Unfortunately, Network Marketing companies come and go, or, you are someone that comes and goes, bouncing from one company to the next. Although a company seems solid, with a good product and great compensation, there’s no guarantee that it will be around forever.

My BIGGEST mistake as a home business owner, was putting all of my eggs into one basket. I put so much trust in the concept/product/owners of the company I was part of that I didn’t have a back-up plan. Now, if it’s all solid, there are no worries. But, if things go a different direction, if the company crashes, if the products lose their value or if any other variable happens that effects the company, it also directly effects your income. Instead of putting so much into the company, put that focus on the goal.

So imagine that 6 figure income you had managed to create while working your home business, suddenly gone, or significantly reduced. Now, if it was your doing, that’s one thing. But if was a direct correlation to something that happened in the company, that’s an entire different story! Without pointing fingers or taking a victims mentality, how does one recover from something like that?

Here’s how I recovered……I relied on the online presence I had. With the amount of content I have all over the net, the presence in social networking sites and the organic rankings on all major search engines, I had choices. With consistent, FREE traffic coming to my website, this site, a crash of a company wasn’t a complete disaster. All that did was gave me options.

I could…….

1. Join another business opportunity or….
2. Do something else with the traffic I was getting.

I could develop my own products and promote them on my site. I could completely monetize my website with sponsored listing from ad networks such as Adsense. I could continue to capture leads and sell them. I could promote affiliate products on my site. The list could go on and on.

So if you find yourself in a home based business, and you are purchasing leads, spending high dollar on CPC ads or don’t have a web presence, you may want to rethink your strategy. Set yourself up to win regardless of the opportunity.

One thing I teach people about marketing is to use three or four different sources of lead generation. If one or two drop out, you have the other two to rely on until they can be replaced. Without spreading yourself too thin, the same thing applies for your sources of income.

I believe in the Cortez concept of burning your boats, but I also believe in having a back up plan. Expect the best but prepare for the worst and you’ll never find yourself in a hard spot, without options.

Stay tuned for my SECOND BIGGEST MISTAKE in the next post!

Did you know that more than 50% of small businesses don’t have a website? For me, it’s insane to think about running a business without one. Call me an internet nerd, but when I think of starting a business, the first thing I think of taking care of is snagging up a good domain name……not finding investors or establishing an LLC. If I can’t get a good domain name, FORGET ABOUT IT! The business won’t work! I know…I’m weird like that. But that’s how important I feel a website is to a business. Instead of asking for a business card, people often ask for a website. It’s a form of validation and tells your potential customers who you are and what you offer.

And I’m willing to bet that the number of businesses without websites is even higher, including within home based businesses. When I first entered the industry of network marketing, some of the top income earners in the industry were still using solely traditional marketing techniques to generate their customer base: Print ads, billboards and direct mailing. Only after noticing the gradual decline in their income and the gradual incline in those who had a web presence did they inherit an interest to learn. Think about it. How many home based businesses do you know of that depend on house parties and hotel meetings to promote their product or service? And how many of those business truly succeed on an individual basis?

Unless you consider an average of less than a thousand dollars a year a success, not many!

A business without a website is like milk without the cookies…..they’re just not as good by themselves.

I don’t know what keeps business owners from creating a site for their business. Maybe a lack of knowledge or an unnecessary additional expense. Whatever it is, if you’re a small business owner, it is worth the effort. Think about the pros and cons.

Marketing/Advertising Cost = $600/month for a billboard OR ten years for a domain and hosting (for you beginners….a website).

Reach = Potentially world-wide with the ability to be found in first page results, all over the world, for the key phrase of your choice.

Maintenance = Virtually none aside from an occasional blog post or product update. Again…it’s worth it. Give and you’ll get.

Traffic = The chances of someone building a freeway next to your billboard for a drastic traffic spike are slim. There is no limit to the amount of traffic you can receive to a site. And it’s extremely targeted! You’ll never see a billboard go viral like a helpful article online.

If done right, a website for your business can make a VERY significant difference in your results. It’s all about branding yourself and extending your reach. More visitors to your business is a good thing. That’s what a website does….it brings traffic….and traffic equals dollar signs where I come from.

If you are a business owner and need help getting started, let me know. I have assisted business owners create successful small business websites for their business over the last several years. Look at my website as an example. Centered around the Home Based Business industry, I rank first page for key phrases such as home based business and business opportunity, to name a few. To take the first step, Click HERE.

 

Last week my wife and I dropped the kids off at the parents house and took off to the tropical island of Puerto Rico! We had an absolute blast and with this being our second visit to the island, we appreciated it even that much more. The weather was perfect and the resort we stayed at was top notch. We stayed at the El Conquistador in Fajardo in the Las Casitas section of the resort. Our room was a one bedroom with a living area and kitchen. It had a patio that overlooked the ocean from up high on the tropical ocean side cliff. The view was inspiring!

So while were were there, our days looked like this:

Saturday – We arrived at the San Juan airport and were greeted by our transportation to the resort by a woman holding a sign with our name on it. We identified our luggage and didn’t have to touch it from that point on. We had a Ford Excursion limo pick us up for the hour long ride to the El Conquistador resort in Fajardo. We ate lunch on a balcony that overlooked the ocean with other self-made millionaires and multiple 6-figure earners in my business opportunity. We hung out at the pool most of that day, just soaking up the sun. That night we went kayaking through a jungle channel which contained Bio-luminescent micro plankton.(I’ll tell you more about that later! Awesome!) After kayaking we hung out in the hot tub until midnight right on our balcony.

Sunday – We paid a visit to Palamino Island just off the coast of the resort. There I snorkeled while Amy soaked up the sun as she normally does. Later that night we had a catered dinner in one of the top steak restaurants in the country called the Strip House which overlooked the channel and cove we kayaked to on Saturday night. This dinner was followed by a small get-together for leaders in my business called “The Repeaters party.”

Monday – We went hiking through the Puerto Rican Rain Forest and guess what….we got rained on! Go figure. The rain forest was amazing. Look for some video footage a little later on. Monday night we attended a welcome reception to the event we were there to attend. We ate buffet style and were entertained by music and awesome company.

Tuesday – Yossi Ghinsberg was our first speaker of the conference. If you have never heard Yossi speak, do it. He is amazing. Following Yossi we heard from Steve Donahue and his uncharted journey across the desert. That night was pretty eventful. We went out to eat with Tony and Jessica Rush and Roger and Suzanne Curwin. Tuesday was the 13th of October, my birthday. The day I turned 33 years old I also broke my tooth on the wrapped duck! Later that night we watched the a new documentary that is soon to be released by our company featuring Michael Jr.

Wednesday – We heard from our final speaker, Neal Petersen, on Wednesday morning. He was great as well. More on him coming in my future posts. We spent our entire afternoon on Palamino Island once again where Danny Hawman and I snorkeled to a separate island approximately 100 yds x 50 yds in size. It was gorgeous! That night we attended a black tie gala to conclude the conference. The steak melted in your mouth..it was perfect. Amy and I spent much of the night taking pictures of ourselves making goofy faces with random cameras we found laying around. Fun stuff. We danced the night away to a band that was the best I have seen in a long time. After which we soaked it up on our balcony in the hot tub. What a great way to close out the event.

Thursday – Our car came to pick us up at 5:50 am, just when the sun was rising across the ocean. Our room faced the east so as soon as you walk out the door….there it was! Amazing! And I tell you what…the best place to ride is in the back of a nice car! Our trip to the airport was just as nice as our trip to the resort.

So that’s it. That was our experience in Puerto Rico. It was amazing, life changing and inspiring and at this very moment, I am going through some withdrawals, wanting to go back. Aside from me breaking my tooth, it was an absolutely perfect trip!

In my last post I spoke about having the antidote to all the negativity in the media out there. It seems that we are all constantly bombarded with sad, bad or worse news by the media. It’s not healthy to be exposed to that day in and day out. I heard a statistic about children the other day. It said that by the time our kids reach a certain age, and it was a very young age, they will have seen murders, rapes, beatings, war, famine, hunger, and all the things we intend for our children NEVER to experience. And they get it all from the media.

The Road Less Traveled

Well here is the antidote to that. This is the media I have been speaking of. This is the kind of positiveness that inspires. This was produced by the company I work with. This is why I am so passionate about what I do and what I assist others in doing. It’s a documentary featuring a comedian named Michael Jr. who is someone who is making a positive impact in the lives of others. This is a small peek into the type of media my business opportunity offers. It’s inspiring!

I hope you’ll enjoy the video as much as I did!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MikeRrsslhU[/youtube]

You all remember the game you used to play back in grade school called “Follow the Leader” right? If not, allow me to refresh your memory a bit. The basic concept of the game is to have one person doing things that everyone else has to follow, or mimic. There’s no real way to win the game as far as I can remember unless everyone else in the game can’t duplicate what the leader is doing. I think the reason the entire game was invented was to teach kids how to follow instructions and to keep them entertained.

Again, as I have mentioned before, as we grow up we tend to forget some of these simple lessons. Maybe it’s not so much that we forget, but maybe we just get more stubborn. While some people completely forget, others take these lessons way too literal. Some people get stuck in the follow mode and will never become the leader. Others get stuck in the leader mode and never learn to follow. There is a reason why you must switch back and forth from follower to leader constantly, or just do both at the same time.

I speak to people everyday who are looking to create something more out of their lives. They are tired of the daily grind, tired of struggle and tired of not having results. They tell me that all they want is the lifestyle that I currently have. They want the money, the ability to travel with their family, the time freedom and the business to provide it all. So I show them what I do and how they can turn around and do the exact same thing. You see, this is their opportunity to follow the leader. I know how to make it happen. I am the leader.

It is common sense to say that if you want something that someone else has, figure out what they have done to get it and do “that.” It’s the simple concept of “Follow the Leader.” But just as in school, some people don’t want to follow the leader and think they know all there is about how to create that success they long for. So they sit out of the game, doing nothing.

In order to get something you have never had, you must do something you have never done! So how are we all to learn how to do something we have never done? It’s simple, find someone who has done it and follow the leader! Even the leaders have leaders to follow. Just because I have been able to assist many people in realizing their ultimate lifestyle doesn’t mean that I know all there is to know about success. So I too must find the leaders who have what I want and follow them! It’s a continual process. Where you are on the level of success determines how much you are the leader and how much you are the follower.

If it is lifestyle you are looking for, time, money, passion, personal development or a business opportunity, play a little game of “Follow the Leader” with me. I’ll lead, you follow, until you are ready to lead yourself!

During college did you ever think about being a walk-on in your favorite sport? Now, of course I’m speaking about the ones that didn’t have that full ride scholarship and a reserved spot on the team. However, this pertains to everyone, scholarship or not. So how about it? Did you? Did you actually try out for the team or did you just think about doing it? If you did try out, did you make the team? Did you give it your best?

This is about making things happen. It’s about creating a spot for yourself. It’s about wanting it bad enough that you’ll do just about anything to get it.

If you think about a walk-on, what comes to mind? Determination? Persistence? Vision? I can tell you this much, a walk-on is someone that makes the team out of pure will power. It is that person that knows they can hang with the big dogs, the high recruits, that already have a place on the team. This is a person with drive, with ambition and with a tremendous amount of self belief. There is no spot on the team for the walk-on. He has to create his spot on the team, work hard for it and claim it as his own. He has to earn the right to play with the big dogs and a lot of the time, is one of the better players on the team. Most if the time, the coach already has a good idea of who is going to fill the open spot on the team. So if that’s not you, you’ve got to want it more!

I’d like to give credit to Wendy Stevens for providing the idea for this post. True story, Wendy was actually a walk-on. She had a conversation with the coach one day about what she could do to make the team. The coach told her, “Play left handed!” So she did everything with her left hand. When opening the door, she would use her left hand. She brushed her teeth left handed. If you’ve never tried that, do it. It isn’t as easy as it may seem. Wendy was right handed, but she made the team. She used muscles that had never been used in that way before. She had to train these muscles to work just as good as her right hand muscles in order to get the spot on the team.

This is exactly the same thing that a new entrepreneur or new network marketer goes through. They get started in a business opportunity to create that spot on the team, to reach their goal of being a big time player. Once started in a business you quickly find out that you have never done some of the things you are now required to do. You must think differently, work differently and operate in a completely different way than before. So you work at it and work at it until it becomes natural. You are exercising your entrepreneurial muscles and the more you do, the easier the game becomes. The easier the game becomes, the better your chances are in winning that spot.

If you’re having trouble finding the way to get ahead, just keep being consistent. Consistency = exercising those muscles. By doing things that feel different than anything else you have ever done before, you will start adding new skills into your game. Once these skills are streamlined to perfection, you will gain that winners edge and claim your spot on the team as the walk-on who wanted it most!