste'

Jhanna

What Christianity is Learning From Network Marketing, Or is it the Other Way Around?

2009-11-09T19:00:00.000-08:00

I was listening to NPR last night, and there was a conversation between Ira Glass and evangelical, Jim Henderson.

Now, Jim Henderson is an evangelical Christian who is trying to get the message across to Christians that going up to someone and barfing 'their' truth about Christianity and then expecting that person to convert to Christianity just isn't working.

In fact, it's turning people away. In fact, they are running away. Fast.

Most of us probably have a story or two about someone attempting to save us. The person or persons are so excited about their religion, that they give us their reasons why we ought to convert, and then look at us, puzzled, as to why we aren't rushing to their church to dive in head first.

They give us pamplets, and booklets, and bring others over to talk with us. And still, they are confused as to why we are slamming doors shut, or just pretending we aren't home.

Boy. That sounds familiar, don'tcha think? Wish I could put my finger on it.

Jim Henderson claims 'what if what we know as evangelism is a far too narrow and un-doable approach to evangelism?'

'What if evangelism meant just being yourself, and not about converting?'

Mr. Henderson go on to say that by just going about every day life, getting to know people, it eventually will lead to the ultimate questions that opens the big door. F.O.R.M. questions.

*GASP*

Stop the press. Wait a minute. This sounds AWFULLY familiar.....

Let's Recap Mr. Henderson's idea:

1. Stop trying to 'convert'.

2. Be yourself.

3. Develop Relationships which lead to....

4. Questions about Family, Occupation, Recreation and, ultimately, the Message.

WOAH.

MAN, this sounds familiar.

Someone ought to tell network marketers about this.

Anyhoo, so the basis of his message was this:

When people become friends, it changes the rules.

Boy Howdy. I'm gonna write it down again, because it is THE basis to all social relationships, media, connections, and so on. It's WHY social networking is monumentally important.

When people become friends, it changes the rules.

There are 'unwritten' rules that change when you become friends with someone. Giving a stranger literature about your opportunity usually isn't received very openly. Giving a friend literature about your opportunity is more readily accepted.

Trust has been developed. The rules were changed when you developed some sort of relationship with that person.

Now they are more open and receptive to your message.

Here's the key, though. Don't make the relationship based only upon you getting the message to them.

Because if you do, you'll lose the relationship and all the possibilities that go along with it. And there are a shitload of possibilities that can go along with it, but that's another post that I'll save for later.

So, take a tip from Christianity when it comes to prospecting. Become a friend. Get to know the person, allow the walls to come down and the rules will change.

Namaste'

Questions That Lead to Thinking....

2009-11-07T19:00:00.000-08:00

One of the important aspects of talking with people is to lead them to your opportunity. Don't read that as PUSH them or CONVINCE them. Lead them.

You're not showing them your opportunity is the best, you're giving them the space to do that on their own.

Now, just to preface, these questions are asked after you've talked with the person, and perhaps used the F.O.R.M questions to learn more about them.

I personally like to get someone thinking and, best of all, dreaming.

So two questions I start with that really help me connect with the person:

1. What led you to look for a home based business at this time?

Clearly, something is going on in their lives that has them thinking that there must be a better way to create a lifestyle that they see others living, without sacrificing their firstborn.

Either they are burned out, have been let go from their current job, their hearts ache when they drop their child off at the daycare, are starting over after some life crippling issue, and so on.

We all had our reasons, and continue to have our reasons as to why we do what we do. The question of 'what led you to look for something now?' will give you great insight as to why their back is against that 'wall' that I mentioned in a previous post.

More than likely they will have an answer that you will be able to relate to, you will understand, and the connection can begin.

2. What would your life look like if you created a large business in our industry?

I want to know this person's dreams. In fact, by asking this question it's quite possible that I have given that person permission to dream again.

Most people have become so stuck in day to day surviving that they have put their dreams on the back burner, or have shut them down completely because it hurts too much to think about it. I certainly know I did.

Our spirits yearn to live our dreams, and our hearts ache when we think of a dream we've always wanted but haven't attained.

Take the time and care enough to ask this question. And then handle the answer with great care.

You're dealing with something very near and dear to this person, so don't blow it by butting in and saying, 'Well, with MY opportunity..blah, blah, blah' and then barf your enitre compensation plan onto them.

Once you've opened the door to how their lives may change, you can ask follow up questions about those dreams.

By just asking these two questions, you are able to get them thinking, heavily, about you and what you have to offer. These two powerful questions that can lead to an amazing conversation which can easily flow from there.

Most of all, enjoy the answers! It's amazing what you can learn about a person by asking a few key questions. You may discover you have a lot in common, or learn something new. But ya gotta ask the questions in order to find out!

Namaste'

Put Yer Head Down!

2009-11-04T19:00:00.000-08:00

As mentioned before, I've been competing in sports for over half my life. While I haven't won any Olympic medals with my speed, I have been able to push my body and mind to its limits in regards to discipline and endurance.

One of my favorite sports is trail running. It gets me out off the road, which is the worst thing I can imagine doing, and gets me connected to the beauty that surrounds me in the eastern Sierra Nevadas.

Incredible endurance runs such as the Western States 100 Miler, and the American River 50 Miler are classics in this area.

My first and all time favorite ultra trail run is Cool Canyon 50K. True, it's only a 50K, but where it takes the runners is both pure beauty and pure hell. The ascents, descents, stream crossings, and more provide an unprecedented experience for the first and old timers alike.

Only 500 runners race it each year.

As a first timer, I was excited and nervous. I had never run more than a marathon, which I hated, and vowed to never do again unless it was off road, so the thought of running more than 26.2 miles was a challenge just to think about it.

But as the hours and miles went by, I kept chugging along. Making sure I took in my fluids and food, I kept chugging along. I put my head down and eventually lost track of time and distance and just fell into the experience.

At one point, I guesstimated that I had approximately 15 miles left. I was starting to become concerned at that point. I was growing tired, my legs were pounding, and running through the ice cold, thigh deep streams felt good on my hot feet.

When I came upon an aid station, I stopped to re-fill my water bottle and asked the volunteer, 'how much further?'

Imagine my suprise and relief when the volunteer said, 'About three miles. You'll hit the dirt road right up there and then you just run it home.'

I had become so lost in the experience itself that I had covered more ground than I imagined. It gave me renewed strength to know I was only three miles from completing my goal. Completing something I had been training so hard for, for months by just putting my head down and being in the experience and the now made all the difference in the world.

If I had been checking off mile after mile and checking my time constantly I can almost guarantee that it would have been a miserable race. In fact, the following year, I did just that and it WAS a miserable race.

It's the same with network marketing. Just fall into it. Enjoy the experience. Put your head down and be in them moment. Work on it daily. Do things that scare and excite you, and push yourself when you're tired, and ready to stop.

If you do that, at some point you're going to look up and be astonished at how far you've come, and the distance you've covered. The accomplishment will be overwhelming, and the best thing will be that you enjoyed the journey...

Namaste'

Think You've Got Skills?

2009-11-02T19:30:00.000-08:00

The other day I went to get my vehicle serviced. Ya, I could do it myself, but I prefer to have everything checked over, tires rotated, and it frees up my valuable time to take care of other business.

There are several places I can go in my immediate vacinity in order to get this job done. There are some really quick ones, that are production line oriented, and others that will go over everything with a fine tooth come, practically. So there is lots of competition for my business.

That means, lots of coupons in the mail, lots of 'extra' services, and so on.

I choose to go to one specifically. They don't offer coupons usually, and they aren't the cheapest, nor the fastest. They are, however, superior when it comes to their customer service, and that makes the biggest difference, for me, as to where I spend my dollars.

Even though I only come in once every three months or so, they recognize my vehicle, know my name, have a courtesy shuttle if I need it, have a waiting room with kids toys in the corner. That one is a big plus seeing I have a very impatient four and six year old.

They know the history of my vehicle, the employees are clean and courteous. And they don't try to scam me with, 'well, you have this wrong, and this wrong, and for this amount and this much time we can fix it and you can be safe on the road'. (Side note here: fear based sales tactics suck. Don't do it.)

I can go and get my vehicle serviced elsewhere for less, but for me the experience involving good customer service is important enough that I will take it to this service facility every time. They are worth it.

I know, like, and trust them with these needs.

Read that line again, because it will make the difference as to whether your customers go to you or someone else to purchase product (your immediate income source) or to sign up (longer and passive income source).

With almost every company in network marketing, there is competition of some sort. Whether it's another nutritional company, another juice, or another candle. There is competition for the product, and the prospect.

So what makes the difference? You do.

The experience is just as important as the product itself, and people are willing to pay more for one product even though it is almost identical to another because of the 'good feeling' they receive through quality customer service.

You are responsible for that experience. So ask yourself: Do you follow up on your sales? Do you send thank you's or holiday wishes to your customer base? Do you know your customers? Do you make product suggestions to your customers to make their lives a little easier? If not, why not?

In this day and age where customers can go anywhere to get our products, you want to be the one rep that stands head and shoulders above the rest.

I encourage you to check out some books on good customer service. One of my favorite customer service and sales training authors is Jeffrey Gitomer. Many of his books can be found at your local library.

The difference between poor and excellent customer service can mean the difference between thousands in your pocket or thousands in your competitor's pocket. So get on it and create that positive experience!

Namaste'

Saying Goodbye...

2009-10-29T19:00:00.000-07:00

We all know who and what I'm talking about. If not, you will after a while in your network marketing business.
I'm talking about the people you signed up and you knew were gonna be winners in the game. They had success written all over them, and they signed with YOU.

So you have these team partners rockin' and rollin' and doing everything right. They are makin' some money, listening to the calls, open to coaching and all the good stuff.

Suddenly, one day, without so much as a, 'I think I'm having a little trouble here', they have packed up, called corporate to cancel their distributorship, and they are gone. Most of the time they email you a brief note, but nothing too much.

I know about this kind of person because I've been one. I did almost exactly as I described above. And when I left, I only contacted my upline and let her know.

She was bummed. She knew I had it in me to make it big. I knew I had it in me to make it big. I just didn't know that it was with that company and opportunity. I was naive, though, to the work, consistency, and commitment that it took in order to make it big.

I'm not gonna make excuses to my thought process at that time. It was a dumb move, but we all live and learn.

Here's the thing. When I left, I had a few of my upline, who I had worked with in the past, just not respond to my abrupt action. My sponsor was upset and tried talking me out of it, which made me dig in my heels.

But, the leader in my upline, Jackie Ulmer, did something that stuck with me. She sent me a personal email, wished me luck, and invited me to get back with her at some point to let her know how I was doing.

I wasn't a dollar sign to her, I was a person. She had been in this business long enough to see people come and go and had learned to let go of them.

Jan Ruhe in her book MLM Nuts & Bolts says it blunty and plainly, 'bless them and let them go.'

So, today, I received an email from one of my team members. When she signed, she had specifically sought me out wanting to sign with me. We had spoken at some point earlier, and she was ready to go. 100% invested in the business, company, and her success.

Today, I got the email stating, she was over it, done, and was going to do her own thing. Ugh.

However, it provided the opportunity for me to take the positive experience I had been given from my upline, Jackie, and do the same.

I emailed my team partner back, wished her the absolute best and asked that she keep me posted about her new adventure.

You know, it actually felt good doing that. We all have different paths we are walking, not all of them with each other, and it feels good to wish them the best and for me to not take it personally.

Next time you have your favorite team partner break off from the pack, be sure to give them the support a true friend would give. I mean, isn't that what this business is about?

And just so you know, I came back to the same company I had left. When I did, I made sure that the first person I contacted was Jackie. Since then, we've strengthened our friendship and business partnership.

I probably would not have done that had she not emailed me and wished me well previously.

Keep it in mind, friends.

Namaste'

The Permission Game

2009-10-27T19:00:00.000-07:00

Time for playing small is over, folks. This world needs you. Now.

As Marianne Williamson said, 'Your playing small does not serve the world.'

The world needs the best of what you've got. Not the little crap. Not the insecure, doubtful, thinking small garbage that you've managed to get by on thus far.

How are you showing up in your life? Are you in the game 100%? No?

This industry and this world needs you to step up to the plate with everything you've got. No fear.

I know, it's easier said than done. It means, finally putting down your story and letting it go. You've already beaten it to death, using it for one excuse after another.

Your story of shame, blame, guilt, being the victim, and all the other things you've convinced yourself as to why you can't step up and be the leader you were meant to be.

I want to let you in on a little secret that I've learned. It's a neat trick, and I want you to try it today. Because once you learn this, and observe the results, you'll want to do nothing else than step out of your comfort zone.

While at a workshop a few years back with Klemmer & Associates , we were told that when we step out of our comfort zone, when we perform actions, think and act on our biggest and boldest thoughts, we actually give people permission to do the same.

Read that sentence again, because it's important.

To realize that we can actually give others permission, just by our actions, and the strength to step out of their comfort zones by stepping out of our own we give ourselves permission to do more.

Our actions move like waves through the crowd. A person can see you walk through your fear and think, 'well, if he or she can do it...so can I.'

It's like the story of the one person who broke the five minute mile. Suddenly, numerous runners were breaking that goal. Someone needed to step up and give others permission. They needed to see it was possible.

It took just one person to do that. Be that one person.

Be that person on your team to show others that climbing up the compensation plan in a short amount of time can be done. Show people how to walk through fear, how to speak in front of crowds, how to get things done without hesitation.

Give them permission. Give yourself permission to do it. What are you waiting for?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure
It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous
talented and fabulous?
Actually – who are you not to be?
You are a child of God

Your playing small does not serve the world
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other
people won’t feel insecure around you
We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us

It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone
And as we let our own light shine we unconsciously give
other people the right to do the same
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

-Marianne Williamson
(Yes, it really was Ms. Williamson who wrote this, and not Nelson Mandela)

Namaste'

You'd Think the Universe is Trying to Tell Me Something?

2009-10-26T19:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I read two blog posts from two separate leaders in the Network Marketing industry, Tony Rush & Jonathan Budd.

I'm not going to try to paraphrase anything here, I'm just going to give you the links to the two posts I came across.

Here's Tony's:

Tony Rush Blog

Here's Jonathan's

Jonathan Budd Blog

I can't stress how important it is to read these if you aren't where you want to be in regards to anything in your life.

Is your business not where you hoped it would be? Read the blog posts. Not making the income you thought you'd be making? Read the blog posts.

Read the blog posts.

Did ya get that?

Back to Beliefs

2009-10-25T19:00:00.000-07:00

We've touched on how to find those hidden beliefs which tend to guide our lives, making choices for us when we think the conscious mind is the one in control.

But now that we have discovered them and have realize they no longer serve us, how do we go about changing them?

For years, we've allowed our 'stories' to support our beliefs. We've gone in circles. So with a belief like, 'rich people are greedy.', our brains have actually looked for proof to support that belief. We can then tell ourselves, 'See? Did you see how they behaved? Rich people ARE greedy.'

This supports the stories we've told ourselves.

Now that we're becoming aware of our gut feelings when we approach certain subjects (money, relationships, self-perception, etc), we can listen to the stories we have behind them, how we support our story, and then actually change our stories.

Instead of thinking, 'rich people are greedy', we can start saying, 'wealthy people are just like everyone else'. Then we can consciously start looking for examples to support our new 'story' or belief. Eventually, the belief is cemented, just like our old one, and we only find examples to support our belief.

With this example, our belief around money becomes a positive one, as opposed to a negative one. We stop subconsciously sabotaging our efforts to be prosperous because we now believe that we can be wealthy and good, giving people.

So how are you doing with this?

It now becomes a part of our subconscious.

Clues of Leadership

2009-10-22T19:00:00.000-07:00

I've been a triathlete for over 20 years. I've competed in all size races from ones in podunk towns using the local pond for the swim to the brilliance and fanfare of an Ironman.

When I started in triathlon, just as soon as I had finished competing I would catch my breath, gather all my gear, pack it in my vehicle and head home. For years I did this, and for years it was a pretty lonely adventure. It only fulfilled my needs.

As I continued to challenge myself physically and mentally, I began training with a higher caliber group of athletes. I aligned myself with athletes that were focused, commited, and ready to go the extra distance. I ran with a training group, swam with one of the best master's teams in the nation, and rode bikes with mostly men.

I continued to race. As the races got longer, and I started hanging out with the elite athletes, and worked for a company that supported many top triathletes, I started to really notice a difference in the behaviors of the top athletes and others.

The top athletes paid homage to their competitors, were great friends with each other, and felt no ill will towards any other competitor. In fact, they supported their efforts. It was truly the love of the sport that brought them all together.

When they raced, they raced against themselves and no one else. The challenge was to improve their performance.

But here was the biggest thing I noticed, especially at the Ironman races. The professional athletes would finish in about nine hours, on average.

They would do their interviews, then go back to their hotel room to clean up. But they didn't finish their day there. The top athletes would go back to the finish line, and stay there until EVERY last competitor came across that finish line.

Now, that sounds easy enough until you know that the last athlete usually crosses the line at just under or at 16 hours.

Imagine running yourself stupid for sixteen hours straight, being DFL (Dead F'in' Last), and finally crossing that finish line into the arms of the person who finished first. What a high.

The pros didn't support just their immediate group of competitors, the pros supported the entire community.

They remembered and honored where they had started, and how far they had come. They were truly in gratitude of each and everyone's journey to greatness. And showed it in the best way possible.

The professionals surely made their money by finishing first, but they helped to create a positive community and experience by supporting everyone around them, not just the ones who could keep up with them.

Get where I'm going with this?

Remember, as you move up the compensation plan in your MLM company, as you build your team, and reap those benefits, we can continually support those around us by giving a kudos, or pat on the back, or just a word of encouragement.

Leaders know this, and if you're wanting to become a leader, or on your way, you'll start putting this into practice today.

Namaste'

Finding the Belief....

2009-10-19T19:00:00.000-07:00

I'm going to preface this post with confessing that I'm not a Ph.D. in psychology, or know the inner workings of the human mind.

But I do understand how amazing our belief system can be, and here's a perfect example.

I was asked the other day to announce, quite publicly, a few of my more astounding goals for myself. I listed the first one, which was about financial prosperity. Now this goal is a pretty lofty goal. Well, now see, there is a perfect example. A pretty lofty goal by whose standards? Mine? Bill Gates? Warren Buffet?

I guess it's my goal, then it's my standards. I guess my standards have been pretty low, then.

But that's another post.

So as soon as I publicly announced this goal, my head immediately went into my doubts. I mean, immediately.

Suddenly, the 'ol brain was coming up with excuses as to why this goal can't be reached. I felt my chest tighten. I felt my breathing become shallow, and my mind start to go into overdrive trying to figure out how on earth I could ever reach that goal. What could I do that would get me to that goal??

I kept coming to a dead end, which allowed my story to confirm that it can't be done.

Woah, huh? I mean I stopped in my tracks as I actually started to notice these symptoms of someone else's beliefs. I mean, they certainly aren't MY beliefs! I desire abundance, I desire financial success. The logical mind knows this and accepts this. It's the subconscious mind, however, that is in control, more or less, when it comes to core beliefs.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has felt these reactions. In fact, I know I'm not.

But here's the difference between me and them, though. I was aware of the reactions my body was creating. My brain was creating. My belief system was in total command, and I was noticing it.

Listen, in order to change your beliefs it's imperative that you are aware. You must be present in your own life, your own body. Otherwise, someone else's beliefs are running your show. YOUR show. Got it?

Once these symptoms of someone else's beliefs come up, I can then start telling a different story. I can examine the core belief itself and say, 'ok, is this belief serving me?'

If it is, great. Hang on to it. If not, you can now start to replace that belief. But the main goal to start with is to just be aware of how your body responds to certain situations.

Here's a quick example. How does your body respond when you picture a pile of unpaid bills? Did you just roll your eyes, or let out a groan? Did your heartrate pick up? Take a moment and really pay attention.

So we're learning how to be aware. I dare you to walk around for the next few days and really pay attention to the big 'deals' in your life, your relationships, your finances, your self respect.

What do you say when you see your image in the mirror? How do you respond when you hear of someone getting engaged or divorced?

Trust me, this will all come around when we start applying all of this to MLM and your success story with it. I promise. :)

Namaste'

Isn't That Impossible?

2009-10-18T19:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm not too into tv, in fact as I mentioned in an earlier post, I mentioned about the disney channel really the only channel that's on, when the tv is on.

So, this example comes from one of the cartoons on the disney channel called Phineas & Ferb.

Don't shut down because this post is based on a cartoon.

Phineas & Ferb is a cartoon based on two brothers who, during their summer break from school, create outlandish things in their backyard. The series has seen a huge haunted house, a monster truck race track, and dueling tree houses to name a few things.

Tonight's episode, the two boys decide they are going to build a rollercoaster worthy of riding.

While building the monster of a coaster, the little neighbor girl in the cartoon comes up and asks Phineas what he's doing.

He said, 'building a giant rollercoaster in the backyard.'

Her response is, 'isn't that kind of umm, impossible?'

And Phineas's reply was, 'Some might say.'

Phineas then continued on, and created exactly what it was he and his brother Ferb had in mind. The biggest, baddest rollercoaster them and their friends had ever seen.

Some Might Say.

Where else have we heard 'isn't that, umm impossible?' I'm sure we've all run into it somewhere along the path in this industry.

The impossible claim comes in many disguises, too, so don't be fooled.

Some might say, 'that is a pyramid scheme'. Some might say, 'no one makes money doing those.' Some Might say, 'think of all the time it takes'. Some might say....well, what have some said?

Mary Kay Ash probably heard what some said. Jay Van Andel & Rich DeVoss, co-founders of Amway probably heard what some said. As did, many, MANY others in this industry of ours..

Good thing they continued on, creating what it was they all had in mind.

So next time someone throws down excuses as to why it's impossible, shrug your shoulders and answer with, 'Some might say', and continue on creating your dream. ;)

Belief Based Choices

2009-10-16T19:00:00.000-07:00

My last post, I had suggested that you aren't really making choices in your life. It's your core beliefs that are. And if your core beliefs came from someone else, then you are making choices based on THEIR core beliefs.

So, for example, when you get into a relationship with the same type of person, you may think your consciously choosing that person, but you are attracting that person into your life based on your core beliefs.

I have a friend who's been married five times, and they have all 'failed'. More than likely, he'll get right back into yet another relationship with the same type of woman.

Now do you think he's just an unlucky guy (victim mentality), or do you think perhaps he's invited the same type of person into his life to marry (still a bummer, but at least he'd be accountable for his actions which would actually empower him)?

Can you get out of this madhouse of beliefs? Of course you can. It takes a lifetime for most of it, but you can get to the good stuff. If you're willing to work on it.

Are you willing to work on it?

Stay tuned....

Our Core Beliefs

2009-10-15T19:00:00.000-07:00

As mentioned, I've been reading on this subject on Randy Gage's blog , and I've been posting some questions on facebook and twitter that some people are not happy about. Why? Because it's not the usual banter of 'here's a happy quote for you, all is better now.'

My posts have been more about challenging people to look at their core beliefs, if they can uncover them, and see if those beliefs are looking like they are beneficial in their lives or not. Normally, if you are getting your feathers ruffled there is a core belief in there somewhere that is being threatened.

I'm trying to get people to THINK. Which is another series of posts in and of itself.

I've written before a statistic that states we have 50% of our beliefs in place by the age of three. THREE years old and already 50% of our CORE beliefs are settled in nice and snuggly and we are acting and making unconscious choices based on those beliefs.

These are beliefs handed down to us from our parents, teachers, preachers, and other influential people in our lives at the time.

Beliefs such as, what a relationship is supposed to look like, based on our parent's relationship, how we look at and tolerate other people based on what the religion dictates, and even the personal beliefs of teachers.

These beliefs become such a part of our subconscious that even when we 'think' we are making choices in our lives, we are making these choices based around those core beliefs. Whether these beliefs serve our best interests or not.

Perhaps your saying, 'you're telling me that I'm not really making conscious choices about my life?' Well, yes....

More later.

Based on the last post, did you find any of your core beliefs?

Pushing the Belief Buttons

2009-10-13T19:00:00.000-07:00

I've been reading Randy Gage's blog, and recently he's been talking about breakthroughs, and the difference between real breakthoughs in life, and fake ones.

The difference, from what I've experienced, and have seen others experience, is that what most people consider 'breakthroughs' are just lies they are telling themselves and others. These temporary breakthroughs mask the symptoms to what is the belief behind the action.

An example of this is, as given on Randy's blog, leaving a dysfunctional marriage or relationship, and discovering yourself right back in another relationship, or two, or three, or...you get the idea, that resembles the first one.

Here's the tricky part. The relationship, or person you are attracting is just the symptom or result of the deeper issue.

The deeper issue is your core beliefs around the subject. We'll go further into this in upcoming entries. But for now, I want you to look at your life, and what it involves and ask yourself...where are patterns repeated throughout my life?

They can be anything from your past and current jobs, past and current relationships, past and current surroundings, and as broad as past and current re-occuring situations you find yourself in.

Remember, YOU are manifesting these things into your life based on your thinking and core beliefs. I look forward to your input

Recession? What Recession?

2009-10-12T19:00:00.000-07:00

Have you refused the recession? Have you turned off your news, cut off your newspaper, or stopped reading all the bad news online?

I"m going to give you my personal experience behind doing that. I don't watch the news. I haven't in a while.

In fact, was shocked when I discovered there was more than the Disney channel to our cable package, because that is all that is ever on, when the tv is on.

But I still was getting sucked into the whole recession thing. Then I just made the decision to not be involved.

I'm not sure what I did or how I did it but, I just don't experience a recession anymore. I physically don't see any signs of one.

Interestingly enough, here's what I do see.

I see the same if not more people going to my gym (more people in my spin classes too, gotta love that!)
I see more people enjoying themselves in their lives. I see more people smiling, laughing, and really having a good time.
I see more Porsches, Mercedes, Jaguars, and other nice vehicles on the roads. Most of them have personalized license plates like, 'mydrmcr' (my dream car) or 'mywish'.
The yoga studio I go to is packed with new students.

And because of these direct experiences, I have created more abundant thinking in my own life and therefore, more abundant living. My business is starting an upswing like I've never experienced before. My calendar is packed with events.

Amazing, huh? Try it for yourself. See what happens to your life, and to your business. Stop focusing on this poverty mindset that the media and society would have us believe.

Start looking at what is RIGHT with today, and watch how it changes your mindset.

"When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." - Wayne Dyer

Who Knew The Party Was So Fun?

2009-10-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

You know, one of the main reasons I joined the company I did join when I came back to the network marketing industry, was that home parties were not necessary.

I used to let out a groan whenever I received invitations to home parties, and never wanted to do one.

I used to tell new sign ups, 'well, I will do parties if somene approaches me, but I don't go seeking them out. However, we have an outline of how to do them if you chose to do them.'

My idea if 'doing' a home party for someone was showing up, putting the candles out, and grabbing myself a drink and sitting back while waiting for people to pay for the candle they wanted, or place their order. I didn't play games, I didn't really introduce myself, products, or opportunity, and I certainly didn't have a plan as to what the hostess would receive.

I was a nightmare in regards to creating a good party. I can't imagine why I didn't receive bookings or sign ups at those parties! My sales were always low, but I figured, this is how parties went and that's why I didn't want to do them.

I created my story about parties, and actually created the circumstances to re-inforce that story.

I held onto that belief about parties for a while. I kept reading stories about how home parties were on the rise, and the stories about women who were raking in the money doing these parties.

What were they doing that I wasn't, beside the obvious? I needed to find out, for my sake, for my downline's sake, and for the sake of not contributing another horror story of a party!

As I exposed myself to more and more information, websites, newsletters, and leaders within the party plan format, I learned there was a LOT more than meets the eye when it comes to performing the perfect party.

I had no idea that it wasn't about me and my products! I thought parties were ALL about my products, company, and my profit!

Boy, I could not have been more wrong.

After concentrating my efforts to learning about how to properly book, plan, and work a party, I've gone a step further and am now involved in a tele-seminar with Julie Anne Jones that teaches how to create those successful parties that I'd only read about.

I've been partnered up with someone else who has signed with the class, we have homework and are being held accountable for our actions in order to produce the results we all strive for.

I'll keep you updated. So far, with just one session with Julie Anne, I cannot believe the information I've received. I cannot believe all I have been missing.

I've got a few parties coming up and am actually now excited as the party dates come closer. I can tell my hostesses are excited as well.

I've had better communication with my hostesses than before and the guest list has skyrocketed compared to before. Could it be because the hostesses are more excited and want to share this event with more friends?

Hmmm, something to think about.

Listen, I'll share my experiences as we go. I hope that you share yours too, including good, bad, different, strange, frightening, and so on. Give me all your home party experience.

In the meantime, if you're somewhat local and you want to host a party to see what all the hubbub is about, contact me.

Smart Goals...."T"

2009-10-09T20:00:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are! Down to the last letter in the acronym. Let's review....

S - Specific
M - Measurable
A - Achievable
R - Realistic or Relevant

T.....Timely

Ya, timely! Set a timeframe for it. Otherwise, you might find other things to do instead of working towards your goal. Do you want that $50K monthly within a year's time or just, you know, when it happens it happens?

Your brain needs a timeframe. It gets your rear into gear.

Now that you've got all the letters and their explanations, post those goals here! I fully support you in your quest to reach those goals, so they are safe here. :)

SMART Goals! "R"

2009-10-07T20:00:00.000-07:00

S - Specific
M - Measurable
A - Attainable
R ......Realistic or Relevant

Is the goal realistic or relevant? Is your goal to be Madonna? Hmmm, perhaps neither too realistic, nor relevant in your life.

But what about earning $1 Million a year? Does that seem realistic and relevant in your life? It certainly does to me!

There is a difference also betweeen reaching for your goals, and trying to accomplish something that is probably not realistic.

Honestly, I'd love to be a Blue Angels pilot but, at 42, never been in the armed forces, and now my eyesight is getting a wee bit fuzzy I'm going to figure that working towards being a Blue Angel isn't very realistic.

However, there are LOTS of goals that I do have that might seem lofty to others, but very realistic and relevant to me.

So keep them realistic and relevant! How are you doing on them?

SMART Goals!

2009-10-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

Alright! We're getting there!

S- Specific
M - Measurable
A....Attainable!

When we start working on goals, we start to figure out how attainable they are. We start seeing opportunities that we may have overlooked previously.

The best goals are both ones that cause you to stretch in your attitude, and mind, but isn't below your standard of current performance.

Once we start attaining these goals our self-esteem grows, and we start setting even higher goals!

S.M.A.R.T. - Are You?

2009-10-03T06:33:00.000-07:00

If you remember, and feel free to read my last post, I started talking about goals, and one way to create and write them down.

We touched on the S letter of the acronym. Today it's M

M is for Measurable. Now, we kind of brought it up last time as it goes hand in hand with Specific.

Measurable mean, you'll know when you've reached that goal. Stating something vague like, 'I want to lose weight', isn't a measurable goal.

Saying, "I am weighing 140", when you currently weigh differently, is a measurable goal.

Saying, "I want to be rich" is not measurable. Stating, "I am making $50K monthly" is measurable.

You'll definately know when you hit that goal. :)

Next time A - Achievable!

Namaste'

Jhanna

Take a Peek at Goal Setting

2009-09-28T22:00:00.000-07:00

As I've stated in my previous posts, I have a dream board. And, boy, the things I have on there make my toes twinkle!

But one thing I haven't done, until now, is write out specific goals. I know. I KNOW. But starting today I'm changing that.

It makes me wonder how many other people know that goal writting is essential to success, but how many don't? Let's explore the 'requirements' of goal writing together and get them written down.

Based on an acronym I saw earlier today and Napolean Hill's book, 'Think and Grow Rich', We're gonna break it down into five steps. Here's the acronym: S.M.A.R.T.

I'll break each letter down, and go over one each entry until we've gotten it all down and our goal written out completely.

Let's go through the first one:

S: Specific. Your goal needs to be as specific as possible. Don't write down, "I want to be rich". Your brain and subconscious doesn't know what to do with that, it's too vague. Instead, write down a specific amount. Remember, these goals aren't set in stone. You can always change it.

State them as declarations of intentions, not items on a wish list.

"I Am" is far more powerful and focused than 'I want'.

So, since I started with a financial goal, let's use that as an example.

"I Am Earning $50K Monthly"

Now, one thing I have always done when manifesting something is leaving the amount open to being better than what I'm asking. So I always add, 'or more' to the end of my desires.

For example: "I am earning $50K, or more, monthly."

Sounds NICE, doesn't it?

Now, it doesn't have to be about finances. If you are in network marketing, you can say something to the affect of,

"I am signing ten new leaders, or more, to my team monthly"

Or, "I am holding five, or more, highly profitable parties each month"

For everyday life a fitness goal can be "I am working out three times a week."

Ok! So I'll let you get started on the first step! Have fun and if you'd like, feel free to post your goal here. We'll discuss the next letter in my next entry.

Namaste'

5 Powerful Words for Recruiting

2009-09-27T18:00:00.000-07:00

Mr. Doug Firebaugh is one of network marketing's most powerful speakers and trainers. Basically, he knows his stuff.

Needless to say, when I came across this video, I listened closely. I recommend you doing the same.

Install This Program

2009-09-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

I received a newsletter today from Aine Belton.

Aine has a system called Belief Busters Kit, that helps people bust through the beliefs that aren't serving them anymore. I'm a HUGE proponent of anyone who teaches people this.

Here's her website link:

http://www.beliefbusterkit.com/

Anyhoo, Aine included this little nugget in her newsletter. I love it. And You.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Installing Love on the Human Computer:

Tech Support: Yes, how can I help you?

Customer: Well, after much consideration, I've decided to install Love. Can you guide me through the process?

Tech Support: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed?

Customer: Well, I'm not very technical, but I think I'm ready. What do I do first?

Tech Support: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you located your Heart?

Customer: Yes, but there are several other programs running now. Is it okay to install Love while they are running?

Tech Support: What programs are running ?

Customer: Let's see, I have Past Hurt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge and Resentment running right now.

Tech Support: No problem, Love will gradually erase Past Hurt from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory but it will no longer disrupt other programs. Love will eventually override Low Self-Esteem with a module of its own called High Self-Esteem. However,you have to completely turn off Grudge and Resentment. Those programs prevent Love from being properly installed. Can you turn those off ?

Customer: I don't know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how?

Tech Support: With pleasure. Go to your start menu and invoke Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and Resentment have been completely erased.

Customer: Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. Is that normal?

Tech Support: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to get the upgrades.

Customer: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, "Error - Program not run on external components." What should I do?

Tech Support: Don't worry. It means that the Love program is set up to run on Internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart. In non-technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before you can Love others.

Customer: So, what should I do?

Tech Support: Pull down Self-Acceptance; then click on the following files: Forgive-Self; Realize Your Worth; and Acknowledge your Limitations.

Customer: Okay, done.

Tech Support: Now, copy them to the "My Heart" directory. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching faulty programming.

Also, you need to delete Verbose Self-Criticism from all directories and empty your Recycle Bin to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.

Customer: Got it. Hey! My heart is filling up with new files.Smile is playing on my monitor and Peace and Contentment are copying themselves all over My Heart. Is this normal?

Tech Support: Sometimes. For others it takes awhile, but eventually everything gets it at the proper time. So Love is installed and running.

One more thing before we hang up. Love is Freeware. Be sure to give it and its various modules to everyone you meet. They will in turn share it with others and return some cool modules back to you.

Customer: Thank you, God.

God/Tech Support: You're Welcome, Anytime.

- Anon

----------------------------------------
Namaste'

How To Succeed FAST. Really.

2009-09-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

I found this video a few weeks ago, via John Fogg's blog, the fogg blogg. Tony Rush is a top earner in his company and is amazing with his coaching skills.

It's about 17 minutes, but WELL worth the message. I suggest you turn everything off, click on the link and really focus on this. It could change your outlook. ;) Check into the Law of Association.

How To Succeed FAST. Really.

Posted using ShareThis

Screw You, I'm Flying First Class

2009-09-21T06:32:00.000-07:00

I figured that title might get one's attention. But seeing this post has a link to a writing from Frank Kern, I thought it would be appropriate.

Frank is one of my favorite millionaires to follow. He's honest, down to earth, and has some great ideas on making money. If you watch the previous Tony Robbins videos I posted you'll know who I'm talking about. If you haven't seen those video, I highly recommend finishing this post and scrolling down to watch them.

Anyway, as I was perusing the web this fine mornin I came across this note written by Frank.

Now, just so you know one of the things I love about Frank is, he's a straight shooter. Therefore, there is some adult content in this..

But, as I've always said, 'take what you like and leave the rest'. Don't let the foul language get in the way of receiving his message.

Notes From a Millionaire

Enjoy. Feel free to leave your thoughts. I Think he's dead on.

Imagine Your Ideal Working Day

2009-09-19T18:26:00.000-07:00

Last night, I was clipping out (actually tearing. I feel it adds to the experience) pictures from old magazines to add to my dream board.

I came across an article about "how to". I don't recall the rest, but did take notice of the first exercise in the article.

It said, "Imagine Your Ideal Working Day".

As an active participant in the law of attraction, it caught my attention. It listed several questions to ask yourself to help imagine what your ideal working day is.

I tried it and like it so much that I clipped it out, and taped it onto my computer so I see it several times a day.

So what are the questions? Glad you asked.....

1. What time of day is it?
2. Where are you?
3. What are you doing?
4. Who are you working with?
5. What about this work feels good?
6. Who are you talking to for support?
7. Who is paying you?
8. How much are you getting paid?
9. Why are they paying you instead of someone else?

By asking yourself these questions at the start of every day, you can start to create the business of, well, your dreams!

To your success!

I Don't Need a Story Anymore

2009-09-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

I've relied a lot on my story in the past. I love reading other's stories too, about how they overcame adversity in order to achieve their highest goals and dreams.

I figured, 'boy my story is gonna be a good one to tell.'

Then one day I was reading an article from somewhere..someone, I don't quite recall.

This article suggested that perhaps in order for me to 'have a good story', I've been attracting all the wrong things in my life. Drama, difficult people, situations, and obstacles that quite possibly aren't necessary in order for me to get to my goals, but is actually ME bringing these instances into my life in order to make my 'story' BETTER.

Ouch.

So, I'm dropping my story. I mean, my past is my past, but I don't need to continue to add to the drama that becomes part of my story, my struggle.

My story from now on includes only successes, peace, prosperity, ease, and pure joy.

I don't need a story that includes unnecessary drama. Do you? How's your story coming along?

Back to the Comfort Zone

2009-09-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

I want to bring the topic of the 'comfort zone' back up, because it's such an interesting thing, and I'm looking for answers not just for me but for all of us.

So we know we have a comfort zone, and are currently in one, no matter where it is. Mine is gonna be different from everyone else's.

But, my question is, how do you recognize your comfort zone in the different areas of your life?

For me, everything is based on results. Do I have the income I desire? Do I have the relationships I desire? Do I have the surroundings I desire?

If the answer is no, than more than likely I've been just 'getting by' and going with the flow instead of working towards those desires.

Working towards those desires.

What does that mean? Working more hours at my job, working a 2nd job, or asking for a raise? Perhaps. Pinching pennies even tighter? Perhaps. Visualizing, starting with the end result? Maybe

You tell me.

Subtle Education

2009-09-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

I've read hundreds of self help, self development, MLM, sales, and similiar kinds of books. I love them.

Since the beginning of my divorce back in June of 2008, I immersed myself in them. I knew I already had some stinkin' thinkin' going on, and it looked like I was going to have to deal with some not so comfortable situations in the near future, so I felt it necessary to keep my head swimming in these kinds of books.

I knew I needed them in order to reprogram my behaviors that were no longer serving me.

I remember reading once how Zig Ziglar's son saw his dad packing up for a trip, and noticed the self development books that had been tossed into the suitcase. He said, 'dad, you are one of the top motivational speakers in the world, why are you reading those?'

To which his dad replied something to the effect of, 'Son, it's an ongoing process. There is no end, or mastering of it.'

So on my bed now, I am surrounded with approximately seven or eight books that I choose to read from each night. Some nights I focus on one book, and other nights I read a few pages from several of the books. I read, and I read, and I read.

Now, there are times when I have consciously applied the principles I have read about, but more importantly, one day while talking with someone, I realized that I had started to the principles, concepts, ideas, and more that I have been reading without being aware that I was doing it.

All the information I had been reading had started to quietly sink into my subconscious and I had begun to change my behaviors.

Now, I couldn't tell you which book they came from, since I read so many of them. All I know is, the continual exposure to any kind of information does have an affect, whether it's consciously realized or not.

I used to hear the term, 'garbage in, garbage out'. It refers to what you feed your brain, is usually what starts to come out in your actions, behaviors, and thinking. Feed your braing garbage tv, video games, input from people, reading, etc, and it's what you will start puttingo out.

What are you feeding your brain? Is it productive? Does it serve you in your life as a positive thing? Let me know.

I Have to WHAT? gulp

2009-09-11T07:22:00.000-07:00

I've had my fingers on the MLM pulse for many years. Some of these years I was involved directly and others, I just watched, read, listened, and learned.

One thing that has changed dramatically is how we talk the talk. Back in the mid 80's when I signed with Amway as my first MLM adventure, I was required by my sponsor to find the people to talk with and my sponsor would do the talking.

When we met with the prospect, I was just to sit and listen, and to learn.

Interestingly enough, although I had signed as a distributor, I didn't like what was being said to the prospect. There was no relationship being built, we didn't ask about our prospect, his family, or life. Strictly business.

Now, when I signed up, I had signed up with my brother, who's sponsor was my parent's next door neighbors. See the value? We signed with people we already had a relationship with. We were comfortable and trusted that person or people already.

If someone had approached me and immediately started in on, 'do you like this product? ME TOO! WELL! Have I got an opportunity for YOU, my friend!'

Guess what? It happens ALL the time. With the internet, all of us in the dirct sales, network marketing, and MLM world now have billions of prospects at our fingertips or twittertips, or facebooktips, or whatever other social media platform is about to come along.

So, if developing a relationship is what this business is really about, why is there a difference online?

I think most of you know what I'm talking about. The blatant ads, links, and spam that is sent out not just regularly but flooded out on these social media sites. Go to these sites and they scream out to you, 'SIGN NOW!! BE A BAJILLIONAIRE BY 5PM!!'

In my mind, the people who send these out are the people who would never make it in the old style of MLM, or don't have any local prospects or teams. Why? Because the thought of actually approaching someone and developing a relationship of any sort with them might very well be the last thing they want to do.

I'm going even further with this. Developing a relationship involves risk. Risk of rejection, mostly, and that terrifies many people. The thought of having to actually approach someone, in person, and take that risk of someone saying, 'No' paralyzes people and their businesses.

Many people consider it a personal attack on who they are at the core, and in my humble opinion, these are the very same people who post on FB and Twitter.

Our business is not for the weak hearted. those wanting and willing to grow, risk, develop, and become an active participant in their own lives are drawn to it.

In return, they get to expand their lives, minds, social circles, and yes, bank accounts.

Developing relationships whether it's offline or online requires time and energy, and can involve a risk, but the benefits outweigh them.

Next time you're on one of the social media sites, try to stop talking about you and your business. Send private messages, do posts that are fun, and ask about the other person.

Otherwise, it will be me that develops that relationship with them. ;)

Accepting Things As They Are

2009-09-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

Saying: If you understand, things are as they are. If you don't understand, things are as they are.

We are the only animals on the planet that attaches emotion to situations, and base our decisions on these emotions.

Things really are as they are. It's what we attach to these experiences that determine our outcome with them. But in reality, they just 'are'.

Someone told me once our perceptions of reality is neither good, bad, right, or wrong. But if our perception isn't serving us to our highest good, we might want to reconsider.

I've looked at a LOT of situations recently and, for me, more importantly than trying to attach a positive spin on the situation or trying to 'learn' from every single situation, I'm just allowing the situation to exist without doing ANYthing in regards to emotional attachment.

Instead of allowing my mind to think, 'this is a bad situation' or 'this is a great situation', I'm saying, 'it is what it is', and then I go from there.

It's amazing how the rollercoaster of emotions can settle down when life situations are looked upon as such. Clearer decisions can be made, calmness appears, and energy flows instead of charging.

Do you think you can apply this to any situation in your life?

Back Against the Wall

2009-09-08T07:00:00.000-07:00

I read recently, that people only really take action when their back is against the wall.

This begs the question, what would you consider your 'wall' to be?

There is a lot we can figure out how to handle without us having to change or get out of our comfort zone. I know, I've done it.

People want success, they want riches, they want successful businesses, but I think they need to get pushed up against that wall so that the situation becomes that there is no other choice BUT to put the blinders on and succeed.

Does this sound familiar? Does it sound like a line of BS? You tell me. I'd like to get different opinions on this.

The Dead Zone....errr, I Mean Comfort Zone

2009-09-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

I was told once that HVAC techs called the thermostat settings between 69 & 72 degrees as the 'dead zone'. It's the most common setting all the time. It's the setting where the A/C or heater doesn't have to work.

One day, I had this revelation of how human behavior can be similiar to A/C and heaters, but instead of the dead zone, we call it our comfort zone, and here's how it works.

We all have a comfort zone. ALL of us. A place, mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually where we are comfortable. No conscious thinking involved, we're on autopilot in these zones. We just get to 'hang out.'

Now, when the temperature inside a home goes outside the dead zone settings, the system turns on and works JUST LONG ENOUGH to get the temperature inside the house back to the dead zone settings.

Most humans are the same way. When we recognize our surroundings are pushing us out of our comfort zone, we will actually work JUST LONG ENOUGH to bring our surroundings back into our comfort zone.

This can happen with our financial situations, our relationships, our careers, anything in our lives really.

Here's an example. A woman thinks her husband is lazy. Every now and then an argument will occur that will send their relationship into a tailspin. The husband, sensing his comfort zone has been knocked out of whack, does everything possible to bring his environment back into his comfort zone alignment.

He works around the house, he picks up extra shifts at work, and so on. But, he ONLY does it long enough to assuage his wife, calm her down and bring her back into alignment with his idea of his comfort zone.

Once he realizes his comfort zone is back, he stops doing all the 'extra' things that she expects from him. He is back into his dead zone, and all is good in his world, until his wife goes off on him again.

People take this approach in every aspect of their lives, whether they realize it or not.

Instead of expanding the comfort zone, instead of stepping out of their dead zone, they react over and over and over. There is no pro-active action in their lives.

With all of that said, what does your comfort zone look like? Is it pretty narrow? Are you wanting to widen it? Consider the idea of being comfortable with being uncomfortable.

What are your thoughts?

Focus, Focus, Focus

2009-09-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

I worked in an office for years. I mean YEARS. I couldn't stand it, but I was good at it so I believed at the time it was what I would end up doing for the rest of my life. My 'belief' was I just had to find the right company. Problem was, I was going through jobs every few years hoping it would be the right company. Even my dream company ended up not being the right company. So NOW what was I to do?

I finally realized that running my OWN company was the right company for me. I just needed to focus.......a;sdlsdjs;jf

Sorry. I was leaning over the keyboard to do something else.

And that's a perfect example of what this post is about today. Multi-tasking. Or, perhaps the lack of.

I remember hearing once, 'no one can multi-task efficiently and properly. One task will always take precedent over the other.'

I was actually insulted when I heard that! I was a fantastic multi-tasker! Or, was I?

When I started working my business, I discovered first hand that, indeed that statement was true. Not only was it true, but I was having some SERIOUS problems focusing.

One thing led to another, to another, to another. I'd start one task, which led my brain to think, 'oh, I need to get that started', and I'd go do that, and that would remind me of something else and so on.

This pattern would have me all over the house until the last thought ended me right back to where I started, with the original task only started. I'd start the task again, where it would remind me of the next one, and then...well, you get it.

My multi-tasking days had trained me to not have focus. Or, even better, just keep it really diluted while fooling myself that I was accomplishing more. I don't think I'm the only one who operates this way either.

We try to text or talk on the phone while driving, we make the attempt to cook a meal while talking or watching tv, or talk on the phone while working on the computer.

After reading a friend's blog last evening, I've decided to do a 90 program along with her.

I'm going to accomplish at least ONE thing from beginning to end in regards to my business each day and then post it here.

My goal is, after 90 days to be able to show an improvement in my focus, as well as major growth within my business.

If you'd like to follow along as well, please post your one thing here that you focused on. This doesn't have to be work related, it can be in relation to anything in life. Just focus. And join me on this fun experiment!

I'd like to thank Debbie Wood for her idea, and focus on this project!

Crabbie Theory

2009-09-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

Years ago, I attended the Crab Festival in Mendocino County. While out on the boat, the crabbers would pull the crabs out of the traps, and throw them into the crab pots.

I sat and watch the crabs for a bit, and although the crabs had a chance to actually climb out of the pots, they never did.

Why? Because there seemed to always be another crab below that would grab onto the adventurous crab trying to get out, and pull it back down.

Very interesting.

Years later I attended a weekend seminar called Personal Mastery held by Klemmer & Associates.

Oddly enough, the subjects of crabs in crab pots came up. The facilitator explained that people are a lot like these crabs.

When we try to lift ourselves up, and bring ourselves out of our current situation, be it a divorce, a new job, or anything that might make OTHERS uncomfortable, there always seems to be a 'crabbie', those well intentioned people around us, who have the tendency to bring us back down.

Now these can be well meaning people. Our family and friends usually. We start to hear things like, 'why would you want to do that?!' or, 'it's only going to make things worse'. How about, 'I've heard of those schemes, they never work.'

My favorite one I've heard is, "I just don't want to see you get hurt."

The reasons behind these comments are usually because you are threatening the comfort zone of the person who is making the claim.

My mom used to say, 'misery loves company'. And she was right. People don't like seeing others snap out of their day to day thinking and start actually leading their lives consciously.

If you start working on yourself, creating more income, handle relationships better, losing weight, most people will take a look at themselves and realize they could benefit from doing the same thing.

However, it's easier to bring someone back down than it is to change. It takes a courageous person to accept the challenge of change. To take a hard look at their way of thinking, and their current situation.

It takes a courageous person to accept responsibility for their actions and is willing to change their actions.

So are you the crabbie trying to get out, or the crabbie that is pulling the courageous crabbie back down? Watch how you speak to the people closest to you and then decide.

Whether you think you do or you don't....

2009-08-31T05:00:00.000-07:00

We all have mentors. We might fool ourselves and think we don't, to a certain extent.

Most people in MLM are pretty aware of who their obvious mentors are, because they consciously say, 'these people are getting the results I want. I'm going to pay attention to them, what they do, and how they do it.'

I'm going to suggest, however, that there are other mentors that we might not be aware of. If we are only aware of the mentors we are consciously choosing, we may end up still performing in ways that hold us back from what we really desire out of life.

Want to hear of some of those mentors?

Parents

Teachers

Religious Leaders

Bosses

Co-workers

Friends

Partners

While we may not consciously declare, 'this is a person I want to emulate', if we are around them long enough, it's going to happen automatically to a certain extent.

We then go through life wondering why it's so hard. We aren't able to recognize what we are doing wrong, because these aren't the actions we've consciously chosen. Or are they?

There is a saying that goes, 'you are as successful in life as the five people that surround you closest.'

Look around. Do you like what you see? These are some of your closest mentors.

I've got some pretty amazing people around me now, but it wasn't always that way. Interestingly enough, once I started to consciously change my way of thinking, those crabbies moved to an outer ring of my circle.

That means, they didn't totally disappear from my life, and I still love many of them very much. However, they aren't impacting my life nearly as much as they used to.

If You Can...You Must.

2009-08-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I took my kids out to dinner. (Honestly, we really don't go out that much! lol..)

Anyhoo, again, as the waitress, who was no more than 23, went to get our drinks, my six year old confided in me.

'Mom, I think her hair is really pretty.'

I looked at him and said, 'Ian, if you think so, tell her.'

He got all hunched over and put his hands to his mouth to cover his smile.

'No!', He said.

'Ian', I said, 'If you have a genuine compliment to give someone, it's your responsibility to give it. What good is the thought if you don't share it with that person? And, you never know, she may really need to hear something like that.'

Still, he said, 'no.'

After dinner, we were getting ready to leave. I approached the young waitress and said, 'my son thinks your hair is really pretty.'

I turned around to find my son hiding under the booth table. Jeez!

She went to the table, and crouched down and addressed my son.

'You know what?' She said, 'I just got my hair cut today and when I left I was crying because I thought it was the worst hair cut ever. I really, really needed to hear your compliment today. Come with me, I have something for you.'

My son followed, along with his younger sister, and the waitress produced two tootsie pops, one for each of them.

I looked at the waitress to say thank you. Instead, she thanked us. she looked at me and said, 'you have no idea how much I needed to hear that today.'

When we have a true compliment, when we see someone glowing, or has a bright smile, or whatever, our joyous response to it is wasted, if we don't share it with them.

Again, people crave to be recognized! So recognize them! Honestly, it's selfishly motivated, because I love giving compliments! I love seeing people light up, and again, it can be the beginning of a beyooootiful friendship!

Namaste'

I've Heard That One Before...

2009-08-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

The other day I took my kids to the park to run off some energy. I found a seat on the bench at the edge of the playground, and settled in.

Kids ran back and forth, some parents chasing them, others just watching.

Then I saw a little girl gaining some speed across the playground. She was really smokin' too. Suddenly WHAM. She was layed flat out in .2 seconds. What she tripped over could have been just her own speed, she was going so fast.

She stood up, sniffling, and brushed herself off. A woman, I'm guessing to be her grandmother, bustled up to her and helped brush her off.

She said, 'See?? That's what happens when you run like that!'

Ugh. I cringed at the program that had just been re-enforced to this little girl.

A bit later, I saw the girl starting to gain speed again. This time her grandmother insisted that she slow down and shouted to her, 'SLOW DOWN! That's how you get hurt!'

Ugh again. Re-enforcement again.

It's been said that 50% of our beliefs, programs, and habits are learned by the age of three. THREE YEARS OLD.

Up to 80& of our beliefs, programs, and habits are learned by the age of SEVEN. SEVEN YEARS OLD.

These are beliefs on what relationships look like, religious beliefs, how we look at ourselves and others, physical beliefs, and more.

When I learned of this, I had a two year old child. I thought about how I talked to myself, because it would be an indication of how I spoke to my child.

How DID I talk to myself? It was pretty negative, I decided. Pretty sad, really.

And I was telling my child the same things about him. Not in a mean spirited way, but it was so subconscious that it never even dawned on me that I was saying these things. I was teaching him about himself, what I had been taught about myself.

Ouch. I thought, 'I have a year to install some positive programming.'

And the best way, I thought, to work on that, was to work on me. I had to start treating myself better, with more kindness, with compassion, with love. Love DOES start with me. I can't love anyone else without loving myself first, and the higher power of my understanding.

I heard Oprah once say, 'You know, every now and then when I see myself in the mirror I stop, look myself in the eye, smile, and say, 'hello, sweetie!'

How wonderful. What a wonderful and simple way to acknowledge the divine within us.

I've changed how I speak to my children, now ages six and four. I applaud their efforts, I encourage them to face their challenges, to dream big. And, I know, I tell them this because it's what I tell myself.

I hope one day at the playground to hear someone say to their child after that child has fallen, 'you're Ok..that was GREAT! You were really steamrollin'! What an amazing fall!'

Even if that parent is me.

Namaste'

Name Calling At Its Best

2009-08-27T13:41:00.000-07:00

The other night a friend and I went out to dinner.

As we were being seated and asked what we would like to drink, I asked our
waitresses name. She said Nancy. I said, 'thank you, Nancy.'

While Nancy was getting our drinks, my friend looked at me and said, 'I see
you're in selling mode. You asked for her name. Good one.'

I told her, 'This has nothing to do with sales. I always ask their names no
matter what the situation, whether I'm in a restaurant, getting my car serviced,
or at the grocery store. They have name tags on, it's not just to know their
name when you want to complain.

Don't you like it when people call you by name? Don't you like hearing your
name?'

She sat there a moment and said, 'ya, I do.'

Whenever I take the time to learn someone's name and USE IT, I receive the BEST
service

Ask people their names, it shows respect, and can develop the most wonderful
relationships!

Namaste'

Tony Robbins Interview with Frank Kern & John Reese

2009-08-23T18:12:00.000-07:00

Tony Robbins Interview with Frank Kern & John Reese

The Kids Wanted to Leave, But I Didn't!

2009-08-23T17:15:00.000-07:00

Picture this, a community park full of families getting in that last Sunday birthday bbq of the summer, company picnics, and more.

Lots of kids everywhere. The playground is buzzing with little busy kiddie bees. My kids, on the otherhand, are standing next to me whining. 'We want to GO, mommy! We're HUNGRY! We don't want to BE here anymore!!'

Doesn't sound quite right, does it?

Normally, I'M the one begging the kids for us to leave. I can only respond to 'watch me go down the slide, mommy! Push me on the swing, Mommy! Moooommmmmyyyy!!!' so many times before I want to scream, running from the playground.

But today was different. I'm not sure how I missed it before, but there were some incredible stories going on in that park today. And along with stories comes lessons!

I sat there intently studying story after story, watching them play out. One of the lessons I learned was, from now on I will be taking a paper tablet and pen with me, so I can write everything down. I kept trying to burn everything into my mind so I could remember them for later, before they disappeared into the abyss that can be my mind.

Hang tight, I've got some great stories and lessons coming up...

Bikram Yoga & MLM #8

2009-08-23T16:50:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a summer, huh? It flew by! Business is booming, as they say in the Network Marketing industry and life is good!

But I digress....let's get to business

#8 Visualize in your mind what you want to see in physical form. I love this one, and just learned more about it recently in regards to MLM, or Network Marketing.

In my mind, I see the perfect half moon pose, or the perfect bow pose, elegant and flowing like a swan's neck. My mind sees it so often that today, while at yoga, I did the bow pose more beautifully than I ever had before.

When I was done with the second set of the bow pose, I was grinning ear to ear. An elegant bow pose is my goal, and as I see it in my mind, I am now seeing it in physical form.

So goes Network Marketing. So goes EVERYthing in life, really. Images of leading a huge team, creating massive abundance in my life, and more is constantly running through my head. Not just pictures, but the emotions of what it is like to have these desires fulfilled. My heart wants to burst out of my chest with joy, pride of seeing others succeed, and more.

As Tony Robbins points out, first in the mind then in the physical realm. So what is on your mind?

~ Namaste'

Being Grateful..

2009-08-04T07:20:00.000-07:00

MLM: Do Most People Fail?

2009-08-01T14:32:00.000-07:00

Yoga & MLM Lesson #7

2009-07-31T13:26:00.001-07:00

Number Seven!

Progress, not perfection.

One of the hangups I have in life is when I do something for the first time, I want it to be perfect. I've had to work a LOT on getting over this fun little habit of mine over the years.

When I did my first yoga class, I think it was the first time that I approached something, knowing I didn't have to know alllll about it, I didn't study up on the subject, and didn't feel that I had to have the postures down. I went in pretty much knowing NOTHING about bikram yoga, aside from the fact that it was the hot yoga.

By allowing myself to approach the practice, and MLM as a student, with the open mindedness of a first timer, I allow for forgiveness when I make a mistake, or I don't convert a lead to a team member, or I fall out of the pose, or whatever the case may be.

Yes, I do know how to do things now that I didn't when I first started. But there is no 'perfection'. Just when I see someone else in my yoga class hold a pose that I find beautiful and perfect, the instructor comes over and says, 'no, you need to tweak this, move this, and now try and do this.' And that's when that person falls out of pose. It's never perfect. There is ALWAYS room for progress and growth.

Practice doesn't make perfect, practice allows for progress and in both yoga and MLM and, really in all aspects of life, that is what is important.

Where in your life can you find progress? Your business? Your hobbies? Your relationships?

Progress, not perfection friends....

~Namaste...

Did You Know? Great Video

2009-07-30T07:16:00.000-07:00

Yoga & MLM...Lesson #6

2009-07-26T17:54:00.000-07:00

6. When you love something and bring it into your life, make it a part of your life…KEEP it a part of your life. No matter what. Because this is what fills you and keeps you going.

Yoga creates a meeting point for me for my spiritual, mental, and physical needs to meet. I'm receiving benefits to all three aspects each session. When I brought yoga into my life, I can't believe there was a time it wasn't in my life. Especially this kind of yoga.

I tend to want the extreme when I do something. I can't just do yoga. I have to find one that pushes me physically and mentally. Bikram Yoga provides that.

Same with Network Marketing. I can't just work for someone, or myself. For me, I needed something that would push me mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Network Marketing insists upon it's leaders to push themselves continually. To grow continually.

Whatever it is that you find and have brought into your life, and it's a good thing...KEEP it in your life. Make it a part of your life if it's important to you. I'm gonna write that again...

Make it a part of your life if it's important to you.

Don't make network marketing a something that you do every now and then. Don't make it something you do when you get pissed at your boss, are fed up with having more month than money, or tired of working 'for the man'.

If you decide to bring it into your life...make that commitment to make it a part of your life. It's something you do, just like eating breakfast. You do it without thinking about doing it.

Yoga and network marketing are things I've brought into my life and are as much a part of my life as my children are, or my other athletic or spiritual endeavors.

All of these are what I 'do'. They all symbolize a part of what gives me the juice to get through the day with a positive attitude.

What's a part of your life? Is it your business? Tell me, I'd like to know. :)

True Inspiration.....

2009-07-25T15:49:00.000-07:00

Learning to Fly.....I Mean Tweet....on Twitter

2009-07-25T14:44:00.000-07:00

I'm sure by now eveyrone who reads this blog has a ‘twitter’ account. It is one of the things to do in the internet marketing world.

I just signed up for an account yesterday, and boy, in less than 24 hours, what a learning experience this has been. It’s almost like jumping into the middle of a running race. Jump in and take off or get run over.

Now when I signed on, I had no idea what tweeting was, how to do it, or if it would hurt. But, being the courageous person I like to believe I am, I jumped in with both feet.

First I wanted to familiarize myself with the layout of the site. That alone took a bit. The thing about Twitter is, one needs to be very short, to the point, and concise. Even on the profile bio, one only has so many words to define oneself. I”m still working on that one, trying to figure out the best, most solid wording. At the same time, I’m not so sure that part matters all that much and may end up just putting something fun in. Perhaps a combination of both.

As I was working on the set up, I received notice that I had a follower. I had someone ‘following’ me! That means someone subscribed to see my posts. How exciting for me. Her name was Natya. She didn’t have much to say, very brief. But I checked out her profile, and could tell immediately she was a porn spammer. Jeez, is there NO escaping these people? Luckily, Twitter allows us to block people so blocked, she was.

So much for my follower. But, by the time I freed myself from that site only an hour or two later, I had about 35 followers. and only one more of them was a porn spammer. I’m guessing that isn’t too bad. Still, between last night and now, I’ve learned that there are many kinds of spammers on Twitter, not just obvious, ‘check out my pictures’ porn spam, unfortunately.

Since last night, I’ve been reading as many info posts by the various twitter tip people on the site, trying to figure out the difference between @, RT, #FF, D, and so on. It’s like learning new code. It reminds me of when I used to write basic programming for the computer. I think I’m getting it.

This morning, I awoke to 30 more new friends. I’ve never been so popular. Of course, I’m getting the feeling it’s not ME they are looking for. In fact, I know it’s not. Twitter is about getting your name and info in front of as many people as possible. This is where the fine tuning comes in. If your ‘tweets’ (posts) are spammy, people will know it.

It’s really, what I’m discovering, about offering up good quality content, personal notes, and creating relationships. The business connection will come later, if at all.

Still, it’s fun. Although I realize now I have to be very careful with this site, because of all the tweets. I could spend hours (and have) just reading the links, clicking on links within the links, finding other articles, etc. It truly becomes the world wide ‘web’.

And I’m only scratching the surface for sure. It’s like when I first started playing around in Second Life. I know that I’ll probably never ‘get’ the depth and breadth of this site. I’m just not that well rounded.

But, wow, it’s certainly serving a purpose. I’m blown away at how quickly the stats for my website and blog have gone up. Just by being on Twitter for about 24 hours.

The power of the internet, for sure. I’d love to hear of any tips that anyone has in regards to Twitter. I’m still a total newb. So if you’ve got something that you have discovered has been particularly helpful, I’d be interested in reading!

~Namaste

Mine is the Sunlight ~ Born of the One Light

2009-07-25T08:11:00.000-07:00

I had all but forgotten this song, until someone else posted someplace else...lol..enjoy!

Lesson #5

2009-07-21T14:47:00.001-07:00

Wow! Already at #5! Just like in yoga, when the focus is applied, the class flies by. Gotta love it.

#5. Some days, things go beautifully…other days not so much. As long as you do your best, whatever your best may be at that VERY moment, then you have much to be proud of.

Truly. This one is easy. Be easy on yourself in regards to where you are at any given moment. There are days when I go into that 105 degree room and it's like Spirit is flowing through me. I'm graceful, flexible, strong, and am able to further my yoga practice going deeper into the stretches and meditation than ever before. I feel like I could be in there for hours.

Then I'll come along the next day, and I'm clumsy, unbalanced, weak, and completely unfocused. It's on these days that the room feels like 130 degrees and I continually count how many poses we have left, and just don't have an ounce of effort to give.

Regardless of how I feel at that moment, I give 100% of what I have at that moment. It varies from day to day.

And so it goes with Network Marketing and this business, too. Some days, I am on it, my leads are easy going and receptive to the possibilities, I meet with like minded people, my ideas flow in such a natural and creative way, I feel I can work on it all through the night.

Then there are days where no leads come in, my brain is shut off for the most part, the kids are demanding every moment of my attention, and I feel burned out.

Even on those days, however, I give 100% of what I have to give. Again, it varies from day to day.

Instead of berating and beating myself up for not getting 'stuff' done, or not having as productive a day as perhaps the day before, I'm gentle with myself. It's ok. I understand that my 100% isn't going to look exactly that same way each day.

I don't compare my days because the past is over. Gone. Each day is a new opportunity to give 100% whether it's in yoga, parenting, your mlm business, cooking, working with others, whatever the case may be.

This is a short lesson, because it's a simple one. An easy one? Perhaps not that easy to learn and act on. Many of us have learned that we either produce consistent results or there must be something wrong with us, or we're being lazy that day. Bottom line is, while our physical bodies are somewhat consistent in the every day stuff, there are the countless variables that can change what our 100% looks like for that moment.

Be careful here, however. Don't let this be an excuse to say, 'oh, well! It doesn't matter! I wasn't feeling 'on' today!'

The key is giving 100% of what you DO have for that day. Not 40% or 60%. 100% of what you DO have.

Then, no matter how the day went, you can still lay your head down that night, knowing you did your best for that day.

~Namaste

Lesson #4 Bikram Yoga & MLM

2009-07-19T07:14:00.000-07:00

#4. Just Keep Breathing.

When going into some of the more challenging yoga poses, such as back bends or the triangle pose, many students have a tendency to hold their breath, me included. It's just what the body wants to do until the difficulty is over.

We have to be reminded to breathe. To work through the pose, to go deeper into our work, to be in the present moment, we have to be reminded to breathe. Keep breathing.

It reminds me of the movie, "Finding Nemo", where Nemo's father is paralyzed by fear of the unknown. Dori, his friend, takes him by the fin and says, 'just keep swimming'. She repeats it and sings a song about it as they, together, venture off into the deep, dark unknown.

These sayings keep people moving and help people stay in the present. If I start thinking about taking on the entire pose or entire yoga session all at once, I get overwhelmed. I start thinking about how hot and humid the room really is, how crowded the studio is, and how many more poses we have left, it becomes absolutely overwhelming.

Same with my home candle business. If I start thinking about updating my site, what continual SEO work needs to be done, contacting new opportunity thinkers, preparing my tools, reading new material, working on self-development, and more..well, it can be absolutely paralyzing. It's too much to take on at once.

That's when I take a breath. I stop, break things down, and take it one item at a time. One pose at a time. In al-anon, they say, 'first things first'.

When new people come into the business, they tend to want to take it all on at once. And that's understandable! It's an exciting time, it's fun, and new, and we all want to get on it as quickly as possible, wanting to build that business right now.

But, it can also become daunting and overwhelming.....if we let it. The average person only last three months or so in Network Marketing. The Yoga studio where I go offers a 30 day package for very little. They want someone to come for at least 30 days in order to make a decision about whether bikram yoga is for them or not. Most only come a few times and then stop.

If, as we approach the yoga session, or the home business, we think about everything we have to accomplish at once, we have a tendency to stop and become overwhelmed, and then nothing gets done.

Especially if results aren't immediate.

With yoga and network marketing, it takes time to see the long term results. Yes, there can be some immediate results. However, for the most part, it takes a while to see the long term results.

And this is where it's important to keep breathing. Keep swimming. Just keep breathing. Breathe through the challenging times. Just keep swimming.

And slowly, but surely, you'll see the results you've been looking, wanting, and working towards. You'll be able to take on everything. Just not all at once.

Stay with it. Keep breathing and just keep swimming...

~Namaste

Jhanna Dawson

The Reason

Systems

Active Listening

Want More Clients? This One Tip Can Help

Bad News

Renewal of Hope

Can't Seem to Find It?

Don't Forget Your ABC's

What's With Your Company?

Don't Fall Victim to 'Shirt Day'!

Is This Part of Your 'Thing'?

Referral What?

Are You Doing This With Your Product Line?

I Dare You To Check This Video Out.

What is Not Being Understood?

The Old 'Do As I Say'

Bedtime Stories

The Close, Cont'd

The Close

How To Learn a Lesson, Better Yet....How to Teach One.

How is This Done & Do You Do It?

Nuts & Bolts

Letter by Letter

How to Ask THE Questions

Welcome to the Tribe

Meet My Posse

Release That Party Diva

STOP IT.

Fall Down 100 Times....

I Have a Dream

What Game Are You Playing?

How to Make More Money? Become a Cre8tor

Release That Which Holds You Back...

Holiday Sprinkles

A Holiday Gift for You.

Are You Using This Tool Every Time You Take Action?

How to Use the 'F' Word to Make Money

Finishing your Elevator Pitch

Got Your Elevator Speech Down?

To Jim Rohn

How's Your Year Going?

Boy Scout Motto: Be Prepared. Are You?

Less Talk, More Walk. (not what you think!)

I'm Here to Get Validated

The Moral of the Story

How Many Rabbits

Who is Really Saying No?

What Does it Take & What's the Difference?

What Christianity is Learning From Network Marketing, Or is it the Other Way Around?

Questions That Lead to Thinking....

Put Yer Head Down!

Think You've Got Skills?

Saying Goodbye...

The Permission Game

You'd Think the Universe is Trying to Tell Me Something?

Back to Beliefs

Clues of Leadership

Finding the Belief....

Isn't That Impossible?

Belief Based Choices

Our Core Beliefs

Pushing the Belief Buttons

Recession? What Recession?

Who Knew The Party Was So Fun?

Smart Goals...."T"

SMART Goals! "R"

SMART Goals!

S.M.A.R.T. - Are You?

Take a Peek at Goal Setting

5 Powerful Words for Recruiting

Install This Program

How To Succeed FAST. Really.

Screw You, I'm Flying First Class

Imagine Your Ideal Working Day

I Don't Need a Story Anymore

Back to the Comfort Zone

Subtle Education

I Have to WHAT? *gulp*

Accepting Things As They Are

I Have to WHAT? gulp