Network Marketing: The Right Place & The Right Time to Earn an Income by Helping Others

By Heather C Stephens | Published: April 9, 2010

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Network marketing is a business where the better you get at solving problems for others and the better you get at helping others reach their goals, the more money you make.

Everyone can be successful in network marketing because we have a system based on skills that everyone can learn and your upline will coach you until you are competent!

I like to think about starting a network marketing business like learning to ride a bike. You have to get on it, know where you’re going, and you’ve got to pedal your feet and do the work. At the same time your team and your company run alongside of you, at your pace, holding on to the back of your seat until you’re able to balance on your own!

The network marketing industry is in the beginning of the growth stage and the next five years we will see huge growth in the industry. Combining that with the number people in need of extra income and a desire for more time with their family, network marketing is a great option for people who love helping others, like working as a team, want to have a business where they are rewarded for their efforts, and want to build a legacy for the future without a lot of risk!

Don’t take my word for it, watch the video below and see what the experts are saying!

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Network Marketing & Personal Growth

By Heather C Stephens | Published: March 31, 2010

I had an interesting chat with one of my businss partners this afternoon about an old friend she had lunch with.  She hadn’t seen this friend in a long time and this wasn’t a network marketing business-focused lunch, but a let’s catch up girlfriend kind of a lunch. 

My business partner said, “She’s the same as she’s always been…no better, no worse.”  I guess we could be happy that she wasn’t worse, but my first thought was of what a waste the last few years of this woman’s life had been.  It saddened me to think of where I would be withouth the personal growth I’ve gone through in my network marketing business.

Before getting into network marketing, I really had no goals aside from wanting to be a good mom, and wife.  My goals were simple…get my Christmas shopping done before the 26th of December and someday get the sock basket folded and empty.  I read romance novels, watched TV, and felt frustrated for not being able to afford the house I really wanted.

My focus is completely different.  I don’t want to be a good mom and wife, I want to be an exceptional mom and wife.  I don’t read romance novels, I read personal development books, business books, and things that expand my thinking. 

I still have a basket of unfolded, unmatched socks, but who cares?  I’m making a difference, a REAL difference in the lives of other people!  I’m raising my kids to see opportunity everywhere, to be creative and clever in how they solve problems.  My focus is not on me, and what I don’t have, but on others and what I can give to them.

I know there are things about me that will always be the same.  My laugh and my smile, maybe they’d be enhanced by the start of a few laugh lines around my eyes, of which I’m proud!   The funny way I have of looking at things, and the way I tip my head when I’m listening to something someone is saying (I think I learned that behavior from my chocolate lab), would probably be the same as well. 

But the way I look at the world has completely changed.  Because of the personal growth I’ve gone through in my business and the people I’ve been surrounded with in my business, my attitude is so much more positive than it ever has been.  I see opportunity and goodness everywhere I look.  I can’t help but be bursting with a zillion ideas all the time.  I’ve learned to focus in on the interests of others and see strengths where they can’t see them for themselves.

I’m so thankful for the personal growth I’ve gone through in my network marketing business. The phone calls that didn’t kill me; the public speaking that actually ended up being fun; the no’s I have heard that were really a blessing in disguise; have all made me a better version of myself. 

I hope that if I have lunch with someone who “knew me when,” they’d recognize me on the outside, but after talking with me, feeling my sincere interest in them, and positive outlook on life, they’d hardly recognize me for all the personal growth I’ve done on the inside. :)

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Shifting from Scarcity to Success

By Heather C Stephens | Published: March 24, 2010

I just posted another article about fear on one of my other blogs, that I’d like to share here as well.  You can read the original article at Clever Marketer.

In the article I shared how my son putting my cell phone in my coffee lead to me realizing how I let my fear of technology hold me back from expanding my business online, and the thoughts I went through to overcome the intimidation I felt about Internet marketing and technology. 

The purpose of this article here, is to share how I let another kind of fear recently hold me back, and what I’m doing to push past it.

I had a situation this past week where there was someone in my life who was talking to me about her husband being laid off.  She was concerned that their benefits were running out and worried about how they would be able to pay for their daughter’s private school.  She wondered if the school would possibly give them a scholarship or something along those lines. 

This woman is a very tallented hairdresser and is an honest, Godly woman whom I admire and enjoy spending time with.  She’s classy and friendly and I think she’d be awesome at network marketing.  She even purchases products regularly from me and loves them!   To wrap this all up, she is obviously someone I should share my opportunity with, and she opened up the door for me perfectly to invite her to hear more about how this business might be a way to help her pay for her daughter’s education as well as provide some needed security for her family and it could even enhance her salon business.

But I caved!  I said nothing.  I listened to her share her story and told her I would pray for her and her family.  That’s it!  After hanging up the phone I felt sick to my stomach. 

What happened to me? 

Why didn’t I say something? 

I may be able to help this woman change her life and I chickened out!

I tried picking up the pone to call her back, only to hang it up again. 

After giving it some thought, I realize what happened. 

My negativity and self centered thinking kept me from doing my job and helping someone else!

Listening to this woman’s story hit close to home with me and brought up feelings of scarcity.   My husband had shared with me that morning how badly he was feeling because one of the men he works with, who has had his hours cut for several months, was foreclosing on his home.   I felt vulnerable after that conversation because although my business is growing and paying us a nice residual paycheck every month, it’s not where I want it to be, and we still are dependent on his income for part of our monthly expenses.

As frustrated as I was with myself, I am thankful I didn’t speak to this woman about the business.  I know that had I said something, I would have been coming from the wrong place. 

We love word of mouth advertising.  We can tell our friends about our favorite wine, our favorite babysitters, and we love to promote other people and their businesses, but when we have something to personally gain from sharing something, it feels differently.  The only way I know of to over come this is to make sure that my focus is on helping the other person and not being focused on the outcome or how it may affect me or my business.

If I knew someone who was hiring in her husband’s field, I would have told her about them.  If I knew someone who was looking for a hairdresser, I would have told her about it.  The difference is that the outcome was different and had no bearing on me or my life.

But, because I was feeling vulnerable and in a scarcity mindset,  I had shifted from focusing on her, to focusing on me.   

For the last five years, I have worked very hard to remain positive.  I do not watch the news, I listen to positive audios and read daily to keep my focus on the opportunities before me to help others.  I have surrounded myself with positive, possibility thinking types of people, but this past week, for me it wasn’t enough.  I need to have a more conscious focus on the positive.

So this week I’ve started journaling all the good things that I have to share with others.  I’m writing down everything from a warm hug, and friendly smile, to a helpful phone call, and a thank you for great service.  I’m consciously looking for the good around me, and it’s having a direct correlation on my business, already! 

I feel more aware of the gift I have to share with my business and opportunity, and the responsibility I have to share it.  How it might affect them positively?  What if it is exactly what they’ve been praying for?  What if it changes their life?  Who else’s life might be changed through them?  What impact might they be able to make on their family and community? 

I’m also feeling more aware of the consequences that might happen if I don’t share the opportunity with them.  Who else might suffer as a consequence of that?  I feel like I have more conviction, more passion, and I have more energy, which is resulting in more momentum, and more success!

I’ve had 2 people who I’d lost touch with in my business call me and ask for information.  And I’ve called this woman to schedule an appointment for a haircut and a color.  I’m not going with an agenda, but with an open heart and a focus on how I can help her, however that may look.

What do you do to stay focused on the positive, and centered on others in your business?  Please share your secrets for staying positive in the comments below!

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Favorite Quotes on Self Belief, Making a Difference, Hard Work & Thinking Bigger by Will Smith

By Heather C Stephens | Published: March 16, 2010

My favorite Will Smith quotes

from “Will’s Wisdom”

 

Making a Difference:

“If you’re not making someone else’s life better then you’re wasting your time. 
Your life will become better by making other lives better. ”
~Will Smith

 

Thinking Bigger:

“Being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocraty. 
Why would you be realistic?  What’s the point of being unrealistic?

It’s unrealistic to walk into a room and flip a switch and lights come on. 
That’s unrealistic, but fortunately Edison didn’t think so.  

It’s unrealistic to think you’re going to bend a piece of metal and fly people over an ocean.
That’s unrealistic, but fortunately the Wright brothers and others didn’t believe that.”
~Will Smith

~~~~~

“I think that there is acertain delusional quality that all successful people have to have. you have to believe that something different than what has happend for the last 50 million years of history, you have to believe that something different can happen.”
~ Will Smith

Persistence & Hard Work:

“Talent you have naturally, skill is only developed by hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft. No matter how talented you are you talent is going to fail you if you are not skilled.”
~Will Smith

~~~~~

“You don’t say, ‘I’m going to build the biggest, baddest, greatest wall that has ever been built.’ 
You say, ‘I’m going to lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid
and you do that every single day and soon you have a wall.’”
~Will Smith

 

Self Belief:

“We didn’t grow up with the sense that where we were is where we were going to be.
We grew up with the sense that where we were almost didn’t matter
because we were becoming something greater!”
~Will Smith

~~~~~

“Don’t ever let somebody tell you can’t do something.
You have got a dream, you’ve got to protect it. 
People who can’t do something themselves,
they want to tell you, ‘You can’t do it.’
You want something? Go get it. Period!” 
~ Will Smith, Pursuit of Happyness

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3 Tips for Reaching Your Network Marketing Business Goals

By Heather C Stephens | Published: February 3, 2010

Just getting started has to be one of the most difficult parts of achieving your goals in your network marketing business!  It’s so much fun to dream & plan, but it’s easy to get stuck in this phase and avoid taking the first action-step.

When you’re planning and dreaming, it’s easy to feel like you’re doing something about your goals, but if you never take action, you’ll never achieve them.  Taking action means stepping outside your comfort zone, and is a requirement to making progress.

up hill climb to goal

So many times when we finally muster up enough courage to take those first steps forward, it can feel a lot harder than we thought it would.  It may feel like you’re swimming against the current or pedalling uphill.  Obstacles, setbacks, delays, fears, anxiety and lack of motivation all creep in and slow your progress.

When this happens, most people give up.  They may feel like the timing wasn’t right, like it wasn’t meant to be, or that they weren’t taking the right action.  Sometimes people push the goal aside and busy themselves with non-productive work and promise that they’ll make those calls, or schedule their appointments “someday”.  And sadly, many times, they will settle for the mediocre life they’ve got because they don’t believe they have what it takes.

Is this sounding familiar to you?  It does to most!

Let’s dust off those dreams, try again!  Network Marketing is like a choose your own adventure book.  How about if we choose an easier adventure that will get you to your goal.

Read More »

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Network Marketing Recruitment: Mistakes MLM Marketers Make that Lead to Misperceptions

By Heather C Stephens | Published: February 3, 2010

Most, if not all network marketers, have at some point in their business, felt the frustration of knowing you had the ability to help someone but they were not open to listening to the opportunity because of misperceptions they have about the industry.  These misperceptions are obstacles we all face, in our attempts to help others who really would benefit from our opportunity & products. 

The problem is that these misperceptions didn’t come out of nowhere.  They were, unfortunately, developed because of negative experiences that people had within the network marketing industry. 

When network marketers hype up and spam their opportunities on people the misperceptions of the public grow. 

A lot of people have entered network marketing having been given the belief that it is an easy road to success.  There is nothing easy about success, regardless of the type of business you’re in.  Yes, the network marketing industry does provide incredible opportunity for someone to enter into business ownership with little risk, and have the potential of earning a full time income working part time. 

People have become immune to the true power behind network marketing due to marketers hyping up their opportunities with promises such as: “Earn $100,000 a month in your first year.”  (I don’t care if you or SOMEONE in your company achieved that level of success in a short amount of time, I guarantee it’s the exception, not the average.) 

I see so many marketers online who spam social media with links to their opportunity, putting down other companies & products as well as trying to recruit people from other companies.  Politicians may practice this kind of behavior at election time, but there should be no room for it in a network marketing business. (I don’t think there is room for it in politics either, but that’s another story.) 

It’s devastating to all of us as network marketers, that some marketers in the industry feel that heavily recruiting network marketers from other companies is an acceptable way to build a business.  For these reasons the Direct Selling Association has strict rules against “attempts to convert one or more salesforce members from one company to another.”

I understand the draw.  By attempting to prospect people from other companies, there are fewer objections to overcome regarding the concept of network marketing and a marketer stands a chance to benefit from someone who has already been trained and/or may already have connections within the industry. 

I challenge you to stop and consider what this says about the person doing the prospecting.  To me, prospecting marketers from another network marketing company is evidence that they:

  1. are not solid in their OWN belief of network marketing
  2. are not confident in their own ability to educate someone about the benefits of the network marketing industry
  3. are not confident in their ability to train their teammates and grow a strong organization
  4. are looking for an “easy” way to build their business by hoping to get lucky and sponsor someone with the skills from a previous business who will build their organization for them
  5. are living with a scarcity mindset that there are not enough new people who will be interested in their opportunity

When someone tries to promote their network marketing opportunity to a marketer in another company, saying that their opportunity is better and puts down the other company’s opportunity they are ultimately tarnishing the perceptions of the entire industry.  Instead of spreading negativity, as network marketers, our focus should be on promoting confidence about the network marketing industry as a whole.  

Before attempting to directly prospect people from another network marketing company, please stop to consider this:  If you prospected distributors from another network marketing company and were successful in persuading them to switch companies and join your business, what is going to stop that new business partner from switching companies again,  taking a huge portion of the organization they’ve built with them?  

I also see a lot of network marketers who decide to build  a business in more than one company.  In order to reach the top of your company, you have to focus! Building a team with more than one network marketing company is, in many cases, against both company’s policies & procedures manuals, and it simply does not work!  

What happens when you place a magnifying glass in direct sunlight on paper?  Nothing if you’re constantly moving it around!  In order to harness the power of the sun, you have to magnify the focus on one target.  It’s the same in a network marketing business.  Your focus will be constantly moving around if you attempt to build more than one organization at the same time.    

There are some definite benefits to sticking with one opportunity!  Mark Yarnell, a network marketer of probably 30+ years, states, in his book, Your First Year in Network Marketing, that “As many as 95 percent of those people who remain in this industry for ten years or longer reach the highest pay levels in their respective companies.”  The residual income in network marketing comes from building a large organization within in one company. 

As marketers we can elevate the perception of the industry in the minds of others by practicing the utmost integrity in our business building practices.  Let’s stop the “mine is better than yours” mentality and remove the hype that so many insecure marketers hide-behind.  We have one of the greatest opportunities for someone to build a significant income, part time, without the risks of traditional business ownership and it doesn’t need to be hyped up to appeal to people!  

It’s an honor to be a part of such a powerful industry and to be surrounded by people who are making a difference in the lives of others as well as their own.  How many industries are as full of giving, caring people who spread positivity and hope to others; people who constantly strive to better themselves and better the world around them? 

Network Marketers have such an incredible gift to share with the world and help change lives.  It’s our duty to protect that gift and to use it to make a positive influence on as many people as possible with both our products & our opportunity.  

Zig Zigglar’s Golden Rule of Business:  “You can have anything you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.”  If all of us, as an industry, take the focus off of ourselves and focus our attention on figuring out how to make a positive influence on the lives of others, regardless of if it’s with our company’s opportunity or not, we will truly be able to change the misperceptions of the industry and change the lives of many people in the process!

Posted in Network Marketing Recruitment | 4 Comments

Self Belief: The Tale of the Tiny Frogs

By Heather C Stephens | Published: February 2, 2010

The Tale of the Tiny Frogs

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7 Steps to Achieve Your Dreams

By Heather C Stephens | Published: February 2, 2010

7 Steps to Achieve Your Dreams

fom Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Story as told by Tony Robbins

 

  1. Know what you want & why you want it
  2. Don’t settle for anything less that your dreams
  3. Think about how you can touch other people instead of worrying about yourself:
  4. Take persistent action
  5. Know your outcome
  6. Be willing to do whatever it takes to get what you want
  7. The greatest revenge to dream-stealers is massive success

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Affiliate Disclosure

By Heather C Stephens | Published: February 1, 2010
Please note the following:
  1. We recommend products and services in this website based in part on a good faith belief that the purchase of such products or services will help readers in general.
  2. We accept no responsibility for any purchases you make, business you conduct or relationships you may initiate with anyone listed or recommended on this site.
  3. You should always conduct your own investigation (perform due diligence) before buying products or services from anyone via the Internet.  This includes products and services sold via hyperlinks embedded on this web site.
  4. We promise to do our best to make sure all of the links and listings stay up to date, through regular updates and reviews. Unfortunately, the nature of the internet is that links and offers sometimes expire as time passes. If you encounter any broken links, please contact me.
  5. In some cases, we receive affiliate commissions for listed referrals.  These commissions help us provide more and better services to our valued customers.

AFFILIATE COMPENSATION DISCLOSURE

This this website contains information created and maintained by other individuals and organizations.  The owner of this site cannot control or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, relevance, or timeliness of any information or privacy policies posted on this web site.

You should assume that all references to products and services in this website are made because material connections exist between the owner of this web site and the providers of the mentioned products and services (“Provider”).  You should also assume that all hyperlinks within this web site are affiliate links for either (a) the Author or (b) someone else who is an affiliate for the mentioned products and services (individually and collectively, the “Affiliate”).

The Affiliate recommends products and services in this website based in part on a good faith belief that the purchase of such products or services will help readers in general. The Affiliate has this good faith belief because (a) the Affiliate has tried the product or service mentioned prior to recommending it or (b) the Affiliate has researched the reputation of the Provider and has made the decision to recommend the Provider’s products or services based on the Provider’s history of providing these or other products or services. The representations made by the Affiliate about products and services reflect the Affiliate‘s honest opinion based upon the facts known to the Affiliate at the time this blog was distributed by the Affiliate.

Because there is a material connection between the Affiliate and Providers of products or services mentioned in this web site, you should always assume that the Affiliate may be biased because of the Affiliate’s relationship with a Provider and/or because the Affiliate has received or will receive something of value from a Provider.

Perform your own due diligence before purchasing a product or service mentioned in this video. The type of compensation received by the Affiliate may vary.  In some instances, the Affiliate may receive complimentary products, services, or money from a Provider prior to mentioning the Provider’s products or services in this web site.

In addition, the Affiliate may receive a monetary commission or non-monetary compensation when you take action by clicking on a hyperlink in this web site. This includes, but is not limited to, when you purchase a product or service from a Provider after clicking on an affiliate link in this web site.

YOU SHOULD ALWAYS CONDUCT YOUR OWN INVESTIGATION (PERFORM DUE DILIGENCE) BEFORE BUYING PRODUCTS OR SERVICES FROM ANYONE VIA THE INTERNET. THIS INCLUDES PRODUCTS AND SERVICES SOLD VIA HYPERLINKS EMBEDDED IN THIS WEB SITE.

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Earnings Disclaimers

By Heather C Stephens | Published: February 1, 2010

EARNINGS DISCLAIMERS

The information presented in this Website is intended to be for your educational and entertainment purposes only.

We are not presenting you with a business opportunity.

We are not presenting you with a distributorship.

We are not making any claims as to income you may earn.

We are not presenting you with an opportunity to get rich.

Before embarking on any endeaver, please use caution and seek the advice your own personal professional advisors, such as your attorney and your accountant.

Where income figures are mentioned (if any), those income figures are anecdotal information passed on to us concerning the results achieved by the individual sharing the information. We have performed no independent verification of the statements made by those individuals. Please do not assume that you will make those same income figures.

Please do not construe any statement in this website as a claim or representation of average earnings. There are NO average earnings. Testimonials and statements of individuals are not to be construed as claims or representations of average earnings. We cannot, do not, and will not make any claims as to earnings, average, or otherwise.

Success in any endeavor is based on many factors individaul to you. We do not know your educational background, your skills, your prior experience, or the time you can and will devote to the endeavor.

Please perform your own due diligence before embarking on any course of action. Follow the advice of your personal qualified advisors.

There are risks in any endeavor that are not suitable for everyone. If you use capital, only “risk” capital should be used.

There is no guarantee that you will earn any money using any of the ideas presented in our in materials. Examples in our materials are not to be interpreted as a promise or guarantee of earnings.  Many factors will be important in determining your actual results and no guarantees are made that you will achieve results similar to ours or anybody else’s. No guarantee is made that you will achieve any result at all from the ideas in our material.

You agree that we will not share in your success, nor will we be responsible for your failure or for your actions in any endeavor you may undertake.

Please understand that past performance cannot be an indication of possible future results.

Materials in our product and our website may contain information that includes or is based upon forward-looking statements within the meaning of the securities litigation reform act of 1995. Forward-looking statements give our expectations or forecasts of future events. You can identify these statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. They use words such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with a description of potential earnings or financial performance. Any and all forward looking statements in our materials are intended to express our opinion of earnings potential. They are opinions only and should not be relied upon as fact.

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