Stages of Success: The Truth about Network Marketing

Stage of Success: The Truth


You got excited about a Network Marketing business, watched a video and invested the initial start up fee and are now just waiting to make your first million. BUT you seem to be spending lots of time working, stalking your friends and family, spending time on the computer and hours calling or meeting with people and still NOTHING. What is going on?

I call it the Stages of Success and it looks like this:

Stage 1: The Pitts
This is where you start with your Network Marketing Business. It really is The Pitts! The compensation plan is confusing, your up line tells you to check the website for every question you have, the technology on-line is frustrating and the stuff you are learning does not work as "great" as they said it would. You are investing more money then you are making (if you are lucky enough to make any). You feel like you are spending 24 hours a day/7 days a week working but have nothing to show for it. Your spouse, family and friends think you are wasting your time and are constantly asking condescending questions like "make your first million yet?" This stage really does SUCK! You have not gotten any leads and your not making any money. The reality is this is a true stage and most companies do not talk about it because it would be hard pressed to sell anything if it did.

The statistics about Network Marketing do not lie. More then 80% of people quit within the first 6 months. Why? Because stage 1 of this process SUCKS!


Stage 2: The Effort
If you thought that Stage 1 was work, it wasn't. It was preparing you for work. If you got started in a company that does not have a good training plan or an up line that falls off the earth once you give them your money, you will not get past Stage 1. However, if you are ready to be successful, Stage 2 is a great place. It is EFFORT IN = EFFORT OUT.

You work with some great people who offer you value. You invest in your own learning's. You start to organise your "tools". You get your blog up and running, your Facebook page is getting more likes every day. People are looking to you for answers and you are adding value to those around you. You are no longer chasing friends and family but people are coming to you! You are getting more leads, closing a few deals and making some money. It is still work but you are starting to see the return to your investment.



Stage 3: You are a Celebrity!

You have made it! You are a celebrity with a powerful on-line presence. You have attended major events, maybe even been asked as a presenter. You have made some great friends and consider a "leader" in the Network Marketing industry. In Stage 3 you can decide it you want to work hard or not. You can outsource leads and get some of your great leaders to make some calls. You log into your back office and see your commissions increasing every day. You might decide to create and release your own on-line product, you are definitely enjoying the car and trips offered as bonuses from your company. Your value in the marketplace is huge and so is your income. You make money in your sleep and you a top earner in your company.

Now THIS is the stage that all companies sell. Imagine driving your new car or making millions. Most companies sell "the dream" and suggests that this can happen over night and can be your first stage. It cannot be. Some of the big guns in those companies have forgotten the work they put in to get to the top. I am not saying this is impossible (I know a friend of a friend whose aunt's sisters girlfriend did it) but we need to understand the truth about Network Marketing. It does take some time, it does take some effort and it does take so personal investment and education. These together will make Stage 1 not so bad or long, Stage 2 much more fun and Stage 3 a goal for the future.


Good Luck and don't give up, you can do it.

Yours in Health and Wealth
Lindsay Hack
www.Evolve4You.com



All images from FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Dollars tied in a sack by Grant Cochrane
Stressed Business man in office by imagerymagestic
On-line Marketing signpost by Stuart Miles
Red Carpet leading with waiting limousine by David Castillo Dominico

TABATA: All you need is 20 minutes

TABATA

If I told you that getting a great workout in was only 20 minutes away, what would you think?

No longer do we need to spend hours at the gym to get some great results.

Ben Hack after a kick ass Tabata session

All you need is your body and a little room (can be anywhere) and a workout called TABATA.

Tabata was founded in Japan by Izumi Tabata who did some research on high intensity training and found that high intensity workouts had increased impact on both the aerobic and anaerobic systems. He and his colleagues conducted tests on 2 groups. Group 1 used moderate intensity (70% intensity) interval training 5x/week for 1 hour in length. Group 2 used high intensity for 4x/week lasting only 4 minutes.

The conclusion was:

Group 1 had a significant increase in the aerobic system (cardiovascular system). However, the anaerobic system (muscles) gained little or no results at all.

Group 2 showed much improvement in all their athletes. Their aerobic systems increased much more than group ones, and their anaerobic systems increased by 28%.

"The rate of increase in V02max is one of the highest ever reported." - Izumi Tabata, Japan

Any exercise can be incorporated into the Tabata training. However the basic outline of the Tabata training method are as follows:

•     4 minutes long 

•     20 seconds of intense training

•     10 seconds of rest

•     Total of 8 sessions or rounds

I tend to use 5 exercises so the total time is 20 minutes. That’s all it takes! The key to success is ensuring that the 20 seconds is really at a high level of intensity. 

Try this at home:

Squats

Pushup

Mountain Climbers

Lunges

Full Sit Up 

Make each 20 seconds count and rest for those 10 seconds. If you have an iPad or iPhone, a great App is called Tabata Timer.  It does all the counting for you, work, rest and rounds, so you will never lose count. 

When you are done, please send me an email and tell me what you think? Could you fit 20 minutes, 3x/week into your schedule? 

Yours in Health and Wealth,

Lindsay Hack

lindsay.hack@gmail.com

www.Evolve4You.com

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe - Which one do I choose?

With the New Years almost here, we are entering into the biggest weight loss and get healthy season on the year. This means from the gyms, at Walmart, the Natural Nutrition shop and people, there is going to be Nutrition and nutritional products everywhere. Work out books, workout clothes and different workout equipment will be thrown down your throat at every turn.  How do you know what is right and what is good. Unforntuently there are some dishonest companies and only moneymakers out there so we all need to be aware.

In big box gyms, their Personal Training and membership goals are the highest of the year and the pressure is on them and therefore it is on you, the person looking for information. I have seen Single’s Clubs, Seniors Clubs, Mom and Me Clubs and everything in between. I have been in the health and wellness industry for almost 10 years and I have seen a lot of ways to get the consumer to buy into a certain product or service.

How can you enter this January making the right decision for YOU and not being forced or persuaded to do what “they” think is best for you. Here are a few helpful hints to make this January a little less stressful and encourage you to get on the right path to your health and wellness goals:

1. Do your research.  I cannot stress this enough. Check into the company, look into the testimonials (even ask for refereces) and most importantly the ingredients (on nutritional products). They are numerous companies out there that claim some amazing things. Lose weight but don’t change the way you eat or exercise!! Take this pill and you will be in the best shape of your life!! Wrap your belly with a miracle wrap to lose your cellulite!! I would love this to be true, I really would. I always said if I could create a pill that solved all our weight and health problems, I would be a zillionaire! The truth is that you need to change SOMETHING in order to get SOMETHING.

 2. Choose something that is going to work for you!! This is so important. As a personal trainer, I see people fail often because they did something that they THOUGHT would be right for them and in the end, it was not and they were not successful. I could probably convince you of anything but the fact is, it has to be right! If you love to run, join a running group. If you love classes, pick up a gym membership but say no to the personal training.  If you live alone, overhauling the way you eat and spending hours in the kitchen probably is not the best idea. But YOU know what is best. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise.

3. Don’t buy something and let it gather dust in the corner. The health and fitness industry is a billion dollar industry and a lot of the money is made on people’s hopes and dreams. That treadmill or those hand weights that you bought with high hopes to use are still sitting in the box. Going back to tip #1 and #2, make the right decision for you after doing the research.

            4.  Focus on 1 or 2 goals. Again, I spoke about this in one of my recent blogs, choose 1 or 2 resolutions ONLY and stick with them. If you want to lose weight, quit smoking, quit drinking and save money, you may be successful for a week or so but chances are something will give and then EVERYTHING will. Start smaller and work towards each goal.

               5.    Remember almost all products, services and equipment have success stories.  I don’t say this to bring you down or not believe it is possible, however most of these products, services and equipment are successful for some. But going back to tip #2 – its got to work for you. I have had many many success stories from my personal training clients. I have had  amazing life changing stories with my nutritional products. I believe they work and can do amazing things, however so do all the others which is why it is so confusing. If Hoodia didn’t have success stories, no one would have bought it (granted no one would have died either but that’s another story all together). The Atkins diet, Paleo Diet, BodybyVi, Boot camps – they all have their successes and they all have some failures as well. SO going back to the beginning and after doing your research, you decide what is best for you. You can be a success story as well, you just need to figure out what works.

If you have tried everything and still “nothing” has worked, maybe it is time to speak to a professional and see what your options are.

I wish you all the best in January and beyond.  I am very passionate about health and wealth and want to help as many people as I can live the life they want. This sometimes means moving aside and letting someone or something else provide that person with the solution.  If you are interested in learning more about me or my business, please lets connect at Lindsay.hack@gmail.com

Staying on track with your Home Business

Morningg Rush Hour image courtesy of EA / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

When working from home in a Network Marketing Business or Home –based business, the freedom of scheduling is in your hands. It is an amazing feeling to not have to “clock in”, sit on the bus, battle traffic or panic when your childcare is closed for the day. Working from home gives you the freedom to do more with your day.

The down side of working from home or having the freedom to work from anywhere is that often we work from EVERYWHERE. The topic of my last blog was about multitasking, and how it doesn’t really work. I find there are times when my work invades everything else in my life.

Other distractions also tend to get in the way. The laundry, the cooking, the kids and all the time wasting activities around the house. The most important aspect of working from home is scheduling. If you schedule your day right, you will get the work you need to accomplish done. You can then continue to tick off boxes on the “to do” list and then spend quality time elsewhere AS WELL.

Organization Development Plan Image courtesy of basketman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

“Organization isn't about perfection; it's about efficiency, reducing stress and clutter, saving time and money and improving your overall quality of life.”

― Christina Scalise

So where do you begin to ensure that you are organized and getting quality done over quantity and still getting the other important stuff done??

Prioritization!!

Below is a simple To-Do list that you should try to accomplish every single day you are working.

 

Right sign Image courtesy of digetalert / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

§  Create one piece of content every day. This can be on your blog or Facebook articles. Keeping it fresh is very important.

§  Average about 30 minutes per day on doing marketing. Spending time organizing your plan of attack and what marketing strategies you will use.

§  Average at least 15 minutes to get into the right mind-set. I am sure you have heard a positive person can be more productive. Well that is true, and in addition a person in the correct mind-set will be more successful.

§  Do affirmations and repeat them often. This took me a little to get used to. I am not really an affirmation type person but I found the days I didn’t follow this, I was not as successful as the days I did. An affirmation is a very simple saying that you can say to yourself that will pump you up and get you ready to take on the day. These can change depending on your day or the same one each time.

§  Meditation and focus. Some people meditate while doing yoga. I do my best work while I am running. I write blogs in my head and when I get back, put them into print. I think of new ideas and write emails. That is my mediation. I love the feeling of being free.

§  Make connections with at least 20 people every day. This is on-line and off-line. Both are very important.

§  Plan your day for tomorrow. This may sound silly but when you have your lunch packed, your clothes picked out and your coat, boots and gloves ready, the morning out the door is much smoother. The same does with your workday. If you plan the day the night before, you will be more productive and have a smoother day.

§  Take breaks and get out of the house. It is very important to take a breather, get some exercise and some air. This is true for any job weather you are inside the house or not. 

Good luck and remember it is quality over quantity! Rather then work EVERYWHERE, plan to work well and with focus, your success with be higher in all aspects of your life.

If you are interested in learning more about me or my business, please send me an email Lindsay.hack@gmail.com or visit www.Evolve4You.com

Multitasking - Is it really helping that "to do" list?

We all do it!! I think as a mother, a wife, an entrepreneur and a woman, I do it a lot!! Check an email here, colour with the kids there, check the oven for dinner and send out a Facebook message. I use to think I was really good at it. My husband could ask me something and I would answer him while texting on my iphone and folding the clean clothes. I would get so angry with him when I asked him a question and he didn't answer because he was answering an email or text message. He would say "if you want my full attention, wait until I am finished". It use to drive me crazy! But when the time came to play with the kids, have a conversation with me or take the day off, his phone was away and he was 'unplugged' so his attention was 100% with them. He knew he could not give 100% to more then one thing at a time. 


When my business started getting busier and my days were filled with more emails, more Facebook messages and texts, I found my multitasking was increasing as well. The time I had planned to spent with the kids or make dinner or plan workouts blurred with everything else I had to do.


So I started thinking about multitasking and the benefits. I knew the ones I could think of; save time, get more done, finish task faster, but of course I wanted more details. I went online and started reading blogs and websites and soon started to see the truth. (Bulp, I don't admit it very often but my husband was right!!)

working woman Success Image courtesy of pong / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

According to Wikipedia the definition of multitasking: is the best performance by an individual of appearing to handle more than one task at the same time. The term is derived from computer multitasking. An example of multitasking is taking phone calls while typing an email. Some believe that multitasking can result in time wasted due to human context switching and apparently causing more errors due to insufficient attention.


A recent article on Forbes.com said that Multitasking DOES NOT work. It says that we all multitask to try and save time but in reality we are not saving any "valuable" time. You may be able to watch TV, read a blog, make dinner and do some squats to get your exercise in but did you really take much away from what you were watching on TV? Or from the blog? You can get stuff done multitasking but what gets left behind?


Our short term memories can only store between 5 - 9 things at once. So if you are trying to read a good blog and watch something important on the TV, our brain just can't take in and process all the information at once. If the information doesn't get placed in the short term memory it cannot be stored in the long-term memory to recall later. So in reality, you didn't accomplish much from the blog or the TV watching. So was it worth it in the first place?


One of the best parts of my business is I can work from anywhere. Starbucks, the beach, at the park or at home. I always talk about my favourite benefit is that I get to spent time with my kids when others working a 9-5 job do not. I love it but what I was finding was that when I was really busy and working hard, that blurred line came into my time with my kids. I didn't like it. I wanted to spend quality time with them, not passive time while I checked my iphone again for emails and texts. The downside of working your business from anywhere, is often times I do work it everywhere!! The need to disconnect, unplug and remove from business and get on the floor and play Lego or barbies or make cookies while making a huge mess is SO important to our everyday routine. If you can commit to time with 100% attention, your brain will function better, the memories will be stored for later and every aspect of your time will get better.

mother and children image courtesy of photostock / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Stay tunes for my blog on Scheduling and organizing when working from home. In the mean time, turn off the tv, unplug the phone and go play dress up with the kids or go for a bike ride. That activity and that time will be much better spent in the long run.

Yours in Health and Wealth

Lindsay


If you are interested in learning more about me and my business, please check out my website:

www.Evolve4You.com

Tweet with me @Evolve4U