Why Network?

Often I get the question from some as to why bother going to networking meetings? They can be expensive and do they really help?

Often people in business are looking for a quick return on investment. Immediate results is what is wanted. That is not what networking is all about. Networking is about growing your network, finding people out there that are like minded. Getting out in the community, gets you seen and gains exposure. Your attitude to networking though can change your outcome though. Are you next working to get yourself further or are you looking to help people?
Referrals are much more real and beneficial when they come from a place of geniuine friendship and trust. Networking can grow your business if you are willing to go out and be a genuine helpful person. Approach even talking about your business as helping someone. Even if what you do isn't what they are interested in if you are looking to help, people will notice.
Generally speaking people want to do business with good people who are honest, hard working and helpful. They don't want someone who is going to take their money and run.

Now there some simple thing to remember with networking.
- Be yourself
- Be genuine
- Be honest
- Be helpful

Now it is very likley you will need to attend many meetings before you get relationships growing. Proper networking groups that have a platform in place to get you heard are really the best choices. Many will also offer advertising options for repeat or commoted people. NEVER UNDER ESTIMATE THE POWER OF ONLINE ADVERTISING!
In the world where everyone is looking to be their own boss and work from home, you need to stand out from the crowd. I love networking, I love meeting new people and seeing how I can help them grow. While I have my own business , my heart is in networking and building relationships.

Some recomendations
Heart Link Women's Network
TROVA
BNI

In the respect of full disclosure I am  a Heart Link Chapter leader. I had run my own small group for about 8 months before joining the network. I know what a bigger more known can do verus a small operation.

Is ViSalus a scam

Believe me I have heard it time and time again. You know what, it could be depending on what you consider a scam to be.

Now ViSalus offers a very lucrative compensation plan. If you do the work needed you can make money, some real money. Money, vacations, BMW's are all the fancy things that go with this company. It does come with work and effort. Depending on your personality you could do very well or not.  They have a system in place for you to follow. It is a really simple system, I find though it takes time I don't have being a mom of three. I don't really have down time fro my kids, it is hard to make phone calls with kids yelling in the background. There are amazing bonuses but you have to hit certain goals every months. You need a team that works hard and goes for it, day in, day out. You need to be adding people to your teams monthly. It can be done but once again it means work. This is a job, a job that you are completely accountable for your success with. Except maybe your upline, no one is going to be bugging you to work to get your pay cheque. This can be a good thing for some not so good for others. Depends are you a motivated person? Is this work going to mean the difference between food on your table or not? Motivation is going to be what drives your business, is your why big enough? Is it going to continue to be big enough for sustainability?

Now for the product. They have a range of products that are geared towards "health". This is where some people will divide on their views. It is a heavily processed product, there is no denying it. It's a powder of course is it processed. Now there are lots of flashy things that ViSalus put out to tell you about the nutritional value and all that stuff. They are amazing but one, at times will question if all of that is really necessary. Is there not some of those food you could have doubled up on or whatever have you. Two other big issues I know some people have is the Whey and the Soy. These are two things that are not meeting the favorable light in many circles. Whey, the cast off of making yogurt, kinda used to be seen as garbage, but the thrify person found a use for it, protein  Same goes for soy, it used to be a cleansing crop for fields, pretty much useless and garbage, then an other use was found for it. Some people love these products, some people hate them.

Now I'm no health professional. I have seen people have amazing results some of it has just been the shakes but a lot of them have been a lifestyle change. Switching to the Vi Life, as some people call it, is what is important. It about changing you not just drinking shakes.  You need to learn how to eat properly. I have been learning how I see the shakes as a tool, towards a healthier lifestyle. A shake in the morning is really great for people, it gets them away from the regularly very carb filled morning meal. This will help you feel fuller longer as you are not having the mid morning sugar crash. Same goes for lunch people who have lunches of sandwiches, pastas or yet again more carbs. Then you avoid the mid afternoon crash. Now snacks are important, but they need to be good snacks with good healthy fats, good greens and fruits. Not a doughnut!

So all in all is ViSalus a scam. It could be for some people if they get in thinking money is going to fall from the sky. Depends on if your rep is honest with you about the work involved. If you go in educated and I mean fully educated about the benefits, the risks and everything then I don't think it would be considered a scam. There is a LOT of hype to get through but it is a do able program that has seen great results and that isn't a lie. There are different ways to follow the program, what ever works truly for you will be the best one for you.

Nurturing the Growth

A big part challenge of being in business, is getting out there. How do you get your business to grow?

There are so many ways to grow a business now, both traditionally and new age.
- word or mouth (referral)
-  Paper advertisements ( community boards, newspapers, flyers...etc)
- Networking Groups
- Social Media ( Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest )
- E-mail campaigns
- Vehicle advertising

The list can go on and on depending on how outside the box you want to go.

The what do you after you have grown your business? You need to retain what you have, and that isn't always easy.  You need to make you an important part of why they are doing business with you. It's not always about the product, sure they may come for it to to start but why do they stay?

Your customers are your babies, they need to be nurtured and talked to, they need love. Regular communication with your customers, not just to get new business will help foster a good loyal clientele base. Simple things like Holiday greeting cards. These can be a sinch with Send-out Cards! Regular e-mail communication with something extra in them, recipe or fun activity can make your letter stand out from the crowd. Pictures on your social media can go a long ways:)

Engage your customer base on a regular basis, it will help your little business grow!

Advertising matters

Advertising is extremely important, but it has to be done in a way that is not going to drive other people crazy. It needs to be regular but not always in your face. You need people to know who you are and what you do. This helps with referrals, and referrals are super important to business growth.

In the world of MLM marketing it is an unfortunate reality, if you don't talk to your customers someone else will. I was told once that your "chicken list" is someone else's must call list. Even if this person says no to you, you need to still keep in contact but don't shove your thing in their face. Talk to them about them, and if they ask you about you keep the mentions low and subtle. Now some people might say that , that is pressure, but if you do it right it isn't. You are letting them know that you are still doing your thing, that you are active. They may just be waiting to see if you are successful, they may not even know what you are doing, just said "no" as a reflex to someone trying to sell something.

You need to be known for what you are doing You need to be real, but successful. You need to talk of the good with a bit of the bad when ever you talk about your business, especially to new recruits. Do not lie or exaggerate, but remember every ones story is different. Everyone's drive is different. Everyone's priorities are different. One person may be willing to put their life on hold, while another wont sacrifice family time for a possibility. Remember what is important to one may not be important to another. So find the positives about what you are doing. There will be something that drew you to your business, there should always be something that is going well with what you are doing focus on that.

Now I want to tell you a story. I learnt this summer the power of consistent advertising. Anyone who have traveled South Dakota by the badlands will likely know what I am talking about. Wall has about 240 or more signs from my understanding advertising their drugstore. They aren't annoying signs more of them are corny and silly. They are enough for you to take notice, to each and everyone of them. So here we are on our trip, we aren't really the type of people to stop at every tourist stop along the way. But after 100 mile of signs I wanted to know what Wall Drug was about. They offered ICE WATER! an attractive treat when the water is running low. A back yard spray park, food. These are all good things after 150 miles we were looking forward to Wall We needed to know what it was about. by time we got there we were excited about it, we wanted to know what was so great about Wall. Well honestly nothing, it's a tourist trap with a ton of store selling the same stuff over and over again. We weren't impressed with Wall, but I was impressed with their advertising. They get people there by reminding them of them in an non evasive way ever 10-20 miles. all that advertising accounts I'm sure to most of their traffic, because if you weren't looking for Wall you would drive right on past without a second thought.

Just like in business, there are other places to fill your needs, but you want your customers to come to you and not the other guy. Advertise regularly, with things that people will be interested in. Be a bit different every time, be interesting and have fun.

Importance vs Volume

Talking on the phone when you are a mom is always a challenge. It is inevitable they will always want something the second you get on the phone. It is almost some unwritten law of children. It does not matter what they were doing before, once the phone rings they must all be under foot asking for something. I know I have tried to make sure they are perfectly happy, have snack in hand changed and busy doing something, it doesn't help. I often find myself doing this dance. I'm sure I look like an idiot to my children.

image credit: betsy streeter @ mommytrackd.com

The thing that I think is the funniest is how what they need correlates to the importance of my call. If I am on a casual call their needs are pretty easily taken care of. If I am on a conference call, that I should be paying attention to they may just feel the need to start screaming at each other and fighting. They are more distracting than anything which while I can speak I can't focus on what I need to. Now If I am talking to a potential customer or business partner, the world may have ended. Blood curdling screams, demands, tears and there is not much I can do about it. It's my kids or the call, and often I have little to no choice to let the kids win. 

So next time you need to make a call maybe lock yourself in a bathroom.

Setting goals

The great and glorious masterpiece of
man is to know how to live to purpose.
Michel de Montaigne


Goals are essential to development in you personal and business. They give you a direction and a purpose for your life. Most people have a goal in mind when they  begin a venture. It is how they plan out that goal that can have a major effect on the outcome of the goal.

Most people in school learned about goal planning. Lets have a refresher though, just in case you forgot.

1.  Figure out what you want to achieve, be specific. "make more money" can be a nice thing to have but what is more money. if you make $2 are you happy with that? Or do you want to make $2,000? Specific goals are easier to actually obtain
2. Get a time frame, be realistic. Go for both long and short term goals.  Now with being realistic do under sell your self, but at the same time don't go so big that it might be impossible to obtain.
3. Have a real tangible plan. Once you know what you want and when you want it done by, make a plan. You need to have a plan on how you are going to make your business work. Yes putting your wishes out to the universe helps but if you have no action behind you desires it is likely they will fizzle out.

Remember your goals can always change. Life happens and sometimes your plan isn't going to work, maybe you can't work your business 5-6 hours a day. You do need to be aware that if the plan changes, you may need to change the realistic expectations of yourself.

Identifying NEADS

How do you know how to best help your potential promoters? Simply ask them questions. Identify what they are really saying. Most no's are a not right now Listen and actively engage in what your prospects is saying find out who they are an what make them tick.

Here is a helpful acronym that was taught to me. I am not sure where it comes from if you know please let me know so I can credit proper sources

N - Now- what is it that you are looking for right now
E- enjoy - what do you and what don't you enjoy
A- alter - what would you do different
D- decision- who is the decision maker
S- solution- would you be open to looking at a solution?

Keeping the conversation focused on your potentials will go a long way to developing a relationship with them. People need to know that you genuinely care about them, or they will find someone to work with who will care about them. Something to think about