Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

It seems like yesterday we were hunkering down for the apocalyptic Y2K to happen but another year and another decade have passed us by.

Now we have the good feeling of knowing that a brand new year and a brand new decade is directly ahead of us and we look forward with great anticipation to big things that are awaiting us!

The new year is always a great time to do a quick reflection and review of your goals.

This time of year typically is when we reflect back on the new year’s resolutions made a year ago and compare to how we finished the year out.  With a decade already passed us, this becomes an even bigger task but one that is definitely worth doing.

There is much that we can bring into the new year from the past 10 years as experience is often times the best teacher.

What lessons did you learn from the past 10 years?  If you could do it over again, what would you do differently?  These are all questions designed to help you prepare to change your results for the next 10 years.   After all, sometimes we get ourselves into a ‘rut’ in life and we can’t seem to find our way out.

Albert Einstein once said the definition of insanity was “doing the same things over and over but expecting a different result.”  We don’t want to be that person!  What we really need to do is change our course of action.  This is where knowing what hasn’t worked in the past can help lead us to finding the right path for success into the future.

So there is great wealth stored in up in some of the answers to these questions so be sure to write them down as you can use them to begin your game plan and strategy for 2010 and beyond.

NOW it’s time to cash in on that experience!

Here are seven ways that you create your best year ever in 2010!

1. Do a serious evaluation and review of your life’s goals and results over the past 1-10 years.   Look closely at the issues that you struggled with the most and what actions you took to resolve them.  Are you still struggling with these same issues?  It’s time to change the actions!
2. Write down with specific detail your goals with 30, 60, 90 day, 1-year, 5-year, and 10-year outlooks.  These goals should reflect every aspect of your life:  personal, financial, business, social, health, etc.  Know exactly how you want your life to look as you reach each milestone.  Be very specific to time, dollar amounts, locations, sizes, brands, colors, people involved, levels of achievement, etc.  YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU WANT!!!
3. Use visualization to run the movie reel of your life ‘over and over’ again so much that you can actually see in your minds eye yourself living at the level you desire!  You will be creating an emotional tie and positive feeling with this experience that will be ‘programmed’ into your sub-conscious level of thought which will be your magnetic field for attracting everything you will need to bring it to fruition.
4. Do daily affirmations.  Affirmations are statements of your belief of what you expect to happen written down and read aloud each day, preferably in the morning as you start your day.  Affirmations are key to off setting any negative feelings, discouragement, fear, doubt, worry, anxieties that surely will try to impose their way occasionally into your realm of conscious thinking.
5. Gather needed resources.   There may be things or people that you need in your life to break free from the ‘ruts’ we talked about earlier.  You may need various tools, systems, coaches, training, etc. to empower you to onward and upward to a new level of success in your life.  Some of the resources you may need may have been discovered after you did step 1 with you personal evaluation.
6. Commit to a daily method of operation (DMO).   You will need to set up your DMO as your daily checklist and guide to DOING the things that you need to do to get the results you are looking to get.  Knowing what to do and ACTUALLY DOING what needs to be done are entirely different things!  I recommend making your checklist before bed, and executing your plan by day as the basis for your DMO.  You fill in the blanks.  Remember, MASSIVE ACTION = MASSIVE RESULTS!!!
7. Build strategic partnerships.   I recommend that you don’t try to take your success journey alone, find some other people around you who have similar goals and aspirations as you do and lock arms together and become accountability partners together!  This will help you from ‘falling off the wagon’ to sorta speak and keep you focused and disciplined to reach each step of the way.

My final thought for you is this.

Today is the first day of a new week, a new month, a new year, and a new decade.  It may be intimidating sometimes to tackle all of these thought provoking activities at once but trust me, you will be glad your doing it.

They say that the journey of a thousand miles starts with the very first step.

Take that step now and create a year in 2010 that will become your best year ever!

Much success to you this year!

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Are you unhappy with life?  You need to talk to the ‘man in the mirror’ about it.

Sure, we all know that sometimes life can be challenging or difficult and we can go through periods of extreme dissatisfaction.   Many people want to point the blame finger at someone else other themselves when things don’t go their way.

It’s totally human nature to blame someone else, I mean think about it, the blame game started way back at the beginning when Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent in the garden right?

So we sort of come by it honestly with a very long heritage of blaming others over thousands of years so we should not feel like we are not normal for wanting to.  However, blaming others for your unhappiness or dissatisfaction in your life will not make truth of the matter different.

It reminds of me of the famous line from the movie, “An Officer and a Gentleman”when the sargent played by Jack Nicholson yells, “The truth, you can’t handle the truth!”    Because the TRUTH IS the TRUTH hurts sometimes when it comes to being  honest and real about why we are where we are in life.

This post is about honest self reflection.

Sometimes when life is tough and you are very disappointed where you have landed you need to remember that your life today is the sum total of all the choices you have made to this point.

For some of you,  the outcome and quality of your life thus far  has exceeded everything you ever hope for or dreamed about and you have no regrets.  That’s wonderful!   Unfortunately for far too many others, you maybe have fallen far short of the goals you had years ago for your life and you are struggling to figure out how to get back on track.

This is where you need to talk to the ‘man in the mirror’ to find the honest answers.

You need to have an honest conversation with that ‘inner person’ who dwells at your sub-conscious level and re-affirm everything that you want your life to be.  If you constantly feed the inner person of your being with self-doubt, fear of failure or rejection, anxiety or constant worrying, you will reap what you sow.

You need to build yourself up to be the person you think of being successful from the inside out.

That means you must first BECOME THAT SUCCESSFULL PERSON with the inward man before you will realize that success with the outward man.

Look that person that straight in the eye who you see in that mirror and tell yourself exactly who you think you are!  Say, “I am successful, I am generous, I am a giver not a taker, I am joyful, I am content and at peace with myself, I am forgiving of others, I am patient, I am excited and fired up!, I am…etc. etc.

Don’t blame others around you for where your at… DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!   One of the most common characteristics of highly successful people is that they taken responsibility for their success or failure and are will to own up to the outcome that they have had and not just simply ‘pass the buck’ to someone else.

So for example, instead of blaming your company or upline for not you not making money right away in your business, how about being honest and just saying, “Maybe I should of talked to more people than I did for my business to work.  Maybe I could have worked an extra 5-10 hours per week.  Maybe I should have done a better job of doing follow up.  May I participated in that training call a few more times.”

The vast majority of the time people are not reaching their goals and are discouraged  in their pursuit of building their dream because:

1.  They don’t have a plan

2.  They really don’t plan on succeeding (i.e. they don’t believe they can really do it)

3.  They don’t stay committed long enough to see results

4.  They are not teachable

5.  They don’t have a compelling WHY that drives them

6.   They are too quick to make excuses and blame others

7.  They are not willing to pay their dues and put in the time

No great achievement or accomplishments ever come with out paying a price.   Reaching your dream will cost you something.

Are you will to pay the price?

Too many people ‘buy in’ to the notion that success comes with a FREE price tag.  Sorry, not going to happen.

If this article has been challenging you in your current position in life and some of the attitudes and habits you have, I have good news!!!

Today is the first day of the rest of your life!  You can start fresh today and make the changes necessary in order to reach your goals.  You can do it!  In just a few short weeks we will be celebrating the New Year and ushering in a new decade too.

Many people use this time of the year to reflect on how well their year went according to their New Year’s resolutions made last year at this time and measure up.  How did your year go according to your 2009 resolutions and goals?  If you didn’t hit the mark and you are no further ahead or maybe even behind where you were last year going into 2010, it’s time to have that talk with the ‘man in the mirror’.

So in the New Year, listen closely to what that ‘man in the mirror’ says and agree with what you hear and then make the changes necessary to  re-design your happiness in the pursuit of your dreams!

Wishing you all the best in 2010!

If you enjoyed this article, please re-tweet and share! For more FREE business tips and training, please be sure to visit my video channel at http://www.mlmphonepro.tv. 

Why Should I Do Business With You?

Have you ever noticed when marketing that sometimes your not the only one selling the products or services you have to offer?

Have you ever wondered how to get your prospects to buy from you versus the next guy marketing the same things?

It doesn’t matter if your promoting/selling an opportunity, product, or service, the same rule applies…you have have a unique selling proposition or (USP) !

A USP is your ‘ace in the hole’ to sorta speak that reflects your greatest value that your opportunity, product, or service offers that nobody else does.  This USP is the reason why your prospects are going to do business with you versus the next salesman down the road.

Every marketer needs to answer a few fundamental questions in a prospects mind when they are evaluating your offer.

1. What’s in it for me?  (W.I.F.M.)

2. Why should I buy from you?

The first question is easy to answer.  Show the benefits that your product or service will bring them when they decide to join or buy from you.

The second question is answered by how well you sell YOURSELF!!!  Even when thousands of other people are marketing the same product or service as you are, the one thing that will always be different is YOU!!!

This is why you must over deliver value in various ways to your prospects in order to create that 1 degree of separation from your competition.  Your unique qualities, skills, and expertise are a part of the overall USP that you bring to the marketplace.

Here are a few tips on how to make your USP stronger than everyone else:

1. Offer value-added products or services that your competition is not to your offer such as FREE software, training, ebooks, etc.

2. Pick a niche within your product category and become an expert and then show your prospect on how well you dominate in the niche.

3. Develop a  creative or clever approach to prospecting.  Don’t settle for the same old methods that everyone is doing.  Go against the grain and be creative.

4. Start developing videos for your marketing.  Most people are not willing to go on camera and promote themselves or their business.  This alone will step you up in the crowd.

5. Use personal branding strategies to help build instant trust and credibility with your prospects to keep you one step ahead of your competition.

These are just a few tips and ideas that I personally use or have used in the past to build my business and USP and they work very well in giving you the slight advantage when closing your next sale.

So give them a try in your business and make yourself more UNIQUE!

If you are enjoying these articles and tips, please subscribe to my blog at the top and be sure to visit my video page at http://www.mlmphonepro.tv for more tips, training, and resources to help you become a more powerful marketer!

Who Is The Leader Here?

Have you ever been involved in something and wondered who was in charge?  Especially when things were not going well or were in a state of chaos?  Or have you ever thought that maybe things could be happening faster if you were in charge?

Those are moments when you can see the power vacuum that exists in that particular group or organization.  The lack of leadership can be devastating to the forward motion of any team or organization.

Great leaders never wait for things to happen for them, they MAKE things happen!  They immediately seize the opportunity to step up and take charge because they are results driven.

You probably have heard the saying, “If it’s going to be, it’s up to me!” before?  It is really true.   Too many people are waiting all the time for someone to make life happen for them and that’s not how it works.  If you want something to happen in your life or business, decide to make it happen and do it for yourself.

Leaders don’t make excuses, they take action!  Leaders always gain momentum faster than followers do and they typically will earn more too!  That’s a good reason right there why you should step up and be one.

Sometimes we hope that someone else will take the responsibilities of leading the charge and doing all the planning, organizing, communicating with the members of the group so that we can relax and enjoy the fruit of another person’s labor.  If everyone thought like that we would never get anything accomplished or move ahead in our endeavors!

It’s not always  easy trying to build a team and get all the parts moving in one direction all the time but it is worth doing.

Here are seven reasons why you should step up and be the leader of your team or organization:

1.  Leaders  cast the vision and set the direction for the team.

2.  Leaders  are the pacesetters for growth by their example.

3.  Leaders  will be recognized as the ‘expert’ within the organization.

4.  Leaders  will become more visible and will attract other leaders who wish to model your success.

5.  Leaders have a platform to communicate their messages from.

6.  Leaders opinions always  matter when it comes to problem solving.

7.  Leaders will be remembered with their legacy for  contributions made when serving their organization.

Leaders will always think, “If not me… who? If not now…when? If no solution… how?” Leaders are extremely valuable to any community, business, or organization and their contributions usually are always remembered.

It’s not always easy and sometimes the tasks at hand are difficult.  But leaders are like eagles where they will soar high above the challenges and will always find the way to success!

So the next time your trying to find out who the leader is, try looking in the mirror!

* If you are enjoying articles like this one you might also enjoy my video tips, training, and resources on video at my YouTube Channel!  Please visit http://www.youtube.com/mlmphonepro.  Don’t forget to rate, comment, and subscribe while your there! Thanks! Steve

7 Signs Of A Great Attitude

Have you ever heard the expression, “Your attitude is your altitude” ?  Yep, me too.  It’s really true.

Attitude goes a long way in being successful.  We all have worked with people with a bad attitude and with people with a  great attitude and did you have a preference of which person you would rather work with?  Of course you did!

There is no doubt that we would rather work with energy filled, smiling, get-it-done people who always have a great attitude about their life, family, and business!  Having a great attitude is contagious.

In this world of attraction marketing, a great positive attitude goes a long way in bringing good things into your path.  You will miss many opportunities without one.

That’s why we need to know  the seven signs of a great attitude so we can make sure we are on the right track!

THE SEVEN SIGNS OF A GREAT ATTITUDE ARE:

1.  Believe in yourself

Positive self-worth is a prime characteristic of a person with a good attitude.  If  you have a low self-confidence, your focus is always  on yourself and what is wrong with them.  People with a positive self-worth are free to reach their full potential and helping others.

2.  Willingness to see the best in others.

People with positive attitudes always expect the best out of people.  Expect to get the best from people and not the worst and usually you will get it as people tend to rise up to the level of expectations.

3.  Ability to see opportunity in everything!

No matter what the circumstances are, positive people always see the opportunities.   Opportunities are always available to people who have the right attitude.   Opportunities are never available to people who say ‘no’.

4.  Focus on the solution.

Just about everyone can see problems in everything but its the people with positive attitudes that can find the solutions.  A solution mind-set is a sign of having a great attitude.  Most great achievements in this world were declared to be impossible before someone found a way to do it.

5.  Desire to give back.

Giving to others has one of the highest impacts on a person’s attitude.   Generous people are rarely ill or have negative attitudes.  Have you ever noticed that?  Adopt the lifestyle that ‘giving is living’ and focus on what you can do today for someone else.

6.  Persistence

It’s easier to be persistent when you have a positive attitude.  Many people fail in their endeavors because they have the attitude that they will “try something and if it doesn’t work, do something else”.  A sign of a person with a great attitude would be practicing your persistence and staying with it knowing that success is right around the corner!

7.   Be responsible for your life

The final sign of people with a great attitude is taking responsibility for your own life.  Blaming other people or circumstances for your failures will only keep you from growing and achieving great things.  Knowing and accepting the fact that YOUR thoughts, choices, and actions make YOUR success in this world is a sign of a person who has a great attitude!

So there you have it.  If you are not happy with the results of your life thus far, maybe it is because you need to do a ‘check-up from the neck-up’ and make some adjustments to your attitude on your life and business and see life through a completely different lens!

Life is too short for a bad attitude,  have a positive one and start enjoying it!

*  Excerpts  of this article were used from the book “Your Road Map For Success” by John Maxwell.

**  If you are enjoying these articles, please visit my success channel at www.youtube.com/mlmphonepro and enjoy some tips, training, and motivation there too!  Oh by the way, please rate, comment, and subscribe while you are there! Thanks! Steve

Are You Communicating Properly?

Have you ever felt like you had a lot to say about your product, service, or opportunity but it was falling on ‘deaf ears’?

Many people feel that way including me from time to time.  We live in a over populated marketing world where the ‘promotion noise’ is deafening and it can be extremely challenging for you to get your message heard.

It is very important that when you do get the attention of your prospect for that brief moment in time that you are communicating with them at a very high level so that you can have a maximum impact on them!  You only have a few moments of their attention so you better say what needs to be said and in a way that it is memorable to them.

Often time people just want to ‘throw up’ all over their prospects and just waste a good prospecting opportunity.  There needs to be more strategy in marketing your wares than just being a blow hard salesman.

That’s why we need to know the 8 keys to being an effective communicator when creating our copy for our landing pages, websites, social media profiles, articles, blogs, videos, webinars, conference calls, etc. etc.

Here are the 8 keys:

1.   Always look through your prospect’s eyes, not your own.

Don’t assume that your prospects know why your product, service, or opportunity is valuable to them.  Explain the reasons to them.  Most professional advertisers write to a fifth or six-grade reading level, because most people are not really paying attention.

2.   Follow the path of least resistance.

It takes longer to change peoples minds than to just build upon the current perceptions they already have.   Find a way to reinforce something they already believe and tie it in directly to buying your product.  The power in this is accepting people as they are and seeking the smallest possible change in their behavior that is required to  get them to buy from you.

3.  Don’t be logical – be psychological

People are both rational and emotional.  But it is emotion that drives attitude and behavior.  Behavior is the result of fear and desire.  When desire exceeds fear, people will act.  The goal in writing good sales copy is to increase desire and reduce fear.  In short, choose the most powerful words you can get away with to drive people’s  emotions.  For example, ‘bulletproof’ is more emotionally powerful than ’safe’.

4.  Organize information around a single idea or theme.

Organize your content to be based upon a single idea versus overloading your prospects with too much information.   Drive home the main point or theme with precision.  Don’t overstate the obvious with lists of information, they won’t read it.  Your headline, tagline, and opening paragraph are vitally important here.

5.  Be conversational.  Write to express and not impress.

Be conversational with your writing style.  Try not to use big ‘$100′ words that people don’t understand.  Simplicity and being authentic is key.  One way to test your copy is to read it out loud as you write it and listen to how it sounds to you.

6.   Less is more

The average reader gives you about a half second or less to determine if they will pay any attention to your communication so less is definitely more!  Use short words, sentences, and paragraphs to break up the thoughts into easy-to-read bites.  Use bullet points and phrases to summarize your thoughts and make it easy.  Remember, people don’t read anymore, they scan!

7.  Use visual language to paint pictures in people’s minds.

Use words that frame a picture in your prospects mind of your main point.  Don’t be vague and use general vocabulary but be specific and concrete in your descriptions of your offer.

8.  Don’t hype your offer, validate everything!

Documentation beats conversation every single time right?  People are not impressed with your ‘hype’ and overly positive attitude about your offer.  They are impressed and inspired to action when they can see verifiable results through third party validation.  People don’t trust much anymore, why should they trust you?  Get the proof they need.

Marketing in today’s world requires much more than being just a ‘bag full of wind’.  It requires some understanding of knowing your target audience and knowing how to communicate effectively to them using these 8 keys and others.

So, if your wondering why people are not responding to your communications via your marketing, think about changing your approach and using some of the 8 keys of being an effective communicator!

* Excerpts of this article were taken from “Perfect Phrases for Sales and Marketing Copy”  by Barry Callen

** If you are enjoying articles like these, please visit my video channel at www.youtube.com/mlmphonepro and watch, rate, and subscribe to my videos!!!  Thanks! Steve

To learn more about this, please visit my website at http://www.mlmphonepro.net.