Tim shared his disappointment about a prospect he spent money and a lot of time on, educating him about his product and then in the end, lost to his sponsor. The prospect’s reasoning, Tim’s sponsor was a “bigger deal.” Huh? Are you for real?

Sound familiar?

If you’ve been in the network marketing industry long enough, I bet it has happened to you too at least once. I know it happened to me before.

Yes it stings. Your ego gets rattled a bit, but you can’t let that get to you. And for God’s sake, don’t let self-doubt creep in. It has nothing to do with you.

When someone passes you by and joins with your sponsor instead, because “he’s a bigger deal” there’s nothing you could have done. Don’t worry, karma will take care of it. What goes around comes around.

Besides, every big shot started out as a little shot that kept on shooting.

But on to the story I was going to tell you….

The Donkey in The Well

One day a farmer’s donkey fell into a well. The poor thing cried piteously for hours as th farmer tried to figure out what to do.

Finally he decided since the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway, it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey. So, the farmer invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed shovels, and began to shovel dirt into the well.

All the other farm animals were very upset about this, because the donkey was their friend. But they discovered there was nothing they could do to help him. At first, when the donkey realized what was happening, he cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement, he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well, and was astonished at what he saw.

With every shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off, and take a step up on the dirt as it piled up. As the farmer’s neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well, and trotted off!

Takeaway from this story: Life is going to shovel dirt on you. All kinds of dirt. But each obstacle, road block, and yes, lost prospect can be a stepping stone. What happens to you isn’t nearly as important as how you react to it. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not giving up!

Shake it off, and take a step up!

There will be many more detours on our way to success. Taking the “scenic route” can be a great learning experience. I am a strong believer that everything in life happens for a reason.  Sometimes we find out what the reasoning was for certain things that happened in our life, and sometimes we don’t.

So, never let self-doubt creep in. Keep believing in yourself…
and keep on shooting!

To Your Massive Success!

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

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So, why are there still so many network marketers out there acting like secret agents around their friends, family and others in their circle of influence? Why are so many still not sharing the fact that they own and operate a network marketing business? Maybe they feel that they won’t be taken seriously by those closest to them.

But just think…would you spend a lot of money opening up a beautiful restaurant in a prime location, serving the most delicious food and then not tell anyone that it even exists?

I don’t think so. I bet the first people you would tell would be your family and friends. Right?

I know what you think now. “But, my sponsor told me to make a list of friends and family and I did. Then I approached them with my business opportunity and now nobody is talking to me anymore.”

Trust me, I know the feeling, and so do thousands of other successful network marketers. It’s a typical mistake people new to the network marketing industry make.

Here’s what went wrong ….You “approached people with your business opportunity.”

To stick with the above example of the restaurant that would be the same as asking people to partner up with you in the restaurant business.  But they don’t want to buy a restaurant franchise they just want to enjoy great food.

Instead you should have approached the situation this way…

“Hey uncle Marty, I just opened up a new restaurant downtown. If you know anyone that likes a great barbeque would you mind sending them my way?” Uncle Marty might say, “Hey, I like a good barbeque. Where’s your place located?”

Don’t pitch your network marketing business,
ask for the referral instead.

Here’s another example, relating more to a real network marketing business situation. Let’s say you are marketing a natural product that helps people with high cholesterol. The conversation then would go something like this…

“Hey uncle Marty, I started a new business marketing a natural product that helped me lower my cholesterol. By chance would you know anybody who might be interested in lowering their cholesterol?”

This approach takes the pressure off both of you. Uncle Marty doesn’t feel like he’s being pitched so he doesn’t put his guard up. Instead he’s listening and maybe already thinking of people he knows. And you feel more at ease because you are just asking for a referral.

There really is no need to act like a secret agent because of fear of rejection.  As a matter of fact doing so might cost you a great deal of business.

Did you know that every person has a circle of influence of around 250 people?  This is how many people usually attend a wedding or a funeral.

I actually put this number to the test, because I thought, like so many, “There’s no way I know 250 people.” So I sat down one day and started writing down the names of people that I know …and, who knew me by name as well.

I was really surprised when I came up with a list of 265 names right off the bat without even trying.

So I bet you a soda pop, if you sit down and do the same thing you will come up with at least 250 names as well. How many of these people know what you do? Seriously?!

Takeaway: Start working on that list and let everyone know what you do. Tell them that you are running your own network marketing business. However, stop pitching and start asking for referrals instead. You may be surprised about all the business coming your way.

To Your Success,

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

P.S. May I ask you a small favor? If you enjoyed this article would you be so kind to tweet it and share it with your friends on Facebook? Thank you ever so much!

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If you missed my previous post, you can catch it here, “A Degree in Network Marketing.”

Basically I was writing about Bethany College intending to offer a four year Degree in Marketing with emphasis on Network Marketing.

You can read Len Clements’ full article about it here.
http://www.marketwaveinc.com/viewalert.asp?id=153

You probably have a lot of questions about this like…

What’s the benefit of taking this class when I can find education
and training in Network Marketing out there for free?

What will I learn in this course?

Who is going to teach this class?

How much is it going to cost?

Is there an online version of this course?

You will find most if not all the answers to your questions by listening to this 49 minute interview Len Clements did with David Frost, Assistant Professor of Bethany’s Business & Economics Department who is spearheading their network marketing projects.

http://www.MarketWaveInc.com/RadioShow.asp

This has never been done before in the history of network marketing an industry that is 79 years old. Never before has a fully accredited undergraduate college offered a Degree in Network Marketing. And if Bethany College can pull this off and succeed at this, I’m sure a lot more colleges and universities around the country will follow in their footsteps.

Just think what this can do for our industry.

Please make sure you listen to this interview. I would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.

To Your Success,

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

P.S. As always, please share this with your friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter and don’t forget to give it a +1 if you found this information valuable. Thank you, I really appreciate you.

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1. Are You Still Acting Like a Secret Agent in Your Network Marketing Business?

Would having a Degree in Network Marketing make them feel better?

Maybe. At the very least it would lend more validity to the industry. No college in the world would offer a degree in something that wasn’t legitimate.

The business model of Network Marketing, or Multi-Level Marketing isn’t new. It’s been around for at least 50 years and it contributes billions of dollars yearly to the global economy. However, its reputation has only slightly improved in recent years. Mainly because of such celebrities as U.S. President Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and Warren Buffet. Just to name a few.

When you look at it with an open mind, it’s actually quite a brilliant business model. One that allows ordinary people start their own business, often just for a few hundred dollars start-up cost, and potentially go on and achieve extraordinary success. More millionaires have been made in this industry then in any other. But still it has a bad name because of a few rotten apples.

Bethany College to be the first to offer degree in Network Marketing

LINDSBORG, Kan.— Bethany College will add a new network marketing curriculum in fall 2011. The program was created through Bethany’s new Center for Servant Leadership that promotes the awareness, understanding, and practice of servant leadership by individuals and organizations.

This is a major step forward towards the acceptance of the Network Marketing business model and one that is in my opinion long overdue.

Robert Carlson, the chair of the business program said this in a statement, “Entrepreneurs have not been taught how to correctly use network marketing. This has led to many using unethical, unsustainable, and nonproductive network marketing business models. We want to fill the education gap and teach students how to use the foundations of servant leadership to successfully and honorably operate a network marketing business.”

I love it! It’s about time and I hope this is only the first of many colleges out there to offer a Degree in Network Marketing to their students.

You can read more of the article here: Bethany College to be the first to offer degree in Network Marketing

Also please read MLMWatchDog.com’s article on the same subject HERE.

A Degree in Network Marketing – We’ve Come a Long Way, Baby!

I don’t know about you, but I am getting tired of the looks I sometimes get from friends and family when I tell them what I do. It’s time for our industry to be treated with the respect it deserves. I feel (and that’s just my opinion) the success rate in our industry would rise significantly if newcomers to the industry will be taught correctly.

Here’ s looking forward to a bright future where we can all hold our heads up high and proudly proclaim…

“I am a Network Marketer and darn proud of it!…And by the way, did you know, you can even get a College Degree in Network Marketing  now?”

We’ve come a long way baby, and it’s only getting better.

To Your Success,

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

P.S. What are your thoughts about this? You know I always appreciate your feedback in the comments below. Please don’t miss the “Follow up on A Degree in Network Marketing” I wrote after Len Clements Founder & CEO of MarketWave,Inc, left me some links with more information in the comments below. You don’t want to miss this!

P.P.S. And as always I would really appreciated if you could share this article with your friends and followers….And…Don’t forget to give it your vote of approval by clicking the Google +1 button in the Sharebar. Thank You! I truly appreciate you!

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1. Are You Still Acting Like a Secret Agent in Your Network Marketing Business?

Imagine for a moment…

You are a Grammy Award winning musician who has played for royalty and sold-out audiences around the world. You normally get paid over $1,000 dollars per minute, but because of a few marketing mistakes you only earn $32 for a 45 minute performance.

This really happened.

Fortunately it didn’t happen by accident, but was an experiment conducted by The Washington Post in 2007.

What was the purpose of this experiment?

To find out if people when they are busy and distracted would notice that something special is taking place, would they be paying attention?

Grammy Award winner Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in the world, was to play a 45 minute concert in a D.C. subway station at the most busiest time of the day –early morning.  This wasn’t an ordinary street musician. People would fly all over the world to listen to him play. He even played in front of royalty and sold millions of CDs.

On this particular morning he was playing one of the most elegant pieces ever written and he was playing it on a 300 year old Stradivarius valued at $3.5 million dollars and often referred to as the most perfect instrument in existence today.

Watch this! You won’t believe what happened.

Joshua Bell played for 45 minutes. Over 1,000 people walked by him, not even giving him the time of day. Only 7 people stopped to listen.

That would normally have been a $45,000 performance. Instead he only earned $32.

Wow!

From over a thousand people who walked by, there was only one single person who recognized him and said hello. That’s incredible, given his talent and fame!

That’s less than a 1% conversion ratio.

There is a valuable lesson to be learned here about marketing mistakes.

Although this experiment wasn’t meant as a marketing lesson in particular, there’s one in there. A big one! From a marketing point of view, Joshua Bell’s concert in the subway was a complete and absolute disaster.

1) First, his timing was totally off.

At morning rush hour, people are preoccupied and busy. They have only one thing on their mind…their destination, which usually is work.

2) He performed for the wrong target market.

People in a subway usually aren’t the right audience for classical music. And if there were a select few, like the lady who recognized him, they certainly wouldn’t expect a musician of such magnitude as Joshua Bell to perform a concert there. He was totally out of place.

3) No branding.

Nobody knew who he was. No signs, no flyers, no posters, no announcements or third party introductions. Nothing!

What can you learn from these marketing mistakes?

1) Timing is everything!

People are busy. Your fellow networkers are busy. So if you want their undivided attention you have to give some thought to when the best time for your marketing will be.

According to 60 Second Marketer the best day of the week to send out email campaigns is Friday. What a coincidence, I have found this to be the best day to send out blog posts as well.

2) You have to target the right market for your product or service.

Just revisit the example above. Out of over 1,000 people, only 1 person recognized Joshua Bell. If you market to the masses, you will yield the same results.  Not good and very expensive on top of it.

Think about the junk mail that comes through your inbox or in your postal mail box. It is clearly not targeted to a specific niche, is it? It’s a total waste of advertising dollars. You have a much greater chance of making a sale if you target a specific niche, people who search for and want your products or service.

3) Branding is key!

If you want to be successful in your network marketing business then branding is Key. For one, you want to differentiate yourself from your competition. Stand out from the crowd! Be different. Make a name for yourself. You are uniquely YOU and you want to convey that to your audience with your unique selling point.

In time, people will get to know you and connect with you because you have what they want. They will recognize you by your brand and they will recommend and refer you to others.

Do you agree that making these 3 marketing mistakes can absolutely be fatal for your business? I always love your feedback so please leave your thoughts in the comments below.

To Your Success…

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

P.S. If you liked this post and found it of value, please share it with your friends using the share buttons at the top and to the left. Thank You!

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1. Are You Still Acting Like a Secret Agent in Your Network Marketing Business?

Success in Network Marketing

Absolutely! If you like it or not your daily activities or lack thereof, greatly influence whether you will have success in network marketing or not. If you are falling short on your goals maybe you should take a closer look and evaluate the reasons why.

Are your daily habits leading to success or failure?

It is very tempting to hop out of bed, firing up your laptop and see if “you’ve got mail.” But starting out your day by checking your email first thing in the morning might not be a good idea. At least this holds true for me.  If I don’t absolutely watch it, I find myself following this link and that link and before I know it it’s two hours later.

What is even worse is that this behavior sets the tone for my entire day. I will be out of focus and procrastinating the rest of the day. I then go to bed at night totally mad and very disappointed in myself because I know better.

Sounds familiar? Not a good thing, is it?

But even if you shoud have some really bad habits, like me, it’s never too late to drop them and develop some new and positive ones.

Here are 6 tips on how you can develop some good habits to help you have success in network marketing…

• Don’t start your day out disorganized and with no real focus and direction.
  Instead make a “To Do List” of your tasks the night before. Organize it by importance, which means the most important task you need to do the next day should be on top. And the least important task should be at the bottom on your list.
• Make it a happy day.
  You’ll get a lot more done if you have a positive mindset instead of being grumpy or in a lousy mood. I know it’s not always possible to jump out of bed with a smile on your face just excited about the new day. So if you happen to have got out of bed on the wrong food, not all is lost yet. Go for a walk. The fresh air will clear your mind and stimulate positive thoughts. Listen to some uplifting music or watch a short inspiring video.
• Don’t procrastinate.
  I know it’s easy to put things off that we dislike doing. But having them ‘hang over our head’ can really cripple our productivity. It’s best to get them out of the way as fast as possible. Brian Tracy recommends to “Eat that Frog.”  

  “Procrastination is attitude’s natural assassin. There is nothing so fatiguing as an uncompleted task.” William James

• Grow your knowledge.
  Successful network marketers always feed their minds. They are constantly learning new things, methods, strategies and so on. So make it a habit to learn something new every day, even if it is just a new word. Just think, within a year you will have broadened your vocabulary by 365 new words.
• Grow your network.
  Your success in network marketing can only be as large as your network. So make it a habit to grow it every day. Make the aquaintence of somebody new each day. Connect on Facebook or grow your Twitter account. Reach out to someone and lend a helping hand. Build those all-important relationships of know, like and trust.
• Avoid or limit time wasters.
  Email and social networks can really suck your time. So be sure to set a time limit for those activities. 10 to 15 minutes at a time should be sufficient enough to check your inbox, update your status and reply to messages. If you don’t get it all done in that time, carry it over to your next scheduled time slot for those tasks.

Developing these good habits should send you well on your way to reaching “success in network marketing”. What do you think? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

I’m off to the next task on my list…

To Your Success,

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

P.S. You certainly don’t have to, but it would be really awesome if you would re-tweet and share this post on Facebook. Thank You!

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I have known Mavis for about a year now and have learned a great deal from her about blogging and marketing online. Giving must be her middle name, because she always provides great value without asking for anything in return. A true Go-Giver!

So I dedicate today’s blog post to my good friend Mavis Nong. It is with great gratitude that I thank her for all she has been doing and continues to do for me as well as many others around the world.

Whether she knows it or not she has been a tremendous blessing to me over the past and especially during the past view weeks as I have learned a lot from her about improving my blog and how to reach higher rankings in search engines.

With this, I would like thank Mavis by giving back to her, as well as introduce her to those of my readers who may not know her yet.

Mavis is THE authority as far as optimizing your blog for the search engines. On her blog “Attraction Marketing Online” you can find tons of information about online marketing strategies, and amazing blogging tips to help you build a successful business online.

And that’s not all …Mavis also just started a new series called “Ask Mavis” where you can ask her any burning questions you may have about blogging and she will answer them for you. How cool is that? I tried that just the other day and Mavis answered my question about how to get indexed by Google.

With things constantly changing on the worldwide web it’s hard to keep up. Mavis however, seems to be always on top of things.

So be sure to head over to “Attraction Marketing Online” and bookmark it as I’m sure you will not want to miss any of the great information there.

Trust me, Mavis Nong’s blog is a very valuable resource and if you follow her suggestions you will be well on your way of having a successful blog yourself.

Mavis, a heartfelt thanks for all you have done! You are a true inspiration and I am very blessed to have you as my friend. Wishing you a bright and successful future!

Be blessed,

Ilka
The Enlightened Networker

P.S. Please tweet, bookmark and share this. Thank You!

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3. Are You Still Acting Like a Secret Agent in Your Network Marketing Business?

So what’s the difference?

Let me ask the same question a different way. Would you rather get paid for your own time and efforts or receive a share of other people’s time and efforts?

Let’s look at a couple of LINEAR income examples first:

If you have a job and get paid hourly wages, that’s called linear income. You put in your time and you get paid for the hours you work. If you have a day off or you are sick you don’t get paid. Doctors, lawyers or anyone who is self-employed earns a linear income as well. If a doctor doesn’t see patients or goes on vacation, he doesn’t get paid.

Now let’s take a look at some examples of RESIDUAL income:

Elvis made a lot of records during his lifetime.  Although he’s been dead for a long time now, every time one of his songs plays on the radio his family still receives “royalties.”

The same goes for movie stars. Regardless of how long ago they made the movie, every time it plays on TV or is sold on a DVD they receive royalties for it. Just like Elvis, they get paid over and over for it forever.

You may ask, …”Well how does earning residual income
vs linear income relate to me??”

If you have a MLM home based business you are creating a “royalty income” aka “residual income” of your own. You do something once, like acquiring a new customer for your company, and you will get paid on that customer as long as he or she stays with you. Every time that customer places an order, you get paid a percentage.

You can also leverage your time and efforts by inviting people to join your team and teach them to do the same … acquiring new customers for your company. Then you also get paid a percentage on their efforts.

Residual income happens when this royalty income starts to grow. Let’s say your customers love your products so much they start telling their family and friends and they all become your customers too. And then they in turn tell all of their friends as well. That’s kind of like how AOL grew so big so fast. Word of mouth is the fastest and most cost effective way of acquiring new customers.

Once this happens, things take on a life of their own. You can’t stop your business from growing, even if you tried.  When you’re sick or on vacation your business just keeps growing as one happy customer tells another.

Now, that’s the difference between trading time for money like with linear income, where you work a certain number of hours and get paid for those hours. And residual income where you do something once and get paid for it over and over again and also where you leverage your time with others.

Again, the question … would you rather earn residual income or linear income?

If you answered RESIDUAL INCOME than I would suggest you start working on that. Start today! You can do it part-time while you are still earning a linear income from your job.  Commit a certain amount of hours to work your network marketing business every week.  Set realistic goals. Remember, you eat an elephant one bite at a time. Be consistent. Be patient. And never, ever give up.

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In fact, we all love heroes so much that we wanted to be heroes ourselves! Not a remote thing to really think about when you’re a little child, especially if you’ve become so enamored with the powers that one could possess – power to zap enemies and make them vanish right before your very eyes, power to fly (a favorite!), power to carry and lift heavy objects like buildings, power to stop objects from its tracks, the power of heightened senses (sight and hearing).

As we grow old, we lose sight of what it takes to be a hero anymore and as we fall into the daily humdrum of everyday life, we don’t see ourselves as someone extraordinary  -  so un-hero-like.

But, here’s the catch: in our seeming ordinary life, we just might have what it takes to be a hero.

1. CALL. Heroes don’t start out strong. They are just as ordinary as all of us. In most movies, becoming a hero begins with a call to do something, a mission. At which, you begin a journey.
2. TRIALS. Tasks will be thrown at the hero in progressing levels of difficulty until one is considered worthy to move on to other tasks. In this stage, however, one shouldn’t ignore signs of help and guidance from unlikely people who could provide the necessary wisdom to help the hero proceed. These “helpers” may just provide the right weapons to help a hero succeed in a quest.
3. INSIGHTS. Alas, all trials have been successfully hurdled and the hero is empowered, emboldened, and transformed. New insights gained, powers and capabilities discovered. And, with this renewed strength and knowledge, the hero proceeds.
4. RETURN. The first journey was a journey towards self-discovery as to what it really takes to be a hero. Now, a new journey begins. Equipped with the right mindset and an awakened version of one’s self, the hero is now ready to return and go on another journey to fulfill your lifelong mission or task.

In MLM as with any other business, we are all embarking on a journey towards success. We are here because of a call, we‘ve encountered trials that could have weakened our spirits but thankfully, because of wise mentors and great advice from colleagues, we’ve moved on and on. We are now better and enlightened networkers, and we are empowered online entrepreneurs because of these trials that shaped us into who we are now. We have transformed.

And just like a hero, we are moving on to another journey of transformation – that of the people who count on us, building them up to be the best in their business.
That’s all it takes to be a hero in the MLM business world.

Do you have what it takes to be a hero? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below. If you enjoyed this post, don’t forget to share, retweet, reblog, or bookmark! Thank you!

To your success,

Elmar
EmpoweredOnlineEntrepreneurs.com

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If you are a regular visitor of The Enlightened Networker then you know that at the beginning of every month I highlight my Top Commentators for the previous month.

Guess what? It’s this time again. Time to say “Thank You” and appreciate some of the great people who through sharing their valuable input and thoughts make this blog the success it has been enjoying over the past year or so.

I am so very thankful to all of you who visit and please know that I deeply appreciate every single one of you.

So once again, it is with great gratitude that I announce the Top Commentators of The Enlightened Networker for February. Please make sure if you have not already done so, to go visit their blogs as they all share excellent content on a continuous basis.

Oliver Tausend … is not only a fellow German, but also a network marketer and blogger who shares great insights on his blog about personal development, MLM success secrets and financial intelligence.

Oliver’s latest blog post:  MLM Success Secrets – What Secrets? Pt. 1

Volker Schäfer …my friend from Austria is an internet  marketer. You can either visit his website OnlineBizNow.com or his German Blog where he shares his great insights. He has also created some killer “How to…” videos about Twitter and Facebook.

Volker’s latest blog post: Setzen Sie Ihre Standards – 2BeKnown hat recht

Marcus Baker …also one of my Top Commentators for December is an internet network marketer . He also runs a very insightful blog focusing on personal development as well as running a successful network marketing internet business.

Marcus’ latest blog post: How to Install Your People System in Five Simple Steps

Who will be the Top 3 next month? Will you be among them?

All you need to do is visit my blog and leave your thoughts in the comment box. If you are one of the top 3 commentators you will be featured next month with a link back to your blog. (Please make sure you use Gravatar so I can include your image.)

Again, congratulations to my Top Commentators for February and thank you very much for your continued support!

To Your Success,

Ilka Flood
The EnlightenedNetworker

P.S. Sharing is caring! Make sure you re-tweet and share this post if you enjoyed it. Thank You!

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