The Simple Secret to Success

I was at church this past Sunday and heard a common theme that ties into our business and really any business.  If you want to be successful you need to do one thing.  One small step that moves you from chump to champ.  One change in thought that will make all of the difference to you and your business.  It’s so unbelievably simple that you may have missed it.  It’s nothing profound or deep or complicated, but it is the necessary step to make it.  Here it is…….

TAKE ACTION!!!

That’s right, you need to take action to make anything work.  If you want a job you have to go look for one, they just don’t come to you.  If you want to get new clients you have to look for them.  Even if you do all of your work on-line, you need to have put in some sort of action to have gotten people looking at your website.  You need to do something to have some sort of result.

I know, so simple, yet so many people miss this train.  A lot of people spend time becoming the best students of their chosen business or industry yet fail because they’re not willing to put the teachings into practice.  They spend all of their time learning about the secrets and the ways to make it work but done’t ever put it into practice.  Are you like this?

Some people don’t take action because of fear, usually fear of rejection and the fear of failure.  How can you possibly overcome that??  Simply, face your fear.  Do what scares you and get comfortable doing it.  If you are scared of being rejected by people, you need to start sharing your product or business plan with people.  The more you do it the more confidence you’ll have.  You just need to face your fear.  Remember, the bible says you only have to fear fear itself.  In all of my years, I’ve been rejected hundreds of time, at least my business opportunity has not me.  I was freaked out to speak to people but it took me talking to people and getting over that rejection to just keep going.  It turned out to be no big deal.  Now, I’m more upset when someone is wasting my time but I’ll get over that as well.

I hope that you realize that to be successful only takes a few simple steps and this may be the most important one.  So do something and have fun doing it and you will be successful!

 

Rick Peden

www.emaginebg.com

www.rpeden.qhealthbeauty.com

Free Marketing Techniques

I just read a question on a forum (www.BetterNetworker.com) that peaked my interest and I had to post about it.  The question is, which is better, Free Marketing or Pay Per Click marketing?

Honestly, they’re both good!  The key is which works for you the best?

Free Marketing is based on different techniques that you can use to create traffic flow to your website without spending any, or very little, money to do so.  Some of the more popular techniques are:

• Article Marketing
• Blog Marketing
• Forum Marketing
• Social Networking Marketing

Article Marketing is marketing through the writing of articles and posting them on the web where people interested in your topic can read it and comment or go to your website.  This can be very effective as it doesn’t cost very much money and the people that are reading your article are very specifically looking for that information.  It is targeted marketing.  I suggest using www.ezinearticles.com for this as they get a lot of people reading and posting articles.

Blog Marketing is marketing through a blog where you post information that people are looking for.  This is similar to Article Marketing but isn’t quite as targeted.  People have to find your post and URL in order to read your information where as Article Marketing is on a article website already.  Blog marketing is good though as long as you are consistent.

Forum Marketing is the practice of posting information on different forums.  This is a way for you to show your expertise in a specific area where others with similar experience are located.  Like Article Marketing, this is a target market as the people there are looking for specific information.  There are a lot of great forums out there for specific genres or industries.  I personally like www.betternetworker.com.

Social Networking Marketing is the use of websites like Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube to show your expertise and market your products.  This is good and is more effective the more people you have as your friends or subscribers.   The only issue I see with this is that it isn’t targeted at a market where they are looking for your information or product.

So are these better than Pay Per Click?  PPC is very effective as it is targeted.  But it is difficult to learn and costs money.  It can cost a lot of money!  A lot of people jump right into PPC and don’t have much success as their ad isn’t focused enough or doesn’t catch enough targeted people resulting in clicks without conversion.  I suggest learning from the best to do PPC.  You can go to my website to find a link to a course about PPC called Traffic Formula 2.0.

So, you need to decide what works the best for you.  Here’s the catch, they both take work and effort to be effective.  There is no free ride, you have to give something to get something.  Good luck and have fun!

 

Rick Peden

www.emaginebg.com

Are you a sales person?

My wife and I were having dinner with some friends of ours this weekend and we got on the topic of our network marketing business.  We were discussing different aspects of it, not prospecting them at all as his brother was a member of the same business as we are.  One of the first things out their mouth was the standard response, it’s not for us, we don’t like to sell.  How many times have you heard that?  Probably a million times!

I didn’t argue with them or try and change their mind because they had already established themselves as part of the 80%.  My point in this is that everyone is a sales person.  That’s right, you and me and everyone else is a sales person to some degree!

Have you ever had a boyfriend or girlfriend?  Are you married?  If you have answered yes to those, then you had to sell yourself to them.  You had to do something to make yourself appealing to them. 

Do you have a job?  Have you ever gone for an interview for a job?  Again, you are selling yourself to them.  You had to sell yourself to make them want you.

Here’s my question to make you think about sales; Finding a person that you want to marry and selling yourself to them is one of the most difficult sales that you will ever have to do, so why do people stress about selling a product or a business opportunity?

My theory is that people have a preconceived notion that selling is trying to convince people to buy your product or to sucker them into a “business”.  Selling is not that at all.  The best prospect that will buy a product from you is if you have a need to fill for them.  I have another post about selling and achieving pleasure or avoiding pain.  That post relates directly to this.  People want their needs fulfilled and those needs come down to either achieving pleasure or avoiding pain.  So fill that need that helps them achieve either of those things.  Will your product or business opportunity provide them with pleasure or help them avoid pain?

Going back to you, sales and the art of selling is nothing more than a state of mind.  You have to choose that you are either going to do sales or not.  It is a choice, nothing more.  Yes, you can develop skills to become better at it but you must first make that choice.  The biggest issue that holds people back from selling is their fear of rejection.  Here’s my advice, be thankful that you get rejection as it will help you grow and develop the skills you need to become better at sales.

So, do you think you can be a sales person?  Take a week of your life and make a conscious mental note about how many times you sell yourself to someone or a business, etc.  Anything that puts you into a sales person role, note it.  I bet you’ll be surprised.  The next step is to really make the effort to decide if you can handle and learn from rejection.  If so, you’ll be a great sales person for your products and business opportunity.

Remember, you can’t move forward, progress unless you’ve failed in some capacity.  You need those experiences to learn from and grow.  The only way you get them is to step out and do it.  Always, have fun!

 

Rick Peden

www.emaginebg.com

Entrepreneur vs. Scholar – Network Marketing

I had a funny realization yesterday.  I was watching that TV show Heros.  If you haven’t watched it, it’s really good.  It’s about people that discover that they have super powers and are trying to save the world from a clandestine corporation called The Company. 

There was one scene where this girl (she can heal from any wound) is arguing with another girl and punches out a car window.  There’s glass stuck in her hand and it shows her healing and the glass falling out of her wounds.  Here’s where my realization came in.  My first thought was “She’d never be able to punch through a window like that”!  How ridiculous right?  I was more concerned that she punched out a window than I was that she had super powers!

Here’s my point.  We are programmed to believe certain things which draw us in.  Like believing that the people on that show have super powers.  Throughout my whole life, and probably most of you out there, we’re taught that we need to go to school and get good grades so that we can get a good job.  We believe it.  We do it, well most of us try.  When we go a different path we’re ridiculed and talked about in a negative perspective. 

Did you know that only 100 years ago about 90% of people in Canada and USA were entrepreneurs?  Think about it, everyone owned a farm or a business of some sort as their source of income.  This all changed with the industrial revolution.  At that point people could make more money working for a corporation than they could farming.  Corporations started offering retirement funds, benefits, etc. so it was worth it to work for them. 

Of course, with either scenario, there are risks involved.  Owning your own business can result in very long hours, time away from your family, everything invested in it, and you can lose everything if you fail.  On the upside, you can create a legacy for your family, help create a great life for them, financial security, and freedom from having a boss.  Working for a company will help you have a steady income, possible benefits, and paid vacations (there are more than these examples, I just can’t think of any!).  When business isn’t going well they’ll lay you off or fire you and you lose benefits, retirement plans, and your income.

How would our economy change if most people were entrepreneurs and owned their own business?  Would a recession have as much impact?  Would a recession even occur?

The easiest way to accomplish this, for people to become an entrepreneur, is to join a network marketing business.  There are numerous types out there that offer people an opportunity to own their own business and make an additional income while still maintaining a job.  How would your financial status change if you made an extra $500-$2000 per month on top of your income from your job?

Some food for thought.

Rick Peden

www.emaginebg.com

www.rpeden.magenticsponsoring.com

Clients and Customers – Making Money in your Business

I had to post about this topic.  It seems so stupidly simple that most people miss it.  They can’t see the forest for the trees, so to speak.

I have a friend of mine who is in network marketing.  Like everyone else, he’s had his ups and downs and has pulled back from building a big business network.  Most people follow this, as I’m sure you’ve experienced.  Then they quit.  My friend has done something differently.  He has maintained his client’s.  Guess what?  He still makes $600-$800 a month!  That is awesome!  It’s usually at this point that most people quit the business or just consume.  He’s pulled back but is still making money!  What a truly awesome business!

Another aquaintence of mine, very successful in network marketing, has also maintained a huge income from clients and customers.  He let me peek into his business not too long ago and I saw first hand that he makes boat loads of money every month from clients.  He makes in the range of $20,000 to $30,000 every month because of his clients!  In the last ten years he’s built up a client base of about 1800-2000 clients!  Guess what?  95% of them purchase something everymonth!  How awesome is that?!

I know the question in your mind is how the heck did they do that? 

First, they put in the effort to get clients.  They talked to people, introduced them to products, and met their needs.  How else do you get clients?  You need to open your mouth and talk to people.

Second, they provide an excellent service to their clients.  They contact them often, introduce them to new products and keep fulfilling their needs.  This is called “Customer Service”.  This is how everyone should be treated everytime your purchase a product, no matter where you get that product from.

See how having clients that purchase and re-purchase your products creates a profitable business?  It doesn’t take much time and effort to get clients, especially now-a-days with the internet.  People want to go to a website to check out the products.  Shopping from the web is huge, so jump on board and get going! 

Notice how I haven’t mentioned a thing about prospecting new business builders?  Depending on the business that you represent, you don’t have to sponsor a ton of people to make money.  Just find 30 to 50 people that purchase from you every month and you’ll be amazed at your supplementary income!

There are numerous ways to get clients and customers.  Use your imagination and have fun!

Sponsoring people – Rules that you need to know

It’s been a while since my last post.  Life has been very busy lately and continues to get busier.

I had a wonderful opportunity last week to meet with 2 fellows that have been in network marketing for a very long time.  They both have been successful and were gracious enough to give me some advice and help me with my business.  The one gentleman told us 2 points that I’m going to share with you today.  Once you get them and understand them your business will change and you’ll see success!

80-20 rule

We’ve all heard about this.  It was one of the first rules that I heard about when I started in Network Marketing.  If you don’t know what this is it is a “Universal Law” that states that 20% of the people in the world controls 80% of the worlds wealth or that 20% of the population will be rich or wealthy and do what it takes to get there while 80% won’t.

The 20% are usually entrepreneurs, top level managers, stock brokers, realtors, etc.  The 80% are everyone else, the blue collar workers, the people that aren’t willing to get out of their comfort zone to better themselves.  Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with being in the 80%, the world needs them as it needs the 20% to create jobs for the 80%.

Here’s the point that you need to understand and have it sink in lodge into your brain.  You can’t bring a 80% person into the 20%, so don’t try!  When I heard that it hit me like a ton of bricks!  I’m not saying that it won’t ever happen (Mike Dillard & Dean Kosage were both waiters and became millionaires in this industry) but it is like finding a needle in a haystack; almost impossible.  To better your chances to find someone who wants to build a business, that is willing to do something with the opportunity, you’re best off looking in the 20% pile.  The pile is smaller but your chances are better, a lot better!  Use the 80% group as customers/clients and you’ll see your business grow by following this simple rule!

Are you Fishing in the Right Pond?

This rule or plan ties directly into the 80-20 rule.  Where are you spending your time prospecting?  Are you talking to the lady running the cash register at 7-11 or are you talking to the person that owns or manages the 7-11?  We’re told by our up-lines to talk to everyone.  That everyone is a prospect and that is the only way that you’ll find people that want to build a business. 

Here’s my advice, talk to everyone but find out their needs.  Most people will most likely become a client instead of a business builder.  Focus your business building prospecting on people that are in the 20% group, you’ll have more success!

Remember, network marketing is a fun and exciting industry.  It also takes time!  Be enthusiastic and put these principles into practice and you’ll see great success.

Leadership Development – Failure; the first step to success!

Like the title states, failure is the first step to success.  I know that sounds strange and wrong but it is the truth!  You can’t become successful in ANYTHING unless you fail at it first.  Failure is one of the key elements to achieving success.  Just ask anyone that has achieved any level of success.  Whether it is in sports, music, entertainment, business, parenting, being a spouse, education, …….., they have failed at it at some point.  

To really bring this point into focus for you, read this quote by Michael Jordan.

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. ”

Here’s one by Napoleon Hill; “The majority of men meet with failure because of their lack of persistence in creating new plans to take the place of those which fail. ”

Finally, Abraham Lincoln; “The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just. ”

See, some of greatest leaders understand that failing and moving on from that failure will ultimately lead to success.  

Failing is so important for you to do.  It builds character, it shows your character, and it creates a learning experience that you can use to move on and achieve your success.  Failing at something really checks your character.  Do you have the passion and vision to brush it off and move on?  

Look at ultra successful business men Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki.  Both of them lost multi-million dollar businesses and rebounded to become industry leaders.  Donald Trump was almost $1 Billion dollars in debt!

As I hope you can see, failing is a good thing.  It really helps us grow and makes us relate-able to others.  It is a learning experience, one that is invaluable, and can be used to fuel your passion to achieve your success.  Embrace failure.  Don’t go seeking it but seek your success and let the failure come so that you can grow and move on.  

If you don’t fail, you haven’t done anything!  I hope that makes sense.  You see, you need to try something or do something in order to fail.  At times, it takes stepping out of your comfort zone and trying something new to achieve your success.  With that comes set backs and failure.  But stay the course, keep your vision strong and in front of you and you will succeed!

Did you know that most people are afraid to start a new business or seek a new job because of the fear of failure?  Think how our economy would look like if most people were entrepreneurs instead of employees?  What would it take to achieve that?  People overcoming their fear of failing!

I’m no different than anyone else.  I have fears and failures.  I choose, though, to embrace my failures, learn from them and move on.  I have a clear vision of what I want and my failures won’t stop me, they may delay me a bit, but I won’t be stopped!  Do you have a vision?  Are you ready to step out and work on achieving your success?  If so, don’t be afraid.  You’re in good company.  We’ve all been there and will continue to fail.  I can help you.  Go to my website www.emaginebg.com.

Economic Recession – How to stay afloat in the whirlpool of the economy

I just got back from a nice vacation.  I love vacationing.  Going somewhere without stress, without having to deal with the regular troubles, without having to be stressed out about life.  I think I need another vacation!

Anyway, I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday and learned that he got laid off.  He worked for the same company for 20+ years.  Knew everything about the business and industry, just really invaluable to have as an employee.  The way the story goes is that he was on vacation (his really sucked!) and got called into the head office, which was close to where he was vacationing.  The let him go right there, while on vacation!  To top it off they offered him pennies of what he legally get in severance.  I feel really bad for him and am praying for something good to come out of this.  The reason he was let go was due to the down-turn in the economy.  They were closing his branch so he had to go.

So how do you avoid this?  What can you do to be impervious to changes in the economy?  What does it take for you to be safe and to ensure the safety of your family?  The answer is simple yet may be difficult to execute.  It takes planning and tenacity to achieve but anyone can achieve it.  It takes having a student’s mind and willingness to learn.  It takes finding mentors and learning from them.  Do you think you can do all of those things?  Do you have what it takes?  Are you willing to change in order to ensure that you can pay your bills and create a life for you and your family?  Most people aren’t willing to do these things.  Most people aren’t willing to pay a price to do this for themselves or their family.  Most people think they do but when things get tough they quit.

So what is the information that you need to recession proof yourself?  Multiple income streams!  This seems elementary, and it is, but it takes work to make this plan reasonable for you.  Most families already have more than one income.  But can you survive if one of you loses your job?  This is where having more than one or two sources of income really makes a difference.  What if you had five sources of income that generate $1000 each per month and you lose one, what impact would that have on your situation?  Some but not as significant as if you only had one source of income that generates $5000/mo and you lose that!

The next portion of this is what types of income streams are available to you?  Most people have a job and I encourage you to keep it as there are definite benefits to having one.  I’m suggesting that you start a business that will allow you to have your job and earn extra income.  There are a lot of different ones out there.  There are traditional franchises that work this way but cost a lot of money to buy and run.  You can create a new business but that usually takes a lot of time and money to get going.  You can sub-contract to an existing company doing something from home.  This is good but takes some time to develop the clientele.  Lastly, I suggest looking at a network marketing business as they are designed for this reason and you can make good income from them.

There are a vast number of business opportunities out there at a reasonable cost.  I highly recommend that you really research different ones and their opportunity.  There are a few key elements that you should focus on.

1. What is their training program/mentorship program like?  Do they spend time training you?  Are they willing to invest in your future?  What is their track record (that particular group or business center)?
2. What is the compensation plan?  Can you make money retailing the product or service without having to sponsor X amount of people into your business before you can make anything?  
3. What is the person like that you are talking to about this?  Do you trust them?  Are they honest?  Do they have integrity?
4. Can you do what they are asking of you?  Does it make you uncomfortable?
5. Can you use the product yourself?  Do you believe in the product(s) or service(s)?  If you don’t you won’t be able to make any progress with them.

It sounds like a lot but you probably intuitively ask yourself them anyways.  So, have fun, do some soul searching and make some good decisions!

 

www.emaginebg.com

Leadership Development – One step away from achieving your dreams!

I’ve been working on practicing what I preach lately.  I’m like everyone else, I’m lazy and get complacent with my life.  I decided to get moving again and purchased a new book on becoming a better leader.  I haven’t finished it but the one chapter that I got to I had to stop to blog about it.  To me it is the key to move from good to great.  It is what makes every great leader great.  It is what will catapult your career or business.  

PASSION!!!!!

That’s it.  You need passion.  You need to be passionate about what you do to move from good to great.  If you’re not passionate about your job or business, get a new one, because you will not reach the levels of success that you are hoping for.  

If you look at all of the great leaders in the world, passion is the one common factor that they all possess.  They are passionate about their job, business, company, dream,…… You get the point.  Passion is what drives it.  Passion is what recharges your batteries, fills your tank, gives you that “nothing will stop me” drive to keep going.  Passion for having a computer in every household in the world is what keeps Bill Gates on working to achieve that dream.  Martin Luther King Jr. infected millions of people for generations because of his passion for freedom.  

All great speakers are passionate about their subject.  That passion sweeps like a wave over the audience and makes that speech or presentation great.  Passion is infectious.  If you are around a passionate person you can’t help but be swept up in it.  You become passionate also!  It’s a great thing!  People just have a natural attraction to passion.  It is alot more interesting to talk to someone that is passionate about a subject that if they are bored or not interested in it at all.  

Right now, I’m almost jumping out of my seat with excitement to write about this topic.  I’m passionate to share my skills and knowledge with others to help them achieve their success.  I love it!  It’s not the only thing that I’m passionate about, just get me talking about my kids, guitars or motorbikes!  We all have passion for something.  There is no way to motivate someone, but if you want to ignite their fire, find out what they are passionate about.  Help stoke that fire and see what they can do (this is also a big part of mentorship!). 

Passion so important for your success that you may have overlooked it.  Most people are passionate but have been repressed by their boss or a friend and they don’t exhibit it anymore.  It is so important to be passionate that some of the most powerful people in the world stated that passion is what separates the A list people from the B list people (and the A list people usually make 2 or 3 times more money!).  World leaders in government and business look for passionate people to work with.  Passion makes the job more enjoyable and it helps to get things done and moving.  

So how can you become passionate?  Enthusiasm!  Be enthusiastic, excited, and energetic about your topic, job or business.  You’ll build passion within yourself and others.  Enthusiam + Passion = Growth and passion in others.  To also help this enthusiasm and to get your message across, share that personal connection that you possess that makes you passionate about your job or business.  Why do you do the things you do?  Where does your passion come from?  That will connect with your audience and infect them with your passion.  

Be passionate!  The most successful are.  Do what they do and you’ll achieve great success as well!

Happy Canada Day!!

I admit it, I’m proud to be a Canadian!!  I wanted to step aside from the business blog to talk a bit about this great nation.  My great grandparents immigrated to Canada on both sides of my family.  Typical of most Canadians, my grandparents were farmers living in Saskatchewan.  I’ve been blessed to live in both B.C. and Alberta and have visited Saskatchewan, Yukon, and Ontario.  I hope to someday go all the way across Canada.  Travellers world wide know the Canada flag, at at times, sew the flag on their backpack to get good service like the rest of Canadians do, because of our reputation.

I’m a bit of a WWII buff and found it facinating to learn about Canada’s reputation in wars.  We’re known world wide as peacekeepers.  We’ve conducted many missions for NATO in the name of peace and have been on the frontlines in that role and done it well.  One thing that many people don’t know is that on the world stage during war, Canada has shined.  Our military gets mocked quite a bit which is sad because we’re always compared to our friends to the south but in reality, we do very well.  In WWI, Canada’s front line troops were called Stormtroopers as they were able to take and accomplish very difficult tasks, where other countries couldn’t.  Our troops were relentless and brave to step in where others wouldn’t.  In WWII, on D-day, Canada was the only country that accomplished it’s objective that was set out by the allied forces.  The amazing part of this is that Canada had drawn the worst possible terrain, rocky cliffs, hardly any beach to land and the German guns were well protected by the cliff.  But with losses, we still perservered and accomplished our goal.  A few years ago, Canadian snipers were heralded by the allied forces for their marksmanship in Iraq and Afganistan.  Again, they were able to hit difficult targets and accomplish difficult tasks.  I’m proud of these men and women that fought for us and gave their lives for us.  I am grateful.

Not just in war we shine.  It seems like Canada owns the stage for great comedians.  Not only are we good at fighting but also at comedy!!  Jim Carrey, Mike Myers, Dan Akroyd, Russel Peters, on and on and on……  We are truly creating great people in our country.

Last year George St. Pierre was voted as Canada’s top athlete.  This is a guy that is known world wide for being one of the top fighters ever in the UFC.  It shows his dedication and training to reach this stage and maintain his status at this level.  Canada produces a lot of great athletes that go to compete in world class events and teams.  We’re proud of you all.

Although lots of people don’t like them and critics hate them, Nickelback is one of the top selling Rock artists in the world, all from the small town of Hanna, Alberta.  Who would have thought that some kids from a town of only a few thousand would impact the world of music?  Celene Dion is a permanent fixture in Las Vegas, performing her shows, and Rush have impacted millions world wide with their brand of progressive rock.

As a whole nation, we have vast amounts of beautiful landscape and water to share with the rest of the world.  Our land reaches from ocean to ocean with soaring mountains, stretching plains, and great lakes in between.  We have amazing scenery that astonishes the world because it is not filled with people and buildings.  I know people from other countries that are dumbfounded by the way we measure driving distance in hours instead of kilometres.  They’ve shocked that it’s nothing for us to drive 2 or 3 hundred kilometres just to go hiking or a picnic, or skiing.  It’s unheard of in most places to do that.

Obviously, Canada is not immune from issues and bad things.  We have our share of economic issues, murders, hate crimes, child abuse, etc.  I think though, that we, as a nation, do alright.  I think that we can improve as long as we can become more united.  We are miles ahead of other “great nations” though.   Keep up that amazing work and leading the world stage Canada, we’re behind you!