BE authentic.

Be who you are.

Be what you are.

Act like you act.

Talk like you talk.

Walk like you walk.

There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing success while just being yourself.

NEVER try and be someone else.

As tempting as it may be when trying to “impress” others, it will ultimately be your downfall in this business (or any business).

LEARN from others, don’t copy them. Learn from them and integrate your new skills into who you already are.

Remember, your product (their solution) is YOU.

Over and above any “products” you may be recommending, YOU are what people are buying FIRST. And people want value, so be valuable.

By being yourself you will attract others like you, and people that are like you are the best kind of people to work your business with.

Stick with what you know and keep learning and improving.

Have a great day!

“My team isn’t duplicating”, “Drop outs are killing my business”, “Why doesn’t my downline grow?”

If you are asking yourself these questions on a regular basis, there could be a huge piece of your marketing process missing.

There are thousands of great recruiters out there in online marketing. True enough. I know people that can recruit new members like clockwork. Good for them. However, more often than not, after a few months they’re still at the same position financially they were at after their first month in the business.

Why is this? You bring in new people no problem, but a good percentage of those new people quit before any sustainability is reached within their teams. This has always been a HUGE issue in internet MLM in particular.

The reason for this is fairly straightforward, and if you really want to build an “MLM” business as opposed to just working a “job”, you need to take the initiative in solving this problem. If you don’t, you will continue to just be a salesman, with no passive income attached. Sounds like a drag to me.

Here’s a hint: The “company” cannot do it for you.

Regardless of whether or not your business is in online MLM, YOU still have to make the connection between you and your new referrals.

And the most important time to do this is immediately after they join you. Immediately, not in a week, not next month, right now!

There should be a few “connection” steps you take right after your new referral joins your business.

1a. Contact them on the phone. Yes, I said “the phone” (*groan*). I know this is the internet but this is NOT a cold call. They’ve already joined YOU, now you just have to call and say “hi”.

2. Contact YOUR sponsor and have them call your new referral as well to welcome them to the team. Do a 3-way call if possible so you can both be in on the conversation.

Note: All this “phone” stuff can be done through Skype as well. Make sure it’s a voice chat, text and smilies doesn’t have the same effect.

3. Send them to your own personal training content, or some sort of ‘fast start’ training that one of your uplines has created. Or at least make sure they know where to find the company’s training area. You can also send them links to some good informational content that YOU find useful when building your business.

4. After they’ve gone through the training, contact them again on the phone and then work up a simple strategy with them on how you’re going to help them get started immediately. If YOU don’t know how, FIND OUT how. Set up a webinar with your own sponsor to connect this way if you don’t want to do it yourself.

If you just do these simple things, I GUARANTEE you will have helped that person MORE than anyone else has EVER done on the internet for them. And they will stick with you forever.

Can you recruit people without using the phone? Yes.

Can you keep a team together without using the phone? Not nearly as successfully as you could if you just give them a call.

Honestly, if you want to be a successful network marketer, and not just an internet salesman, you have to connect. If you ask anyone that is making a lot of money in network marketing they will tell you how absolutely necessary this is.

Remember, I’m not asking you to call your leads, I’m just asking you to connect with your new referrals. It is “partnerships” that make this business work, not avoiding them.

I want to let you in on a little ‘secret method’ I have to making sure that the MLM referrals I get personally are going to be active and motivated networkers.

I have heard from people all over the online MLM industry that (while they may have no problem generating leads) the leads and referrals that they generate are simply not the ‘right’ people for their business. They get leads, and they convert to paying members, but they don’t produce in their downline and eventually they just drop out. Sound familiar?

I often hear things like, “My referrals never return my emails”, or “My downline isn’t doing anything!”, or “I try to help them but they don’t respond..”, or “I recruited him, never heard from her, and then she just quit without a word!”. I hate hearing stuff like that.

I know it’s frustrating because you’ve just wasted a ton of time (and probably money) recruiting these people and they just don’t work out.

Some people blame the industry for this, and they’re partly correct. It’s true there are millions of people out there that are looking for a “quick buck” and will join anything to give it a shot, even though they have no idea what it takes to succeed in this business. Most of these people need significant “hand-holding” and generally never make any real money. And when I say “hand-holding”, I really mean “time-wasting”. I know that your time as a sponsor is valuable, and trying to get these people going can be a real stress on you and can take you away from supporting your real “active” referrals.

The way most people do their prospecting online is to get as many eyeballs in front of their capture page as possible, which is what you should be doing.. However..

The problem lies in what happens after they’ve generated their leads.

What happens next is some of those leads will upgrade into your mlm downline in hopes that they’ll make some fast money, without knowing what’s involved. And then the vicious circle begins again with you (as their sponsor) trying to turn these people into network marketers, while they just want to magically get rich without doing anything.

Yes, you make a quick referral commission off these people but you may have figured out that you’re probably going to be back at square one in a month or two after they give up and hop off to the next opportunity they see.

So what the heck do we do about this?

What needs to happen is a qualification process before your leads are introduced to your mlm company links. It’s not a difficult thing to do and it really separates the bad from the good.

There’s nothing wrong with generating as many leads as you can possibly generate, as quickly as you can. The more leads the better. BUT only a few of those leads will be good mlm’ers, and the rest can still be good leads to make money from in other ways. You need to qualify your MLM’ers before you introduce them to your mlm.

Here’s what I do, and it works really well.

First of all I have my own capture page, which offers something for free in turn for their opt-in. This is the top of my marketing funnel.

Now after they opt-in, they get forwarded to the free product they requested, and now they’re in my funnel and I can market to them.

My funnel focuses on generating MLM-specific leads. In other words, my capture page and free product specifically have to do with building an MLM business. That way I know that the people opting in are interested in building their MLM businesses, as opposed to just buying stuff from me.

Inside my funnel I have videos and information on me and what I do, and I also have some other training videos to keep them interested and moving through my funnel.

Anyways…

At some point in my funnel I want to qualify them before I decide to introduce them to my MLM Opportunity.

Here’s how I do that..

I give them something to do. I simply give them a task to complete. I basically tell them that before I decide to work with them, I need to know more about them, and I need to know what their goals are – both short term, and long term goals. And I want to know “why” they have those goals, I dig a little deeper than “how much money do you want to make”. ie. they have to justify to me the amount of money they want to make. It can (and should) go beyond the whole money-making aspect as well…

So, before anything goes further, I say “if you want to join me in what I’m doing here, I need you to complete this task”.

Doing this accomplishes a few things..

1. It engages the prospect.
2. Here they get to DO something.  People like being told what to do.
3. It forces the prospect to communicate with me directly.
4. It creates anticipation in the prospect, they know that I’ll be responding to them directly to either approve or disapprove (ie. they remember me).
5. It encourages the prospect to be honest and forthcoming with what they want to accomplish.
6. It shows that I am genuinely interested in knowing more about them, and that I’m not just trying to sell them something.
7. It ultimately shows whether or not they’re the kind of person I want in my downline.

After doing this, I know that the people that complete my “task”, at the very least, are people that..

• are willing to communicate
• probably have some experience
• can follow instructions
• take the initiative
• have specific long-term and short-term goals
• have good work ethics
• genuinely WANT to work to succeed.

And remember, if they don’t qualify, they’re still on my list… which means I can still market “other stuff” to them

Honestly, I believe that if you do the same thing, you will have a lot less difficulty in building your MLM business. You will get quality people in your downlines which will save you TONS of time and money in the long run.

For the BASICS on how a marketing funnel works:

Let me know what you think..

Thanks.
- Geoff Stephen

So, what is your business plan for this week? Do you have one? If not.. why not?

Do you know what you’re doing today, tomorrow, or the next day? Or are you just going to do “this and that, here and there..” and see if anything good happens..

I know exactly what I’m going to be doing this week. I have a plan. In fact, that’s the only way I get things done around here. I write it down, and I follow it as closely as possible.

Having a strategy or a plan is one of the most important things in building your online business. Even though that is true, it’s STILL one of the most ignored aspects of getting your business going. Planning is absolutely essential to making money online. Speaking from experience.. it’s simple. Years ago I never planned anything for my business. There was no rhyme or reason to what I was doing. Guess what.. I made no money (big surprise). As soon as I started making long term and short term goals, and WRITING THEM DOWN, I started to get things done and best of all I started making money – and lots of it.

In these days with all of the “information overload” we experience on a daily basis, following a plan is SO important to staying on track and not getting sidestepped. Being inconsistent, and not focusing on a well thought out strategy will turn you into a program hopper. And we all know the other well known term for program hopper: “broke”.

“You have to have a plan, a strategy. If you don’t, what you are doing has no value.”

I know that many of you are like me, we absolutely HATE making lists. I always thought that lists were way too restrictive and didn’t allow me to do the things I wanted to do. However, what I found out eventually that it was the complete opposite. It turned out that making lists, goal setting, and planning was giving me back the time I needed to do the stuff that I wanted to do! Kind of an “A-ha!” moment for me, really. It freed up a lot more time, and best of all it freed my mind from having to think of my ‘to do’ items all the time in my head. I got stuff done, made more money, had more time, and slept a LOT better.

In my training modules I will have a whole mission dedicated to goal setting, plus another mission dedicated to planning and making a strategy. They’re not quite ready yet, but I absolutely believe that after following my guides in these areas, you will start to really see results in your business. It’s exactly the same steps that I take, and they work.

So… how do you plan for the day/week/month..?? Let me know below…

So there’s always been this ongoing “battle” between those that do Google PPC and therefore pay for their Google rankings vs. those that depend on their quality content to get good ‘organic’ traffic from Google’s search results.

Which traffic generating method would you rather do? Which one do you favor currently?

Would you rather…

1.Pay top dollar, spend lots of time analysing keywords and competition to be listed at the top of Google’s keyword bidders..

2. ..or spend zero dollars, spend lots of time creating good quality (and relevant) content to get quality traffic just for being listed at the top of Google’s regular search rankings?

Both of these methods actually require quite a bit of work. They both require research, careful keyword selection, and well written copy. Both can generate results as far as making money goes.

But.. what are people actually clicking on when they search something in Google? Do they click on the PPC ads? Do they spend time clicking through page after page of organic search results to try and find what they’re looking for? Or do they do something different…

Well, the answer may be quite different from what you’d expect.

The image below is called a “heat map”. It is the result of a study done with eye-tracking software and mouse movement (and click) tracking software with people that were using Google to search.  The “hotter” colors (red, yellow, orange) show where most of the “action” was after the search results were displayed. Where did their eyes go? Where did they click?

Check it out:

It’s really quite interesting. Approximately 75% of the clicks went to the top 3 or 4 search results (on the left side), and only 25% went to the ads (on the right side), and on the ads side only the top 2 ads saw any clicks. Most of the traffic went to the top ‘organic’ sites listed in the search results. Cool, huh?

Notice how the “hot” area is sort of in the shape of a triangle? They call this the “golden triangle”, and for good reason! That’s where you want to be. That’s where the gold is!

And the pattern doesn’t stop on page 1 either.. On reading a little more on these studies, they found that it’s actually better to be listed at the top of page 2 or 3 than it is to be near the bottom of page 1.  So… just being on the first page ISN’T everything folks! It seems that as long as you’re “above the fold” you’re in the right territory (meaning the user doesn’t have to scroll down to find your listing).

Of course this doesn’t mean that all searches end up this way. It’s still pretty darn good to be on the first page of Google for the keyphrases you’re targeting. Nothing wrong with that. But this does tell you a lot about the difference in clicks to the organic search results vs. clicks to the PPC ads.

My opinion? I would focus your efforts on getting your own high rankings in Google without having to bid on keywords. It’s more fun (IMHO), it’s a lot cheaper, and the longevity of the traffic is much higher – ie. you’re on top as long as your content is relevant, in PPC you’re on top as long as you’re paying for it!

I hope this helps you out if you’re contemplating using PPC to generate traffic and revenue to your website. Let me know in the comments below what you think, or if you even agree with me..

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That, my friends, is one of the most frequently asked questions I get, almost every single day. It’s kind of an interesting question, but when you really think about the answer, you realize that it’s actually the wrong question to be asking.

If you’re asking another marketer “What’s the best way to generate leads..”, you’re really asking them to give you their copy & paste version of what they do to generate leads. Unfortunately marketing is not copy & paste. It does not and can not work that way.

The question should be: “Which lead generation method should I learn to master first?”

We all know that there are many ways to generate leads for a business. Many, many ways. Plus, we as individuals are all completely different in how we promote ourselves, and how we promote our products and services. There is no “best way to generate leads” that works for everyone. There are lots of people with opinions on the subject but really there is no answer to that question that is true all around. Asking “What’s the best way to generate leads..” is like asking “What should my favorite color be?” YOU decide.

The issue that can happen is that someone may answer you with a specific method THEY have been successful in generating leads. Then you go out, following their lead, and try that method, and maybe it doesn’t work for you. Does that mean you should quit because obviously that method is wrong? Of course not. At least I hope not. Or should you keep trying and trying that method, spending countless dollars on advertising etc.. only to realize it STILL doesn’t work?? No, but some people will do just that. It amazes me when people continue to do things that do NOT work, over and over again until they’re frustrated to the point of quitting.

I find that the best way to generate leads is to simply do what works for me. I know, it’s non-specific. But it’s true. If I told you exactly how I generate leads, I can almost guarantee that you would not have the same results. And I know there would be people that would do EXACTLY what I do, not generate ANY leads, then come back to me and say that my method doesn’t work.

The fact is… I have different experiences than you do. I have a different personality than you do. I have a different background than you. I have a different writing style than you. I speak to people differently than you do. I have a different market than you do. The people that are attracted to me, are different than the people that are attracted to you. Marketing is not ‘copy & paste’. We are different. And remember that people don’t buy nearly as much from copy & paste marketers, they buy from PEOPLE that they know and trust.

Again, the question should be: “Which lead generation method should I learn to master first?” Ask yourself that question. Then answer it….

Articles, press releases, safelists, traffic exchanges, blogging, youtube, facebook, twitter, linkedin, tumblr, webinars, forums, ezine ads, banner ads, craigslist, hubpages, minisites, SEO, pay-per-click(PPC)…. the list goes on.

What’s YOUR best way to generate leads? If you don’t know yet, which method will you learn how to master in lead generation? I’ll be you’d choose something different than the next person that asks me the same question..

We all know that in the network marketing industry, and online marketing in general, the “Leaders” seem to be making all the money and getting all the attention. I’ve seen myself since I started in online marketing over 12 years ago. ..So.. I suppose that fact is absolutely true but why are all “those guys” getting all the attention – what makes “them” so great?

The answer: “What makes them great is that the have taken it upon themselves to be of value to other people”.

Simple, huh?

They’re not “better” than anyone else. They’re certainly not smarter than anyone else. But they all made a decision at one point in their lives.  And the decision that they made was to become a leader. They decided to become valuable to other people based on who they are.

Being a leader is a conscious decision. It’s nothing more, nothing less. Sometimes it’s out of necessity, sometimes it’s just something you feel you have to do in order to better yourself and the ones around you.

A bit of my story.. I few years back (around 8 years actually) I was part of an online networking group that I started in order to bring people together and create opportunities for one another in a “like-minded group” environment. I had been floundering around the industry for a while and although I was making a few bucks here and there, nothing was really “sticking”. I managed to gather a group of around 20 networkers together through email, advertising and whatnot to see what could be done with a group as opposed to individually. Unfortunately it was still just a group of individuals trying to do their own thing – no real direction or leadership.

I wanted really badly to be successful at this online thing, and so did everyone in the group. A bit of time went by, and it seemed that whatever we did, everyone was still looking to me to make the decisions on what we were going to do as a group. I’m not sure why, I guess it’s because it was my idea in the first place, but I was never one to be the leader of any size of group, so leading a group wasn’t even something I was keen on doing at the time.

So… I eventually took it upon myself to provide some sort of leadership to these people – more out of  necessity than anything else. In other words, nobody else was stepping forward to “steer the ship”. I was making the decisions for the group based on the general consensus of what the group wanted to do. I suppose that’s what leadership is right there on a very basic level.

I had already been in network marketing and online marketing for years before this was going on so my experience in the industry was a lot deeper than the other networkers in my group. To be honest, only a few of them really knew what they were doing while most of them just needed someone to guide them and motivate them.  This was something I found out along the way after a few conference calls and a number of phone calls and email communications.

Once I found that out about the experience and backgrounds of the people in my group I made the decision then and there that it was going to be me guiding these people and steering them in the right direction in order to enable them to accomplish their goals. I kind of realized that I was the person that had the most to give to this group. I decided that I was of value to other people, and that I would provide them with this value.

So out of this whole experience, what ended up happening was that I created my own online MLM company which would allow people to access the tools they needed to succeed online, as well as giving them access to ME and my experience in order to educate them and motivate them. That was the smartest thing I’ve done in my life (so far..).  The result was massive success for me, and a constantly building organization of networkers that use my products and my training information to become successful themselves. How cool is that? Very cool. And incredibly rewarding.

I guess my point here is that everyone has leadership and value “built-in” to them. I’m not a genius, I’m not a business expert, I just put myself into everything I do, and I am very successful at it. People respond to that and respect that as well. I just made the decision to share what I have and create some sort of value to other people. That’s all.

So: “When you decide you’re a leader, you’re a leader. Decide that you’re valuable.”

Have a fantastic day!

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Ok. Let me repeat that line again:

“You got to kick at the darkness till it bleeds daylight.”

Wow, how powerful is that? I mean, read it and say it a few times to yourself out loud and I think you’ll see what I mean.

This is a lyric from a song by singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn, a rather ‘legendary’ Canadian artist. When I first heard that quote, it hit me very hard.. let me tell you a quick story..

One afternoon a while back I was driving in my car and I needed some music, as you sometimes do when you’re in your car for longer than you’d like to be. I had one of those ‘mixed cd’s’ (those ones that your friends make for you when they think they know what you want to hear) in the front seat, so I popped it in to my cd player, mostly just to fill the silence with something other than silence.

After a couple songs went by, a song called “Lovers in a Dangerous Time” came through the speakers. Standard 80’s type of pop song. But then the next verse started and the lyrics were:

“Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight
Got to kick at the darkness ’til it bleeds daylight“

Really? Did I just hear that? Wow. Really.. Wow… I actually pulled over and stopped my car on the side of the road, hit the rewind button on the cd player and listened again. Then again, and again..

For some reason that line just hit me like a ton of bricks. Honestly I’m not sure why. Maybe it was just a time in my life that I had to hear something like that. Maybe I was (for some reason) meant to hear something that inspiring at that particular moment.

It’s a very powerful line. I suppose it’s kind of like saying “when life sucks, you just gotta keep trying until somethings happens for you”. But the way it is written, to me it’s more powerful than that.

“Gotta kick at the darkness ‘til it BLEEDS daylight”

Write that one down, folks. It’s about fighting for what you want. It means you have to kick the crap out of the bad place you’re in until it starts getting better. It’s almost violent sounding. Kicking something until it bleeds is a rather violent thing to think about. But when you put it into context with regards to you trying to fight your way out of a ‘dark’ place in your life it becomes an amazingly worded line that can really speak to you on a level that is somehow deeper than your usual train of thought in these situations.

It basically gives me inspiration whenever I need that kind of inspiration. If you want something badly enough, fight for it. Make that darkness bleed from your acts of determination. Keep kicking at it until the light begins to shine through. Make it happen for yourself.

Thanks for letting me share that with you. I’d love it if you let me know what you think, does that line move you?

Have an extraordinary day!