How much Information is Enough?

Don’t you just cringe when you ask a question about an internet business and they say, “just sign up, we’ll tell you what to do later.” Some are almost that bad. There are websites on the internet today which do not tell you what kind of business it is or anything about it.

Caution about getting involved with a business which will not provide any information.

As a potential business purchaser, you have a right to know:

1. The name of the parent company

2. The main product – not all of the details, but the type of product. Is it a juice, telephone card, financial education, marketing education, cosmetics etc.

3. The type of business – franchise, MLM, Network marketing, affiliate program . . .

4. Do you earn from your first sale or have to pass up sales

5. How long has the company been in business



These are basic pieces of information to which you have a right before you invest your hard earned money.

Most people are concerned about:

1. Can I do it?

2. Will you be there after the sale?

3. Is it real? Is it legitimate?

After you filled out your information on the web site, did you receive a telephone call? If they called, where they high pressure sales or genuinely interested in you and your needs? If you did not receive a phone call, was there a number where you could contact them and speak to a live person? In the old days, ten or twenty years ago, you may have been sent to a pre-recorded message on an 800 line and asked to leave your contact information. That technique is rarely used now. Quite frequently now, you may receive a pre-recorded message sent directly to your telephone without your request for the call. That is regarded as a form of telephone spam rather than internet spam email.

How much personal attention do you desire? If you are the type of person who enjoys speaking with a real live human, then you can either call or respond to those who telephone you. Providing a telephone number on the web site is an indication that the owner of the web site is open to speaking with you and providing information to you.

The next step after the initial contact will probably be an email directing you to either a conference call or a web site for more information. This may be a personal email or an auto responder email. How much real information is provided in the email? Once again, have you been provided with contact information to speak directly with the sender?

When you attend the conference call or web site, how much information do you receive in addition to the enthusiasm and sales pitch? If it is all rah rah and no specific product or company information, be careful. The company name should be given for your reference.

Look up the company to determine if it has an excessive number of complaints. Any company which has been in business for 5 or more years will probably have a few grumblers. It is impossible for any person or any company to make 100% of the people happy 100% of the time.

Attorney general complaints are more significant than blogs or whiner chat rooms. Look at the source of the information in the complaint. Better Business Bureau is not a real government bureau; it is a “for profit” company. Much like the Federal Reserve is not actually federal; it is a private profit corporation.

There are a tremendous number of honest, ethical companies available for starting your own business. Being an entrepreneur is a wonderful, exciting and extremely beneficial venture. The important factors are to select the best business for you; select a business which fits your interests, your passion, your goals, your investment and your future income. Ethics and integrity must be present.

The more open and informative the business, the greater the opportunity for you to make a solid decision about what is best for you.

If you would like assistance in sorting through the information and guidance on selecting the best business for you, send me a note in the “contact Elaine” section of www.Elaine4Success.com.

Identify Your Unique Brand

Remember the theme song from Rocky, theme song from Bonanza, theme songs from your favorite commercials? Theme songs are brands; these are unique identifiers of a specific product, person or production.


Sports fans wear the team colors of their favorite team. One man in Michigan was such an avid fan of University of Michigan that he actually decorated his Christmas tree in maize and blue. Team colors represent another way of branding.


Companies use colors to brand themselves. IBM was noted as Big Blue. Colors in the logo identify specific companies. Cascade comes in a green box; Ivory soap arrives wrapped in a white cover with blue writing. Colors form an image in our mind of a company or product.


Logos are another identifying factor. Big G forms the association of General Mills. The letter L in a circle on a vehicle represents Lexus. Automobile manufacturers all have a logo which identifies the company. Branding is critical.


Comedians have a tag line which brands them. When you hear the line, “Take my wife, please,” you automatically associate the name Henny Youngman. Henny was the king of the one liner. Rodney Dangerfield coined the line, “I don’t get no respect.”


Avis car rental capitalized on being number two by saying they try harder because they are number two. Enterprise car rental focuses on the customer service of personalized pick up and delivery.


Branding comes in many forms. Logos, music, colors and one liners are all forms of branding. Every speaker, writer, performer or business person adopts their own individual style and market niche. Identifying and monetizing your brand becomes your unique selling position. Advertising frequently refers to this as your USP; your unique selling position identifies you and differentiates you from everyone else.


Identifying and promoting yourself is critical. Think about your strength, your individual qualification which sets you apart from everyone else. What special talent, ability or experience do you possess which will entice people to choose to work with you? Everyone has something they do better than everyone else. Find your special niche. You have something to contribute. Maybe you are an excellent writer. Perhaps your special field of knowledge and interest is computers. Web design may be one of your attraction points.


Your branding may relate to your former career. Former corporate executives speak the language of experience of other executives; develop your brand around attracting those who relate to your background. A former marine focuses on attracting other marines; they identify with similar training and mindset. One truck driver started writing articles about long haul problems; he speaks to the pain of other truck drivers who also want to be off the road and at home with their families.


Develop your personal brand, your unique selling position. There is something special about you which attracts others to work with you. Every entrepreneur, company and individual performer seeks their special niche. You have often heard the expression, ”get rich in a niche.” Identifying and promoting your individual brand represents step one in your marketing and business plan.



Home based businesses such as network marketing and MLM entrepreneurs are even more concerned with branding because their product is identical to everyone else in the same company. Does that mean it is impossible to create a niche for yourself in network marketing or MLM? Absolutely not. Developing yourself as an individual brand, an individual leader becomes even more important in home based businesses.



Every actor and actress seeks something which sets them apart from all of the others. This same principle applies to every entrepreneur and every business. Find your brand. Identify your unique selling position and promote it consistently throughout all of your marketing.



Identify your brand and monetize it. Your bank account and income statement will thank you. If you want specific personalized suggestions on identifying your brand, join me at www.Elaine4Success.com.



Titles:

Personal Branding is Key

Personal Branding is Your USP

Your Brand is Your USP

Identify Your Personal Brand



Keywords: home based business, network marketing, MLM, entrepreneur, personal branding, Unique selling position, USP, www.Elaine4Success.com, Elaine Love

Criteria of a Business

Keep your fork; the best is yet to come. Remember your mother saying that when you were growing up? Mmmmm. Just inhale that delicious aroma. Savor the taste. Can’t you just taste it now? Dessert. Every child’s delight. Who are we kidding? Every adult loves dessert. How many of you have a favorite dessert? This question is not directed at your waistline, it is directed at your taste buds.

My mother was a combination of Martha Stewart, Julia Child and Betty Crocker when it came to baking. She knew how to perform magic with a few mixing bowls and an oven.

When Mom said, “Keep your fork, the best is yet to come.” We knew it was true.

Launching your own business requires a winnowing fork and a tuning fork, not a dinner fork, but the best is yet to come.

Compare the new business to a cake. Before you start gathering ingredients, decide what flavor cake you choose to make. Do you have the ingredients on hand or do you need to go shopping? A cake requires basic ingredients: flour, shortening, sugar and eggs, plus special additions for the special flavor variety.

The ingredients of a new business are just as basic.

Decide what kind of business you wish to open. Are you seeking a franchise, a brick and mortar or a home based business? Franchises are typically a quarter million to three quarters million to buy the rights to the business and even more money for the physical location. A home based business has the lowest start-up cost, usually less than twenty thousand and a lower overhead since it is home based. Typical brick and mortar businesses have a slightly lower initial cost than a franchise but probably require the cost of a physical location.

Do you have the skills necessary or do you need to seek a coach to assist you? Franchises provide training and business plans. New brick and mortar business provide neither training nor a business plan. Home based businesses may provide some training if they are part of a network marketing company or MLM; however, since it is your own business, you still have 100% responsibility for you business plan and your results.

How many hours a week do you plan to devote to your new venture? Franchise or brick and mortar will require closer to sixty hours per week at the specific business location. Home based businesses can be conducted on a part time or full time basis; ten hours per week is minimum and twenty to thirty is more realistic.

How much investment will be required and do you have not only the minimum start up capital, but also extra income to support yourself in the interim? Any business will require development time. Purchasing a franchise or existing business will provide some existing customer base due to the name recognition; however, building a business requires time and effort.

Free marketing trades off low cost for slow speed of locating customers. If you want large quantities of customers within a short period of time, you will need marketing dollars. Regardless of cost or speed, every business requires marketing and customers. A plethora of marketing methods, techniques and cost factors are available. Balance your marketing budget with the speed and quantity of customers desired. Add in your marketing expertise in order to estimate the total cost and time.

Have you written a business plan which incorporated the SMART criteria?

S – specific
M - measurable
A - attainable
R - relevant
T - timely

Gather all of the ingredients; combine them in proper proportions and develop the new creation. Select the proper location and target customer.

With your cake, you selected the proper size pan, prepared the pan properly, preheated the oven to the proper temperature, placed the cake inside the oven and checked it frequently.

Your business requires your time, constant attention and total dedication. Unlike a cake, the business requires tweaking and shaping on a frequent basis.

Once the cake is baked, you may decorate it.

Your business may take months or even years to bake. Decorating the business with flourishes and fanfare may consume several years. With consistent, persistent and focused action, it is possible.

Anticipate the delectable morsel of cake on your dinner fork. Use your winnowing fork and your tuning fork to create the profits of a well designed and managed business.

Keep your fork; the best is yet to come.

For a complete personalized goal setting and goal achieving plan, join me at www.Elaine4Success.com

Step Up and Take Action

Do not be a sideline observer in your life. Membership in Procrastinators

Anonymous buys you a ticket to NoWheresville.

Normally there are 4 seasons in the year: Spring, summer, fall and winter. Consider the fact that some people have created an entirely different season which lasts all year long. This new season is called “Freebie” or “Do it for me” or “wait for someone to do it for me.” Now if you are fortunate enough to be part of the lucky gene pool and relatives will give you a handout, then you are part of the privileged minority. 99% of the population does not qualify for a free ride in life.

Sitting back and waiting for someone else to do it for you becomes an exercise in frustration and blame. First of all, they will do whatever they choose on their time frame. They are fee to not only stop at any time but they are actually free never to start in the first place. Who do you believe will do a better job of designing the life you want, you or someone else?

Now if you have a bit of a control issue that is a problem. Refuse to give someone else total control of your life. Sugar daddies may be fine for some people, but life with a sugar daddy comes with steel cable attached. Sugar daddy holds the cable and calls the tune. The only way to call your own tune, make your own decisions and reap the rewards of success is to do your own work.

Ouch! That word, work, throws chills up and down the spine of the members of the Freebie group. Before you start shivering uncontrollably, lets ponder a few points.

When did you stop standing up on your own two feet? It had to be sometime after you were a baby. You are walking, right? Did you stop when you started to school and found out that the teacher assigned homework? You did graduate from elementary school, right? At what point in life did you decide to stop exerting effort?

In network marketing there are so many who sign up and even purchase a product, but then they sit back and expect someone else to do the marketing for them. They expect their sponsor to hold their business hand by setting up the back office for them, writing all of the advertising for them, making the telephone calls for them and closing the sales for them. Wait a minute. What is wrong with this picture? If the sponsor is going to do all of the work, then the sponsor has a right to all of the income. Enthusiasm for a new business becomes a blame game and whine session when the money does not flow into the bank account.

Network marketing presents a fabulous opportunity to earn an excellent income with a low start up cost and low overhead, but it does require work. Any worthwhile business requires work. Every business requires some learning curve. How long or how difficult the learning curve depends on each individual. The drive, determination to succeed, the prior background and the current skill sets all influence the length of the learning curve.

The absolutely most important ingredient of success relates to determination to succeed. How hard are you willing to work? How badly do you desire success? How coachable and trainable are you? What work are you willing to do?

Network marketing, or any worthwhile goal, requires effort. Success never falls in your lap without work. Procrastinators anonymous members, freebie club members and the idle sideline observers are destined to failure. The members of the “blame someone else” club are equally doomed. Failure is not you sponsor’s fault, your parents fault, the economy, the politicians, or your circumstances in life. Look in the mirror.

Success belongs to the person who digs in, learns, works and persists until the goal is achieved. History abounds with examples of people who lacked education, who were born into poverty, who suffered numerous defeats on their journey and who overcame tremendous odds. The main ingredient in the success cake of life is taking action on a consistent and persistent basis. The people who achieve tremendous success in life never sat back and waited for someone else to do it for them. They took action.

No matter what your current circumstances, bar none, if you want success badly enough and are willing to work hard enough and long enough, you will be successful. Make 2010 the beginning of your new successful life.

For a personalized success action plan, join me at www.Elaine4Success.com.

How Effective is Your Mentor

Success leaves clues. On your first hike through a dense and possibly dangerous forest would you select a guide who did not have a map and had never been through that area? Of course not, that would be about as risky as calling a foreign country and saying, "Here's $20,000, send me a bride." Can you even imagine someone that desperate? Even worse, can you imagine a woman foolish enough to accept? Nelson Mandela fled to a foreign country to avoid an arranged marriage; even an arranged marriage had more potential for success than totally blind luck.

Two days ago I spoke to an intense and enthusiastic mastermind group about marketing their new personal development product. During the question and answer period, one wise man asked me a specific question. He was not being nosy or rude, just direct. "Are you a millionaire?" Since my website is the New Millionaire Blueprint, he had a right to ask. Not only that but he chose to confirm that he was receiving quality information.

Just as you would not take an inexperienced guide without a map into foreign territory, so you want to take business advice from someone who has been a top producer, is still a top producer and knows how to teach you how to duplicate their successful results. Many people knew how to produce decades ago but do not know what currently works. Others know how to produce but not how to teach someone to duplicate their results. Have all 3 elements increases your success potential tremendously.

When he asked me the question, he was verifying that he was receiving information from someone who met all 3 of the criteria. My quiet and confident "yes" provided him the necessary information. No offense intended or taken; I accepted it as a valid question of a person doing his due diligence.

So much has changed in the last ten and certainly the last 20 years. Thirty years ago, the internet was only a glimmer in the eye of a few tech savvy individuals such as Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Marketing on the internet has not received any prominence until the last 15 years at most. I had the first web site in Routt County Colorado which did any marketing. I started marketing reservations for my property management company on the internet in 1994; at that time such advertising was considered radical and untested. In fact, I completed my master's thesis on the subject in 1997 with three years of my company's history included. One professor asked me to produce my list of reference books for the paper; I could not as the only book out on the subject at the time was the new book by Bill Gates.

Internet marketing represents the bulk of the business advertising and certainly the most effective in today's economic culture. Pay per click marketing on Google, Yahoo and various other search engines as well as a plethora of social networking sites (Web 2.0) dominate most current marketing plans. Brick and mortar businesses, network marketing businesses, corporations, franchises and non-profit organizations all market on the internet.

The most effective means of marketing thirty, twenty and even ten years ago have radically changed from what proves most effective today. Some wisdom remains timeless but effective marketing techniques have dramatically evolved in the last decade and continue to do so consistently.

Top leaders and producers follow the advice of Albert Einstein, "Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value." Value to you as a follower means having a coach, mentor and advisor who has been a success, is still a success and knows how to impart that value to you. The long track record of success combined with today's success indicates a willingness to stay current with modern effectiveness.

Learning, knowing, and practicing effective advertising techniques in today's marketplace remains part of the essential criteria for selecting a mentor. Being able to personally achieve results is insufficient. In order for you to benefit, your coach and mentor must also be able to impart that knowledge to you in such a manner than you can duplicate that success for yourself.

Not everything works every time. Confucius said, "Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do." Great leaders stretch over and over again in order to learn and grow. Not only learn from them, but duplicate that willingness to stretch and grow. Choose the best mentor and fall in step alongside them to forge your own path to success.

Marketing presents one aspect of business success. Learn all the elements of success. Choose wisely, your future depends on your choices.

Find Your Passion

Yes, I know writing about passion with a name like mine brings all sorts of images to the mind. Passion is the key to all the most important aspects in your life.

A study of two groups of one hundred people each revealed some interesting discoveries. One group was comprised of people seeking wealth as the primary objective and selecting the career they felt would achieve that goal the most rapidly. The second group focused on following their passionate mission in life and creating their career based on their passion first and wealth as a by product.

Twenty years later the groups were surveyed again. Over 83 per cent of the millionaires were from the group which pursued passion first and allowed the wealth to come to them as a secondary benefit.

Following your passion smoothes many of the roadblocks on the way to success. The roadblocks, speed bumps and even the brick walls still exist. The difference maker becomes your mental attitude about dealing with the obstacles. Another significant difference relates to the focus. MLM and network marketing have the reputation of attracting “program jumpers.” Program jumpers are seeking the latest and greatest money making opportunity. Does that mean there is anything wrong with earning money and being rewarded for your time and effort? Of course not. Being a program jumper does speak to primary motivation. Yes, it is not uncommon for someone to experience a few different industries and a few different companies before they locate their niche. Most highly successful entrepreneurs did not hit their stride with their first venture.

Program jumpers stay within the same MLM or network marketing industry; however, they jump to each new startup company. They stay a few months or a year and jump to the next one. Do they make money? Some do. Are they fulfilled? Their track record of program jumping indicates NO.

Following your passion tends to be longer term and maintains a more consistent theme. Examine your goals and motivation. Do you look forward eagerly to beginning each new day? Are you experiencing apprehension about each day’s activities and results? How do you measure your success; do you measure by your bank balance or your feelings of accomplishment?

Tap into your passion and you are tapping in to your true potential. At the end of our day, our career, our life, what will be the legacy you leave for others? A peaceful heart will leave a legacy of satisfaction for having contributed to the lives of others. The pain of regret for not following your passion weighs heavily on your heart regardless of the amount on your financial statement.

You can follow your passion. You choose how you spend your life and your career. You can spend it living as if you are forcing a square peg into a round hole. Or you can live life on your terms. Feel the thrill of satisfaction for having lived life pursuing your passion. History records success stories of numerous entrepreneurs who attempted many ventures but their real fortune and their satisfaction was only achieved when they followed their passion.

Tap in to your feelings. Tap in to your passion. Within your passion, you will find your greatest achievement and your greatest satisfaction.

For more helpful articles and personal coaching, come see me at www.Elaine4Success.com I salute you for the courage to follow your passion.

Go for the Gold

Why are you settling for pennies in an MLM? Money may not be the most important thing in life, that’s true; however, living without it isn’t fun either.

Granted, a home based business presents the greatest opportunity for earning an income in your bathrobe and slippers. Yes, the thirty second commute from the bedroom to the home office eliminates the traffic, weather and even speeding tickets.

Home based businesses also allow time flexibility. You can work before sunrise or long after sundown. Grab a couple of hours when the kids are in school or even taking a nap. With the internet as your assistant, any of the 24 hours in the day is an acceptable time to work. The World Wide Web has solved the time zone issues. Send the email at a convenient time for you and they can read it at a convenient time for them – no time problem. No danger of awakening them in the middle of the night with an email. Phone calls in the wee hours of the morning jolt you awake with an earsplitting ring shattering the silence. Emails simply slip in quietly and wait patiently.

Obviously there are many advantages to a home based internet business. Now that you have completed that decision, it becomes selection time for the ideal home based business. Examine the facts carefully. Every business requires marketing. Every business has a goal of making money. Profit is certainly one of the sweetest words to a business owner.

It will require the same amount of time, effort and advertising dollar to earn a tiny little commission as it does a four or five figure commission. Logic immediately presents the case for a five figure commission. Why would you even consider earning a ten or twenty dollar commission when you could just as easily be earning 1,000 or 5,000 or 10,000 dollars? It does not take a rocket scientist to know that you will receive a significantly higher commission with a 10,000 dollar commission than a 10 dollar commission.

Most MLM companies pay the tiny little ten dollar commissions and expect you to continue working and marketing and building a down line of thousands in the vague hope that someday you will receive a residual check of a thousand dollars. Honestly, most people do not stay long enough to receive the residual checks.

Network marketing pays 1,000 dollar checks immediately and a minimum of 400 dollar residual checks very quickly. Which would you rather deposit in your bank account – 1,000 or 10 dollars? Any answer except 1,000 and I will recommend a math course immediately.

You do not have to take my word for it; you can connect directly with industry leader Mike Dillard. Watch the video on www.MLMNewsFacts.com. Complete your information and read the free report with details all of the differences between MLM and Network Marketing.

Your choice, settle for pennies and no profit or major dollars and high profit. I choose to spend my time, effort and advertising dollars where they will generate the highest return.

Turning Point

There are many turning points in life. Or at least there are many opportunities for turning points in life. What you choose to do about those turning points determines your future.

When I was a little girl in 4-H doing my sewing projects, we had original garments and made-over garments. Re-inventing yourself is similar to a made-over garment. In fact, I have re-invented myself several times over the last several decades.

I send a Christmas letter every year. Yes, I know it would be better to write 100 individual letters; however, time simply does not permit hand writing that many letters. I choose to write one big letter to everyone and then also a very short personal note. A few of the people on my annual list are former high school students. I started teaching high school seniors the day of my 21st birthday. Imagine a petite feminine lady walking into that classroom of 40 senior boys; they were 3 years or less younger than I.

Over 40 years later I still hear from several of those students. When I sent the 2008 Christmas letter, I wrote about joining Toastmasters and developing my public speaking. One of the students replied, “Mrs. Love, You are reinventing yourself AGAIN.”

The beauty of an open and agile mind is that it allows for reinventing oneself. You say you are too old to change careers and learn a new business? Really? Grandma Moses started painting after she was 70. John Glenn flew the space mission Discovery when he was 77. My mother married her high school sweetheart when she was 85 and he was 88. The following three years were the happiest of their entire lives. Mom and Pick were like two teenagers in love and enjoying life to the fullest. Don’t tell me you are too old.

I started and finished my master’s degrees after I was 50. I learned tennis, telemark skiing and competitive running after I was 50 and I still enjoy all 3 sports. I hiked the Inca trail in Peru with a 60 pound backpack for my 55th birthday. I joined my first network marketing company after I was 60 and have reached the top level of production and leadership within slightly over 2 years; zero marketing or network marketing experience when I started.

If I can do it, you can do it. The question is how badly do you want success and a better life?

Reinventing yourself is a state of mind. Are you ready for a turning point for the better in your life? Everyone has situations which offer the opportunity to turn our life in a new upward direction. You came here for a reason. Let me help you reinvent yourself.

Marketing presents a small challenge for a determined and persistent mind. Network marketing truly presents a very small challenge for a mature person with an open mind. Think about all of the valuable life experience you possess. Put it to use. I am certainly not ready for a rocking chair. You do not have to settle for your current income or your current lifestyle. Network marketing allows you to reinvent yourself and move your life up a few notches if you are willing to open your mind to a new learning experience and unlimited income. It is your decision.
I find reinventing myself to be not only fun but it also keeps my mind young. Network marketing allows me to enjoy all of these new experiences and new income potential from the comfort of my home. I love my life. How about you?

Come learn about me and lets talk about how you can reinvent yourself and live the life of your dreams instead of settling for a life someone else designed for you.

The Best Way to Value People

The best way to make a person feel valued and valuable is to listen intently while they are speaking to you. The common tendency with most people unintentionally sends a message of disrespect or disinterest in the speaker’s words. People listen for a gap or pause in the conversation waiting impatiently for their opportunity to speak.

Even worse than listening for an opportunity to speak is the fact that all the time the speaker is expressing their thoughts, the listener is usually thinking about what they plan to say. If the listener is waiting for a gap to speak and thinking about how to present their own thoughts, how can there ever be a meaningful conversation? Is it any wonder that couples, business associates and even political leaders have difficulty understanding each other? How can we truly communicate if we never really listen to the other person’s point of view?

My father was a man of few words. When he spoke, it was very clear to my brother and me that we would be very wise to listen and act appropriately. One thing he said which has stayed with me all these years was, “You never learn anything new with your own mouth open.” In other words, in order to learn something new, it is important to stop speaking and listen to someone else.

It is a known fact that people will do more for recognition than for money. The easiest way we can show recognition and value to another person is by truly listening to them. Listening to show genuine interest, not listening to present an angle for personal gain.

How many times do you observe a business conversation where the listener is only listening in order to pick up clue on how to sell you something? This is even more common in an MLM or network marketing interaction. People listen to pick up information to use to close the sale. This is so common in business conversations that it is no wonder people are cautious.

Think about your conversations with friends, your children, your significant other. How many times do you focus on their words and demonstrate how much they mean to you by truly listening. Listen because you really care about their thoughts and feelings. People never care as much about what you know until they know how much you care.

Pay attention to your conversations today and really listen with the full intention of hearing their words and understanding their thoughts. You will be amazed at how much it improves every facet of your relationships.

Listening to people makes them feel valued and valuable. After all, you want them to listen to you. Right? Set the example by first listening to them.

Active

You can debate the differences between being proactive, reactive or even interactive. The common denominator is active. Nothing happens until something moves. That is a basic law of nature.

In business it is always best to be proactive. Making intelligent decisions and taking action to implement them. You will never be ahead of the curve without being proactive. Look for ways to be creative in your business; look for ways to be creative in every aspect of your life. In dog sledding, they say the scenery never changes unless you are the lead dog. The same is absolutely true for business. You started your own business in order to be a leader, producer and improve your life. I have taken many risks in my life and my business. Did every one of them succeed? No. Did I make a concentrated effort to learn from every success and every failure? Yes. What worked really well? What did not work at all? What worked but could be much better with just a few tweaks and extra effort? Being proactive is all about being constantly observant about your results and making adjustments in order to improve.

This fact holds as true for home based business as it does for brick and mortar business. In fact it holds true for you even if you are an employee. The bottom line fact in every case is determining what you did right or wrong to bring yourself to this point in your life. Start today analyzing the causes, resolving to improve the results and taking the action necessary to implement those changes.

Being reactive gives the control to someone or something else. If you have a car suddenly coming across the center line head on for your car, then you have a right to be reactive. Those situations are rare but unpredictable in advance. In those cases, reactive remains your only choice. Business and life in general requires more of a proactive approach than a reactive approach. A home based business demands even more of a proactive approach even than a brick and mortar business or a franchise.

With a home based business, you naturally have more distractions. The kids or your spouse have easier access to your office. The kitchen, the laundry, the phone, the “honey do list” and many other things vie for your time and attention. Home based businesses require more discipline and focus. You are the boss looking over your own shoulder.

You must be interactive with other leaders. Mastermind with peers who are going the direction you choose to go. Mastermind with those who already achieved or are achieving the goals you seek. Be interactive with leaders and forward-thinking achievers. Spending time with people who drag you down mentally and emotionally will absolutely drag you down financially.

Look at your goals. Focus on the action which will take you to the summit, not drag you back to the bottom. Being proactive is essential. Being interactive with the achievers is critical. No matter what, in all cases you must be active. Focused and goal oriented action will always yield the best results. If it takes you toward your goal, do it.

Always Be Grateful

Today is my 65th birthday and I still feel young in spirit. I am as excited today for my present and my future as I was in my 20s. Part of that is gratitude. I am so grateful for my life. Blessings and challenges abound every day. Opportunities to grow into the person I choose for my friends, children and grandchildren to remember present themselves every day.

When I was a little 20 year old college senior, one of my professors said, “Elaine, you can have 10 years experience or one year’s experience 10 times.” Few statements in my lifetime have struck me with the force of this one. Ebino Topsy affirmed that, “those who do not learn from history are doomed to relive it.” How many people have you known who keep repeating the same types of errors? Bring it closer to home, how many times have we repeated our own mistakes?

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. There is nothing wrong with making a mistake. It has been said that if you want to double your rate of success, then double your rate of failure. That is true, IF you learn from each one of those failures and determine how to achieve a better result next time.

I’ve failed many times in my life, but in each case I chose to learn from my mistakes. I am grateful for all of my experiences because they each taught me a valuable lesson. If I did not learn the lesson completely, I inevitably had to dig a bit deeper for the lesson and solution. I learned 2 very important lessons from failure: learn from your mistakes and keep striving for better results.

David Foster, acclaimed as the “Hit Man” because of the number of hits he has produced in the music industry, is a 15 time Grammy winner. In David’s article in Success magazine, September 2009, he openly admits that he also has failures. He has written 1,000 songs and has 100 hits.

Giving up or deciding that something does not work or does not work for you just because you had a tough day or two goes again the laws of success. Most people in the network marketing industry will tell you that they had a learning curve before they achieved success. I know I did. My success came because I chose a company with integrity, the right products for the time, the right compensation plan and the right system to market.

Even more than all of that, I chose to be the constant diligent student and learn my lessons from successful people before me. Learning is fun to me. I’m grateful for all of my experiences. Each and every one of them has taught me something valuable.

I am grateful I have the ability and willingness to step out of my comfort zone and learn. I am grateful I have the opportunity to learn. I am also grateful that I am willing to stick with a task until I do learn and prosper. How about you? Are you ready to learn and grow?

Always Be Growing – Visualize

When Walt Disney passed away, someone commented to his widow that it was a shame that he did not see his dream of Disney World completed. His wife replied, “Oh yes he did. He saw it completed in every little detail in his mind before they ever broke ground.” That is being a visionary as well as visualizing your goal completed before it is actually reality to the rest of the world.

Every great leader in history has visualized his success far in advance of its appearance in the eyes of others. Great athletes see themselves crossing the finish line or seeing the ball sail over the goal post or into the net at the goal. A famous Olympic skier sees themselves crossing the finish line standing up to the cheers and cow bells of their enthused fans.

It is important to see the accomplishment in such detail that you hear the roar of the crowd, you touch the cool metal of the winner’s medal or trophy, and you feel the pride of victory. Engage your emotions in the entire process. Feel the feelings. Use all 5 senses to totally immerse yourself in the experience.

If you are in network marketing, see the email informing you that you have a new member of your team, Visualize your bank account with the deposits from your sales, Read the emails from happy team members who are learning and growing; feel the pride of leadership as you truly help others achieve their goals. See yourself on stage receiving awards. See your growing list of team members in your back office.

Now take it a step further and really see yourself enjoying the rewards of a successful business. What will it change in your life? How will your life improve? What will you be able to do for friends, family and team members now that you have achieved all of your goals and dreams? It is not about the money; it is about what that added income and accomplishment will do for you as a person and for everyone around you.

Jim Rohn, noted business philosopher, says “if you inherit or win a million dollars, the first thing to do is become a millionaire.” In other words learn how to think and act like a millionaire would act. It is not about earning the money; it is about the person you become in the process.

See yourself in your mind as not only accomplishing all of your goals but as the person you really choose to become in the process. What kind of legacy do you choose to leave behind you? It is all about visualizing yourself as the person you desire to become. That is the true goal. Seeing yourself accomplishing is only step one. The big step is seeing yourself as a leader and a quality person.

Are you ready to visualize yourself as a successful human being as well as a success in your chosen profession?

Love Is On The Move Again!

No surprise to the thousands of people who follow her……Love is continually on the move.

Elaine Love, The Entrepreneurs' Mentor is topping the charts again……taking the lead!

Elaine Love’s entrepreneurial career spans over 27 years in several successful businesses. She is the top female producer, a member of the Executive Committee and a member of the prestigious Ethics Committee. She received a full page featured article in EMPOWER magazine and Consultant of the Month in Network Marketing magazine.

She hasn’t stopped there. Ms. Love recently achieved the prestigious L4 status….top status in her industry. Few have achieved L4 status. She earned it by being a consistent top producer in the direct sales industry for several years now. She is a true leader who not only has come from zero experience to success but is still achieving success.

L4 is a part of the Leadership Development Program. The company understands how hard entrepreneurs work. Becoming a successful entrepreneur is one of the most difficult, yet rewarding, things you will ever undertake.

Elaine accepts nothing less from herself, than setting and achieving the highest goals. That same dedication extends to all of the people she works with. Through access to the best financial minds in United States and Canada, she will provide you all the tools to get your financial and personal life in order. L4 achievement is not possible without success stories from the people who join her in business.

Work with a leader who walks the talk.

Results For Life, LLC is a totally debt free company dedicated to improving the lives of everyone personally, professionally and financially.

CONGRATULATIONS ELAINE. You are truly The Entrepreneurs' Mentor!