Network Marketing—A to Z #2 In a Series of Fun Facts, Figures & Tips by Janet Callaway | The Natural Networker

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Network Marketing--A to Z is an encyclopedia of fun facts, figures and tips for success in this amazing industry.

Let's continue on with the next 3 letters in the alphabet, each of which holds a key essential to network marketing success.

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Seth Godin on Social Networking

Social media marketing and social networking, do they work?

Klout, twittergrader and other measures of influence, do they matter?

In 2 minutes Seth Godin answers these questions and tells you exactly what's important.

Do you regularly engage with your friends and followers? Are some of them becoming more “real” to you?

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How to Determine if your Why is “Real” by Janet Callaway

We are a week into the new year. People are still filled with the excitement of their plans and dreams. Numerous business associates and friends of mine selected a Word or Phrase to be their guide or mantra for the year. Focus, Organization, Commitment, social networking and “Break the Bright Shiny Object Syndrome” seem to be at the top of the list for many people.

As we set goals and embark on our journey to receive them, it is important to know Why we want our objective. If you think you “should” want it or because your neighbors have it, even if you acquire “it,” satisfaction will not be yours.

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Social Media for the Non-Believer: 5 Tips for Getting Started by Kris Kiler

Ironically, just this past week I have had a couple of people say: “Janet, why should I invest any time doing social media? I'm already successful with my network marketing business. My business is networking so I know all about social networking.”

My intention was to write a post today to answer that question. As it happens, someone I recently connected with on twitter wrote a post answering the basics of the question. Read his post and then, of course, I will be happy to give you additional information for your particular situation. Janet

The author of this post is Kris Kiler. He is the author of Ready, Aim, Capture!: The Secret to Successful Internet Marketing and coauthor of The 6 Keys to Internet Marketing Success, Author First Aid Kit: Creating Multiple Streams of Income with Information Products and has been involved with marketing products online since 1996.

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How to Maximize the 80/20 Rule by Janet Callaway | The Natural Networker

Ever wonder what exactly the 80/20 rule is or where it originated? Let me explain.

The 80/20 Rule is also known as the Pareto Principle after its originator, economist Vilfredo Pareto. In 1906 he noted that 80% of the land and wealth of Italy was owned by 20% of the population.

In the late 1940s quality management pioneer Dr. Joseph M. Juran further amplified the theory behind the principle.

Simply put, the 80/20 rules states that 20% of input is responsible for 80% of the output or results obtained.

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Social Media, Social Networking & YOU by Janet Callaway | The Natural Networker

It seems that everywhere we turn we hear or read the words social media, social networking, social platforms and the list continues. You know they all exist “out there” yet what are they and what do they mean to you? Despite their varied and often very strange names, they all have one thing in common.

What they have in common is a way for people to connect; it's that simple. Ever since the first humans started walking on earth, they wanted to connect and communicate with each other. Social media and social networking are the current evolution.

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How to Get What You Want by Janet Callaway

Here are two powerful keys to help you get what you want.

1. Admit that you want it. Seems obvious, doesn't it? However, far too many people are unwilling to acknowledge that they want something. This applies to relationships, learning new skills like marketing with social media or social networking, athletic achievements, losing weight or even building a home business or network marketing business.

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How to be the CEO of Your Life by Janet Callaway

Sounds good, doesn't it? The CEO of Your Life means that you are in charge, you make the decisions; you're in control of your life. Guess what, you already are the CEO of Your Life; you already have 100% responsibility for whatever happens in your life. You need to recognize it, accept it and take action.

If you were a Company, you would be doing year end reviews and planning for next year. As the CEO of You, it is time for you to do the same. Let's begin.

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Let Go to Have by Janet Callaway | The Natural Networker

It may sound contradictory yet it's so true. Richard Bach, author of the best sellers Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Illusions: Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah says it this way: “Argue for your limitations and sure enough, they're yours.” Let's take a look at how this might show up in your home business or network marketing business.

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How to Make 2011 Your Best Year Ever by Janet Callaway | The Natural Networker

2010 is drawing to a close and the promise of 2011 is drawing near. This is the time of year when people think about how next year will be different. Unfortunately, just thinking about how it will be different, will not make it so. If you want it to be different, you have to think about it, plan it and then action--consistently!

On December 20^th, Mari Smith, dubbed the “Pied Piper of Facebook” by FAST Company and a “go to” lady for most all things social media or social networking, wrote a terrific article on what she does to plan for each year. Below are a few excerpts from her post which I particularly like. For your convenience, I have included the link to that blog post because from there you will be able to connect to Chris Brogan's similar post. He chooses 3 words each year; in his blog post, he explains the how and why of them.

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How to Create Powerful Affirmations by Janet Callaway

Earlier this year, the video clip in this post circulated. It had a powerful impact on everyone who watched it. At this time of the year, many people are thinking about changes they want to make in their lives for next year, new year's resolutions as well as other promises to themselves. Before connecting you with the clip, let me give you a couple of thoughts along with two book recommendations.

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5 Leadership Lessons from Geese by Janet Callaway

To build a successful business in most any industry, a person must become a leader. Yet, with experts often giving conflicting advice, becoming a leader is difficult. Being a good leader is even harder. If we are patient, observe and think we oftentimes find that Mother Nature gives us the very answer that we seek.

She does it again with the leadership lessons of geese. Most all of us have either seen in person or in pictures, geese flying in the “V” formation. When you understand the Why of the formation, you will have learned valuable leadership and teamwork lessons.

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You are Enough! By Janet Callaway

Earlier this year, Brene Brown, research professor at the University of Houston, Graduate College of Social Work, gave the following talk at a TEDx event. For the past ten years she has studied a concept that she calls Wholeheartedness posing questions re authenticity, worthiness, imperfection, vulnerability and connection.

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3 Social Marketing Tips by Janet Callaway, The Natural Networker

Social media marketing changes so quickly that this article could well be called “3 Social Marketing Tips of the Hour.” Within the past couple of weeks, Facebook changed its profile pages, twitter reached 100 million users and Bing 90 million users. Mashable's list of “what's new” is about 30 items per day—and those are just the major items.

While the “how to” will change, the basics are remain the same.

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Ernest Hemingway’s Top 5 Tips For Writing Well

No matter what it is you do, being able to communicate effectively by writing well is essential.  Brian Clark of Copyblogger wrote this excellent article on Ernest Hemingway's tips.  What a great advice; now to follow it.

Who better?

Many business people faced with the task of writing for marketing purposes are quick to say: Hey, I’m no Hemingway!

But really, who better than Hemingway to emulate? Rather than embracing the flowery prose of the literati, he chose to eschew obfuscation at every turn and write simply and clearly.

So let’s see what Ernest can teach us about effective writing.

1. Use short sentences.

Hemingway was famous for a terse minimalist style of writing that dispensed with flowery adjectives and got straight to the point. In short, Hemingway wrote with simple genius.



Perhaps his finest demonstration of short sentence prowess was when he was challenged to tell an entire story in only 6 words:



For sale: baby shoes, never used.

2. Use short first paragraphs.

See opening.

3. Use vigorous English.

Here’s David Garfinkel's take on this one:

It’s muscular, forceful. Vigorous English comes from passion, focus and intention. It’s the difference between putting in a good effort and TRYING to move a boulder… and actually sweating, grunting, straining your muscles to the point of exhaustion… and MOVING the freaking thing!

4. Be positive, not negative.

Since Hemingway wasn’t the cheeriest guy in the world, what does he mean by be positive? Basically, you should say what something is rather than what it isn’t.

This is what Michel Fortin calls using up words:

By stating what something isn’t can be counterproductive since it is still directing the mind, albeit in the opposite way. If I told you that dental work is painless for example, you’ll still focus on the word “pain” in “painless.”
• Instead of saying “inexpensive,” say “economical,”
• Instead of saying “this procedure is painless,” say “there’s little discomfort” or “it’s relatively comfortable,”
• And instead of saying “this software is error-free” or “foolproof,” say “this software is consistent” or “stable.”

5. Never have only 4 rules.

Actually, Hemingway did only have 4 rules for writing, and they were those he was given as a cub reporter at the Kansas City Star in 1917. But, as any web writer knows, having only 4 rules will never do.



So, in order to have 5, I had to dig a little deeper to get the most important of Hemingway’s writing tips of all:

“I write one page of masterpiece to ninety-one pages of shit,” Hemingway confided to F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1934. “I try to put the shit in the wastebasket.”

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Never Complain, Never Explain by Greg Hickman

A number of years ago, motivational speaker Greg Hickman wrote the following piece. What he says sounds simple to do, however, day-to-day living often intrudes. Recently I sent this piece out to colleagues and friends alike to see if they were up for the challenge. I am and, I am happy to say, so are friends and colleagues. Together, we are doing our part to make our worlds and the BIG world a better place. Janet

Quite a number of years ago, I stumbled across a phrase in a magazine that really piqued my interest. The phrase simply said "never complain, never explain." From the moment I read it, those four words really hit home with me. To my way of thinking, they summed up the philosophy of all winners. A winner should never waste his or her valuable time complaining or making excuses.
I decided to tape a piece of paper containing this phrase to a wall in my office along with an accompanying challenge. As soon as I went an entire day without voicing a complaint or offering up an excuse, I could take the message down.

I have always enjoyed a good challenge and I figured this phrase could provide a tough test of my will for a day or so. The first day or two quickly passed without me accomplishing my goal. "All I need to do is toughen up a little and I'll get the job done.  No problem," I confidently reassured myself. A month later, the piece of paper was still taped to my wall. 

 
I couldn't believe it. I still had not gone just one day without making a complaint or offering up some sort of excuse. In fact, I had complained about something and made an excuse about something else at least one time every single day for a month. Not one or the other - but both!
I was disappointed that I had failed to accomplish what had originally seemed like such an easy goal. But more than that, I was embarrassed. Now I was really motivated to answer the challenge and get this message off my wall once and for all. Make no mistake about it; I would get the job done this time for sure! 

 
Five years later that torn, tattered, yellowed piece of paper with the simple little message was still hanging defiantly on my office wall. 

 
How could this have happened to me? I really gave it a good shot, but one way or another, I would always find a way to slip up at some point during each and every day and start complaining or explaining about something or another. One thing I learned from this challenge was we all complain a lot more than we think we do and we make excuses left and right. 

 
We blame people and things and circumstances for just about everything. If you think not, go ahead and put the phrase up on your wall and see if you can go one entire day without offering up one single excuse and without making one single complaint of any kind. No blaming, no complaining, no criticizing, no excuses -- for one entire day. 

 
I know what you're probably thinking right about now. You think it will be easy, don't you? Ha! I thought so too. I now realize that the fulfillment of that simple little pledge will be a lifelong pursuit of mine. 

 
Even if you and I fail to live a single day devoid of any personal complaining or explaining, we can still significantly cut down on the amount of complaints and excuses we make and that is indeed a very good start, isn't it? When you take on this challenge, you will begin eliminating a lot of negative feelings and destructive actions from your life and consequently will become a much better person to be around. 

 
There is no better time for you to get to work on your very own "never complain, never explain" challenge than right now. All you have to do is stop complaining and quit explaining and get started today.

 
Janet's Question: Are you up for the challenge?

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When Too Many Options Are None At All by Liz Strauss

In yesterday's post I talked about the importance of FOCUS and the use of your time. In today's post, I am going to let Liz Strauss talk to you about the importance of FOCUS in building your business. What a perfect analogy this is for all of us no matter what it is we do or want.   Janet

When I first started my business, I was ready to do anything for just about anyone. Sound familiar?
I was like a greedy, inexperienced fisher. Here’s what I did …
I would meet someone I thought might be great to work with. I’d rearrange my future plans. Invent a completely new offer just for that person or company. I’d put that fishing pole in the water hoping that the unique “fish” would bite and we could move forward.
And when I met the next person who represented something even remotely interesting. I would develop an entirely new offer and do that again.
and again.
and again.
What I never realized was that I was so busy baiting fishing poles with different bait for every different fish I met. That I hadn’t done many of the things that good fishers do:

• Figure out what kind of fish I wanted to catch. What was I good at cooking?
• Ask around to find out where those fish were biting. Who might teach me more?
• Decide what size fish would fit my frying pan. What was I ready to take on?
  

One day, I woke up to see that I had about 18 fishing poles in the water. I wasn’t fishing. I was playing at being a fisherman. Greedy, inexperience fishers like I was focus too much on just catching a fish, rather than catching a fish that works for them.

The problem with 18 fishing poles in the water is that it’s a lot of unfocused work for little return. We spend all of our time running up and down the bank checking to see if something worked or whether we need to rebait the system. AND when a fish finally does tug at the line, it’s awfully tempting to wonder whether another fishing poles might bring in something slightly bigger or more exciting … it’s easy to get stuck waiting for the fish that might be next.

For this fisher, too many options were the same none at all.

Narrowing down the options first with a few decisions has its advantages. What I needed was specific concrete goal. With a goal, a destination …

• We can figure out a plan for getting there.
• We can talk to people who have achieved that goal in the past.
• We can yes to things that help us get closer to the goal and no to things that pull us away from it.
  

Now I keep my focus and goal to “teaching fishers how to fish” — some are huge fishers, some are aspiring fishers, some are other people who teach fishers how to fish — that suits exactly who I am. I tell people about that whenever I can and when any one of those fishers show up, I know I can deliver value exactly as I promise. I’m not running up and down the bank of the river anymore.

And the fishers I work with tell their friends.

Janet's comment: And isn't that last line what we all want?

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Two Problems with Whining by Seth Godin.

Seth Godin has the ability to convey Huge concepts with few words. While he entitled this piece "Two Problems about Whining," quite honestly, I think of this blog as a Success Tip. Janet

Two Problems with Whining by Seth Godin.

The first is that it doesn't work.

You can whine about the government or your friends or your job or your family, but nothing will happen except that you'll waste time.

Worse... far worse... is that whining is a reverse placebo. When you get good at whining, you start noticing evidence that makes your whining more true. So you amplify that and immerse yourself in it, thus creating more evidence, more stuff worth complaining about.

If you spent the same time prattling on about how optimistic you are, you'd have to work hard to make that true.

Janet's question: How would things change for you if you followed his advice in the last sentence?

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Fighting the Fear by Randy Gage

Let’s get real. EVERYBODY has fears. Every person in Network Marketing has things that scare him or her. We all have people we prospect that make us nervous. So how do you overcome the fear?

Feed Your Dreams. Daily.

Here’s the deal:

When your fears are greater than your dreams, you procrastinate and do nothing.

When your dreams are greater than your fears, you get into action.

That’s why you have to feed your dream every day. Have a prosperity manifestation map in your bedroom. Do self-development time in the morning. Speak affirmations. Put pictures on your refrigerator and dashboard. Paint a picture of your dream so real you can see it, taste, it, smell it, and touch it.

One of two things happens for most people.

Your fears are so strong they shrink your dream and pull it back closer to your reality.

Or your dream is so powerful it pulls your reality to it.

So which situation are you in?

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How to Use the Power of NO

In the following blog, Darren Hardy, publisher of SUCCESS Magazine tells us exactly why it is so important to learn to say NO; to learn to develop laser focus. How would your life be better if you learned to say NO more often? Janet

When it comes to comparing superachievers and everyone else, it has less to do with what they do and more to do with what they don’t do. 

 

Saying “yes” is easy; saying “no” is much harder, but it is the master skill of success.

In a world where we are constantly being tugged on from a thousand different directions, your ability to be productive and ultimately achieve your big hairy audacious goals has more to do with all the things you DON’T do versus the things you do.

Put it this way: For everything you say “yes” to you are saying “no” to something else… and you only have so much time. For most people, the ability to do MORE is impossible; you are already overwhelmed and working yourself to exhaustion 24/7.

Doing MORE is not the answer. Doing less is. Saying “no” to more things so you can say “yes” to the right things is the key to taking you more efficiently and expeditiously toward your goals.

And that is the other part of the equation for superachiever high-performance. What they decide to do, say “yes” to, they do with unrelenting laser-like focus, tolerating no distractions of anything that would get in the way of their persisting on their goals.

A while back, after our SUCCESS cover feature with the knighted Sir Richard Branson, we had a client contact us to inquire about hiring Richard Branson to speak at their conference. So, we had someone inquire and Sir Richard declined. The client then offered $250,000 for an hour talk; Sir Richard declined. They then raised it to $500,000. Sir Richard declined. Then we asked how much it WOULD take to get Sir Richard to attend. The response from his people was, “no amount of money would matter.” They said, “Right now Richard has three main priorities he is focused on and he will only allocate his time to those three priorities, and speaking for a fee is not one of them.”

I thought, “Wow, THAT is the type of unshakable and unapologetic focus that has allowed him to accomplish more than what 100 high-producing guys could—combined.” Amazing, really.

Now, when I told a friend of mine this story he said, “Well, it’s easy for Branson to say no to an easy half million dollars, but I certainly couldn’t.” I promptly replied with, “That’s why you are not achieving like Richard Branson.” Hey, he started out with nothing like the rest of us. He’s gotten to where he is BECAUSE of this dedication to focus.

It doesn’t have to be the temptation of a half million dollars; it could be saying “no” to a new TV program that will suck several dozen hours out of your life and creative potential; saying “no” to a meaningless and unproductive meeting, saying “no” to invitations, projects, emails, phone calls and visitors that aren’t ON PURPOSE to the accomplishment of your high priority goals.

Next week I will share with you the most disruptive, derailing and productivity-killing force in our lives. Uproot this destructive force and you, too, could learn to have the laser-like focus of Sir Richard Branson… but more on that next week.

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