…Most of the individuals in network marketing will not take it. I know when I started I didn’t. I followed just about anything that sounded good.

To put it bluntly, I was following training advice from people that seemed to know what they where doing.

It wasn’t until I really began to focus did I understand what was going on. A couple of years ago there where headlines that read:

The Death Of Network Marketing

At that time It surely appeared as nothing more than another lead generation system. Yet, over the past two years I have to believe it has migrated more towards the truth.

Prior to the meteoric rise of the internet and the marketing that came with it, life and building a business was much simpler.

With it being simpler it gave us more time to focus on what was important, not only in our personal lives but also in the way in which we built a business.

One of the chief complaints of any individual is never having enough time! Followed by, not having enough money to start or market a business.

Today so many people involved in network marketing really do have an identity crisis going on…

…They don’t know whether they are an affiliate marketer or network marketing. Mainly because, like I was in the beginning following the wrong training!

There is a path to success, the hard part is knowing which path to take. It begins with a close evaluation of the network marketing training that you are getting, is it balanced.

Time sure flies don’t it. It has been almost a month since most of us have thought about, and many of us have written down our goals for our network marketing business.

If statistics hold true, over 70 percent of us have either dropped or completely forgotten the new goals we’ve set for this year.

Dropping our goals is one thing, but forgetting our goals is something we can get control of. Starting a journal is one of the best things you can do for both your business and personal life.

A journal can be either in written form, something that at times appears easier to do or it can be in an electronic format.

As a Mac user, I’ve use the software MacJournal by Mariner Software to keep my electronic version of a journal. Here is a video overview, kind of old:

They also produce a Windows version called WinJournal for windows users. Both versions allow an individual to keep a journal and use it for blogging.

So why keep a journal?

As a network marketer we have an overload of information bombarding us each day. Often we’ll run across something that sparks an idea. If we don’t take the time to write both the idea and our thoughts on it…

…Well, you know what happens to it. It becomes lost forever!

Everyone it seems today wants to blog their way to network marketing success! Getting used to writing in your journal each day helps get those creative juices flowing.

Thus it makes it much easier to create original and high quality blog content. There is a tired and worn out cliche, “Content Is King!” Yet, original content is truly king!

If you’re not keeping a journal and tracking your network marketing business result’s, start today!

Often we go through life with the blinders on, we have that secure feeling that if I just do everything right it cannot possibly happen to me.

Well guess again, it can and does happen.

I discovered this in a tweet today by Chris Brogan, and boy did it strike a cord. Just recently I stopped by where I was employed years ago to visit with some of the people I used to work with.

Just like in the video above HR had walked in and bam they where all gone. And I do mean the entire shop was let go without warning.

I’m sure if you’re reading this it may have happened to you or someone you know. And, none of us can ever be fully prepared for it.

Still I found it inspiring that they have moved on and life goes on. When you stop and think about it, years ago an employer could do this and get away with it because it was not common knowledge.

Today, with the internet people know.

What can you do to lesson the impact should the axe fall on you?

On the 11th of November 2009 I was at my brothers funeral. He was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident just a few days earlier.

My brother was never in network marketing yet, it appears from the poem that was written below he was a master marketer.

Someone who truly listened to what people wanted and then delivered beyond their expectations. This was written by a Lady to be read at his funeral and it really sunk in:

For John The Stone Angel

A knock at my door, and who enters in
But, a tan, tattooed man with a big, bright grin.
He and his comrades, all ready to go.
Began, with their creative gifts, to put on quite a show.

Dirt, rock and rubble, slowly, but surely, gave way
To the beauty of landscapes like none seen in their day.
Cement pathways did sprout and stone walkways did grow.
Beautiful steps, out of nothing, by day’s end, did show.

Each task the next conquest, each challenge the next glory,
Signatures of creative stone and mason mastery tell quite a story.
Who could imagine the beauty hidden below?
All the dust and clay-gray water, only John would know.

He’d chuckle with confidence and listen with his heart
As I’d try to describe what I thought was just a start–
Then, as if right before my eyes, the art work emerged
And my squeals of delight just made his efforts surge.

The matching of patterns, the merging of grains,
His eye was so discerning, seeing all with no strains.
His smile constant and bright, his optimism so glowing–
John’s vision of the future creation just couldn’t help showing.

Then, when he was ready and he knew he was sure
He’d prepare the surprise, with his confidence pure.
Trusting his artists heart , soul and eye,
What a delight– as I’d squeal to the sky!

John’s hands, skilled and sure, would have shaped the art
And the mortar he set, would lend bone to its heart.
Then majestic, but, pliable stone, that he mastered with care
Bent and turned to his will, leaving a bit of him there.

I’ll cherish that art–and even more than this–
I’ll marvel each day at his work and the bliss
That it signified of his hope each and every new day,
And be grateful I knew him as he passed by this way.

John has marked his life with strength and nature’s beauty–
Acknowledging God’s tools to be used with faith and a duty
To revere these works that can give comfort and bring peace
As we remember his love of this gift, his skill and his ease.

The stone that John crafted will from his heart always speak
Of the highest regard for life, friends, family, and still seek
To shout forth his lofe of his life, lived his way.
Thank you John, always, for your life’s passion on display.

Grateful for his gifts and his giving spirit–
Marsha K. Hardeman

In Dedication to Mr. John Burks, Master Mason
November 11, 2009

In April of this year I wrote about “The High Cost Of Procrastination.” The post was based on a commercial written for the State of Michigan in the ad it was stated:

All We Get Is About twenty-five Thousand Mornings!

The sad part is that we often have less than that, so the question again is how do you want to be remembered in life?

Will you be thought of as someone who manipulated your way through life or as someone who was thoughtful and caring?

Just something to think about as we head into this holiday season. Reach out and touch those you love, those you care about, for that matter even complete strangers.

For you never know when those twenty-five thousand mornings will be cut short!

Today I was re-reading one of my favorite books by Hal Urban, titled “Life’s Greatest Lessons” 20 Things That Matter.

At the end of the Introduction he quotes an ancient Chinese proverb:

I’ve read many quotes over the years that echo along those same lines. Like:

In many ways building a network marketing business follows along those same lines. We hear on conference & phone calls what we need to do, then we forget.

We can use technology today and have it demonstrated for us from anyway in the world. I’ve used this for years to educate people and they do remember.

Yet, as the third part states “You Must Do To Understand” this is where so many falter. We hear, we see, yet, it seems we are afraid to act.

And without the action, we’ll never arrive at the understanding of what it takes to build a successful network marketing business.

How often have you contacted a few prospects, became discouraged and then just gave up calling? We’ve all done it, so don’t feel bad about it.

There is only one way to really fail in this business…

…And that is to give up.

That does not just apply to network marketing, but just about anything we do in life as well.

In Hal’s book, in chapter 2 “Life Is Hard … And Not Always Fair there is a quote:

Life is a series of problems. Do we want to moan about them or solve them? – M. Scott Peck -

Solving problems can be one of the best parts of your life, if you let it be. In network marketing prospecting is essential to success, without it we have no business at all.

… Or just passionate about the money you’ll make in network marketing?

Many advertisers today believe you are far more interested in the money you’ll make, and that you really have no passion about what you do to achieve it!

Life is a lot easier when you are passionate about what you’re doing.

Your passion can lead to a more fulling life.

Early in my life I always had this dream of living in Alaska, how many young boys that like to hunt and fish have that dream?

As fate would have it, cause I surely did not plan it that way I ended up doing just that. I took a job that many people just did not like and would only stay their required commitment.

I had Joined the Coast Guard, with the dream to go to Alaska. Going through bootcamp everyone wanted to go to their first duty stations in places like Florida, California…

… they craved the party life, living on the beach, fun in the sun.

I choose an Icebreaker, it would head towards the destination I had in mind. While on that ship we did go to Alaska, where we stopped at one of the most beautiful little towns you could imagine Sitka Alaska.

While touring the town, I discovered they had a Coast Guard Air-station. I knew where my next tour of duty would be…

My other passion in life was to fly…

With the combination of flying and living Alaska I loved my job, while most people hated their job, living in Alaska for me it was a dream come true. I ended up spending almost 14 years flying in some of the most scenic country you can imagine.

Needless to say, it was the right choice for me…

… The mission was about helping people, stay safe and live their lives to the fullest.

Network Marketing is more than just making money…

Kiyosaki summed it up nicely, “The Business School — For People Who Like Helping People.”

Not about how much money that can be made off of people, but how you can help people reach their goals and find their passion in life.

For some people that passion may just be a full-time income, for others is maybe just a few hundred dollars per month.

During 2009, we’ve witnessed a dramatic shift in the perception people have of their job. Prior to 2009, everyone wanted to “fire their boss” today everyone wants to keep that job.

Amazing how perceptions of something we though we hated can change so quickly…

If you’re a network marketer be passionate about what you do, strive to help people succeed. The rewards you get will be far greater than the money ever will be.

I don’t know about you, but I really get tired of seeing headlines that state “If I had only been in the right place at the right time!”

A few people do actually fall into a great deal, they where in the right place at the right time, when the stars where all aligned.

Yet, it may only happen once in a lifetime!

For the rest of us, we must create our own luck if you really want to call it that!

Most of us really cannot see the gold-mine that is right in front of us, due to all the noise and distraction that fills our lives everyday.

When I was a kid, my dad was an over-the-road truck driver. Yes, you guessed it he was gone all the time, home for a few hours and then off again to some new destination.

Today there are so many of these OTR truck drivers out there, trying to earn a living in an economy that no doubt will be listed as one of the most trying moments in history, right next the great depression.

One of the things I remembered growing up was when the economy slowed down so did my fathers income. Today the problem is really pronounced.

If you visit any of the forums these truckers visit anger and frustration, the majority have taken pay-cuts, how hasn’t in this economy?

Since most truckers get paid by the mile, as they say “if the wheels are not turning they are not making any money!”

When you couple this with the fact that they are gone from home three weeks or more at a time, and spend a large amount of time sitting in a truck waiting for the next load you can see how frustrated they become!

Well in reality, you and I can’t really see or feel what it’s really like. As one person said go out and run your car or truck until it gets cold inside then shut it off and sit in it for four hours or more, especially when it’s over 90 degrees outside in the sunshine.

Sometimes they do this for days at a time. In all of my reading I, never once read where anyone in this industry was utilizing this down time to run a home based business. After all, they are not getting paid while sitting there waiting.

Many of these Men and Women do carry a laptop and have internet access while out on the road, they could very easily be running an internet based business while they wait.

The point is you cannot know what you don’t know. I’m sure many of them have never really thought about it or they may think it is too difficult.

Yet, I imagine that sitting or hours with nothing to do, one would have plenty of time to educate themselves. Creating their own luck by making every down time the right place and time!

The frustration that you’re experiencing is not uncommon, and I empathize with anyone going through this phase of network marketing!

In 2007, I was so frustrated I was ready to through in the towel on network marketing, even though I was making a great full time income.

Yet, I almost made a fatal mistake of letting others create enough turmoil, to disrupt my goals and aspirations.

When I came to Leaders Club years ago, I went there for leads. I had already been with numerous other lead sources. I always felt that it was the lead quality… Thinking that was the problem.

I was already generating my own, yet still having the same problems. So, that was not it either…

The problem was not being able to really connect with people, to get to their wants and needs.

Today, we face even stiffer challenges. People are very skeptical today, more so than anytime I can remember. When we can connect with them we break through this skepticism.

Sounds easy right…

Over the course of the years, I’ve worked with individuals that spent upwards of 40 to 50 thousand dollars sometimes even more on a college education.

They leave college today with a mountain of debt, and more often then not no real prospects of even finding a job. In talking with them very few would even consider they where throwing their money away.

After four or more years of college they might land a job that pays 40 to 60 thousand a year if they are lucky. How long will it take them to pay off that mountain of debt?

To me network marketing is much more then just a way to generate an income, it is an educational process. Each prospect we talk to is part of that educational process.

This learning process carries on way beyond just network marketing, it carries over into all aspects of our personal and professional life as well. The life skill I’m learning is how to connect with people.

I know for a fact, when I started I did very poorly at connecting with people. Even today I do not connect with every prospect; this is to be expected. Still, with every prospect that I talk to, I get better.

No doubt everyone has heard the cliche, you just have to talk to enough people. In many ways it is very true, when we stop and analyze each call, each prospect, take notes so we can bring these challenges to the Leaders Clubs Wednesday night calls. Where we get the live feed back “network marketing coaching” that need to further our education.

If I look at the investment I would have to make for example the 3 daily super premium leads for example… over the course of a year I would spend $1,620, all of which is a tax deductible expense.

If I took that out to 4 years, I would be looking at $6,480, all of which is still tax deductible. Through perseverance, really tapping into the education process there is no reason why anyone could not be generating $30,000 plus a year.

If you ask me, that is a pretty cheap education…

and I’ll be generating income along the way. Each day, month, and year I will be getting better then before.

The real obstacle to our own success is… Often ourselves!

The question is, when presented with these obstacles, that life throws in your path how will you handle them?

How does procrastination affect your network marketing business? This past weekend I watched a tourism commercial for the state of Michigan that really brought home the effects of procrastination.

In the ad, it stated all we get is about twenty-five thousand mornings!

At first twenty-five thousand sounds like a huge number, roughly 68 years. How often have you said to yourself, I’ll take care of that tomorrow or next week or sometime. If you are like most of us, we do it quite often. We never really think about the day we’ve just wasted.

As an employee of a company, maybe it doesn’t matter much. Yet, as a small home business owner we really don’t have that luxury of not caring about a wasted day.

If we get paid to talk to people, move products and services, each day that we take no action to move our business forward is a lost opportunity. Time is something that we can never recover, it really is not our friend.

For those of us in network marketing it is far to easy to procrastinate and their are many reasons for it. Often, we will feel that we are being pushed outside our comfort zone.

We know we must talk to people, in order to build relationships. Yet if we don’t know what to say, we will go back to studying a script, or anything else that will keep us from prospecting.

Each day we will come up with something new that prevents us from moving forward and reaching our goals. Before you know it a day, then a week, a month, maybe even a year has gone by.

How can you help yourself and your business partners?

You could start by holding yourself accountable, generally though this does not work. It is too easy to talk yourself out of doing what you should be doing to build your business.

The best solution would be for you and your downline to hold each other accountable. Leaders Club has taught this principle for years. One of the tools they use is tracking, and it does require learning the proper way to track.

Poor time management leads to procrastination. As a small business owner it is up to you to manage your time, it is your clock that your punching! Blocking out a time to work your business each day is a good starting point.

A good contact management program, that tracks tasks, appointments and projects can also help you stay focused. Generally if we have a clear direction with tasks laid out in front of us, it will help reduce the tendency to procrastinate.

There are many things we can do, yet in the end it really is up to you to make the decision. Do you want your network marketing business to be successful or not?

What’s your solution to fighting procrastination, if all we get is about twenty-five thousand days how will you spend them?

Is network marketing getting ready to drive the next major economic powerhouse? In 2001 I remember reading an article which was an interview with Paul Zane Pilzer. Paul had written a book “The Wellness Revolution,” the article looks towards the future.

You can view the results today on the vision that was shared the explosion of the health and wellness industry within network marketing today. In tough economic times, budgets shrink unless your the government, then you just print more money!

As budgets shrink so does the concern for nutritional products. We’ve already seen numerous examples of companies scaling back, they use this time to clean house. This has occurred within many network marketing companies as well.

Everyone talks about being in front of the wave, yet for most of us we are always jumping in at the tail end of this wave. Often, we look at stocks in companies we wish we could have gotten into during the initial public offering.

When it comes to looking at a network marketing company do they belong to one of the me too companies, essentially offering the same products? Or is it visionary, looking towards the future doing what no other company has ever done?

About two years ago, I discovered just such a company while doing research for another project. Low and behold it was a network marketing company that was truly visionary. This was not another me too company but one that would bring to the market via word of mouth advertising something extraordinary.

It solved one of the greatest challenges, generating residual income and retaining it. With many companies you take two steps forward and sometimes three steps backwards. Yet, it doesn’t have to be this way if we choose our companies carefully.

The company that made my recommended network marketing company fits this model completely. Essentially a niche market, they already have more customers lined up then then all the others in this same field have installed.

For what I consider a first, this company recently was invited to Washington D.C. to meet with the Secretary of Energy along with eleven other companies in this industry. I’m not sure if any other network marketing company could even say that. I’m sure others have been summoned to answer questions but not in a planning stage.

While there are many great companies out there, some with awesome products, if people do not know they exist the company ceases to exist. I’ve seen many products; so unique and revolutionary they practically sell themselves.

But, if a company does not have a massive marketing budget to brand themselves and their products they are never found. Exactly why many new and innovative products and services are introduced via network marketing today. By taking, that road these companies are true visionaries! So are you a visionary?