Ask Yourself This Simple Question. What Defines You?

Most people allow themselves to be defined by things other than who they are. They allow themselves to be defined by what other people think, by circumstances, by many things beyond their control. Or they allow themselves to be defined by their achievements, how much money they make or how successful they are. Perhaps they define themselves by how much education they have or how much power and influence they have. This one is especially prevalent in political circles. Some define themselves or are defined by others according to their station in life. Do they work for that big law firm or major corporation and live in a six thousand square foot home on the lake or the golf course, or do they work at Walmart and live in a trailer park?

None of these things, in truth, define us. In fact, not only do they not make us who we are, most of them are the result of who we are. No, we cannot control what people think. Nor can we always control outside circumstances that are forced upon us. But, we can control how we respond to those things. At this point I would like to stop and ask a simple question. I suggest you reflect upon this question. Don't just dismiss the idea and don't answer immediately, off the cuff, either. Take some time. Reflect upon it. Get alone in a quiet place, away from the hustle and bustle of life and ask yourself this question. What defines you? Or, in the words of a philosophy professor I had back in my college days and we won't go into how long ago that was either, can you tell me who you are without telling me what you are?

I warn you, this is no easy task and it will mess with your head a little. However, I believe the exercise to be of tremendous value. Everything in our lives from business to relationships to our faith and most certainly our sense of self worth, depends upon how we feel about who we believe we truly are. In fact, feelings will probably come closer to the truth than a more pragmatic analytical approach. Most of us have difficulty being honest with ourselves. Perhaps we are afraid of what we will discover if we probe too deeply. We don't always like getting in touch with our feelings. Do it anyway, it's important. How can we be comfortable in the many different relationships we have in life, personal and business, if we are not comfortable with and have not accepted who we are? So do yourself a favor and ask yourself. What defines you?

How To Select The Best Home Based Business

I wish I had a dollar for every time I have fielded this question. "What is the best home based business?" I participate in a number of online forums, most of which are in the home business and MLM niche and that question comes up quite frequently. It is also a common question in various question and answer forums, like Yahoo Answers and others. It seems more and more people today are looking for a good opportunity and they want to know what the best ones are.

Being as I am involved in my own home business, of course I believe mine to be the best one out there. I recognize, however, that the business that is just right for me is not going to be just right for everyone. Home business opportunities are as different as the people who are in them as well as the personalities of people who are searching for the right one. With this in mind, I thought I would put down a few guidelines to help business opportunity seekers select the best home based business for them. Of course I am assuming that before you go through the steps I will outline below, you will have already done your due diligence and researched the company, the ownership, the products, etc. and will have determined that this is a legitimate business. The intent of this article is to help people decide which legitimate work from home opportunity is the best fit for them.

First and foremost, can you "connect" with the person who is offering you the opportunity? More than likely they are the one you will be working most closely with and they will be the one mentoring you. If your personalities are a match and you can be comfortable with them and like them, that's a pretty good indicator. You don't want to be in business with someone you don't like or can't get along with and be comfortable with. Business is about people. You're not only joining a company, you're joining a person, or persons. If the chemistry is wrong, your business venture will be a struggle and probably you will not be successful.

Do you like the product or service enough and believe in it enough to be passionate about it? You're going to be selling it, so you had better be able to be passionate about it. Would you use that product or service if it were not attached to a business opportunity? These are important questions. You cannot successfully sell a product or service and the business opportunity associated with it if you don't like or believe in that product or service. People will sense it in your voice and they will be hesitant to do business with you. More importantly they will not believe in You! Remember, business is about people and people won't buy from you unless they buy into you. They won't join your business unless they feel comfortable about joining you, even if it's the best home based business the world has ever seen.

Does the business sell products or services that people want or need? Are those products reasonably priced and Are they consumable so that your customers will have to come back for more? Or, will you be selling non-consumable big ticket items that have a large profit margin? You can make money with either, but in my opinion the former is better. I personally would rather sell high volume low priced consumables that generate repeat business.

Does the business have a good compensation plan that will produce an ever increasing residual income? Can you understand the compensation plan? If you can't understand it, you will have a difficult time communicating it to people you will be showing the opportunity to. The big money, the real power in multilevel marketing businesses is in establishing a solid team of people in your downline who can duplicate the process and keep the business growing and expanding underneath you. So, in addition to a good compensation plan, is there a marketing plan and system in place that is simple and easy for the average person to duplicate?

Lastly, is there a good leadership and support structure? This really goes back to the point about connecting with people. Without good leadership and upline support it will be very difficult for your business to be successful. As I stated earlier, the people factor is probably the single most important criteria to consider when looking for the best home based business opportunity, even more important than the product and compensation plan. You can find the absolute best products and the sweetest profit margin and compensation plan, but without good leadership and support, you will probably not succeed.

How to Recognize Work at Home Scams, a Serious Dilemma

It is becoming more and more common for the average person, even professional people, these days, to have to find extra income to supplement their household budget. At least in the US, the economy is in a recession, just look at the mortgage and real estate industries or pay attention to the rising cost of groceries, clothing, the necessities of life. But with gas prices skyrocketing it is also becoming less feasible to work a part time job. It just costs too much do drive back and forth. Because of this, many people are choosing the route of owning a home based business. With all the work at home scams out there, and believe me, there are plenty, how does one know which ones are and which ones are not legitimate work from home opportunities?

In another article I defined the word "scam" as an attempt to make money by fraudulent means. In other words it means to trick people into opening their wallet or their checking account to pay for a product or service that is never delivered or to invest in a business that in fact does not exist. Scam artists are very good at what they do and can fool even the most intelligent, observant, business savvy people. It happens every day. So, before you jump into a home business, MLM or not, do your homework! Find out all you can about the business, and not just by reading their promotional materials and visiting their websites, either. Anyone can make an attractive and professional looking website, it's not difficult at all.

Here are a few things you can do. Check the business against the Better Business Bureau. Not all businesses are listed there, but it's a good start. Do some research in your public library or online, or both, for work at home scams. Find out if there are any reports of fraud or any major complaints about the company you are interested in. Find out who the owner of the company is and research them as well. Always get a phone number and call the company directly. Never do business online with a company that does not have a legitimate customer service phone number. If all they have is online chat, or email support, stay away! They may be for real, or they may not, but in my experience, I have found many of them not to be.

Go to some of the reputable online home business forums and ask the same questions of the forum members. Tell them you are looking for legitimate work from home opportunities and you need advice. Two very good forums to go to where I know you will get truthful answers are The-Work-At-Home-Forum.com, and mlmforums.com. Frequently in those two online communities you can find other people who are in or have been in the business you are investigating. Ask them about their experiences.

A word of caution, however, is in order. While conducting your research be sure to check more than one source. Check several. There are lots of folks throwing the word scam around when they don't know what they are talking about. Some of them are disgruntled people who have been burned by MLM. Some of them are self appointed scam police who do not have their facts straight. Some of them are trying to steer people away from the competition to lure them into their own business. This can make the research a bit more difficult, but if you check enough sources, and ask enough questions of the right people, as in the forums I suggested, you can find enough information to make a good educated decision as to whether or not to get involved in the business in question.

Work at home scams have become a huge blight on society and on the entire home based business industry. There are plenty of good, profitable, legitimate work from home opportunities out there. If you are careful, and if you do your due diligence, you can find one that is a fit for you. Take your time, investigate, and you will find what you are looking for.

Life is Short, so Live It!

I recently went through a period of being just completely emotionally and physically drained. There were several family issues, nothing really big, but lots of little ones all hitting at once, compounding their effect. In addition to that, my mother has been having heart problems, and some other medical difficulties as well, and that was weighing on me. In fact we went out to Texas just last week to see her and my Dad. She had an operative procedure done this afternoon that should get the heart problems back in line. Things went well, and that provided some stress relief.

In the midst of all this, I was experiencing somewhat of a dry spell in building my home business. I was having difficulty recruiting new members, and in an MLM business that can be quite discouraging. Looking back, I can see that more than likely the trouble recruiting was largely attributable to the fact that all of the above was coming through in my voice and potential recruits were being affected by it and driven away. I'm not by nature a negative person, but the past few weeks or more I know I have been. It had to be having an effect on my prospecting efforts. What, you might ask, does all of this have to do with MLM or Home Business? Everything. It really put things in perspective for me. Perhaps it can do so, for you.

You see, life is short, very short. It's much too short to lose sight of the important things, like family, friendships, even our goals and dreams. It's much too short to spend complaining, whining, worrying, things I had been doing quite a bit of, recently. We spend far too much time in MLM, talking about the negative. We lament over things that hinder our success, people who just don't get it, who can't see or won't see the power of the opportunity we are putting in front of them. We discuss all the negative press our industry gets from people on the outside who, quite frankly, don't know what they are talking about. And we complain about how it affects our recruiting efforts. We gripe about success not coming quickly enough to suit us, when all along the greatest gift of all has been given to us, for free! That gift is life. And that life is very short.

We have so much to be thankful for. I know I do. No, I'm not making as much money as I would like, one never does. My business is not growing as fast as I would like it to, and even if it were, I would just want it to grow even faster. It's amazing what things we allow to upset our apple cart, things that when put into proper perspective when we or a loved one becomes ill, or worse, really don't matter. I'm not saying our dreams and our goals are not important or worthy of our commitment, our determination and effort. I'm not saying that the obstacles in our way are not real. I'm just saying that we need balance. That balance for me comes in the form of my wife, family and friends, my church, my faith, and yes, my life. If we lose balance we lose perspective. If we lose perspective we are lost, adrift in a sea of confusion and uncertainty, like a ship with no rudder. If we lose balance it will affect every thing in our life. Nothing will be truly right, for us, unless that balance is restored.

I apologize if this is a bit too metaphysical, but I do believe it is important. Maybe it will help someone else who is going through a crisis of balance and perspective. If you have lost sight of what is really important in life, my suggestion is to take the time to get alone with yourself, take time out to be thankful for the incredible gift of life you have been given. Find that center, find that balance and let it put everything else back into perspective. It will, if you will let it, I promise you. It did, for me. And now, with that balance restored, I can get back to the business of growing a successful organization that will continue to change my life and the lives of those who will come along. I can focus on my dreams and goals with much more clarity of vision and I can work toward them with much more commitment and determination. Yes my friends, life is short. So live it.

Are You a Good Listener?

There are a couple of inside secrets that all successful sales people know that the unsuccessful do not and I intend to share these secrets with you, here and now. Secret number one, sales is not about your product, your business opportunity, your compensation plan, none of that. Sales is about you. The sooner you figure that one out, the better. People don't buy your product, they buy into you. They don't join your MLM or home business opportunity, they join you. You are not selling any of the above. You are selling yourself.

The second secret, just as important as the first, is this. Successful sales people are good listeners. They are able to discern their customers need, want, desire, or the source of their pain and they recognize when the customer is giving them cues to close the sale. Successful sales people listen more and talk less. So what are the skills that make one a good listener? Let's look at a few.

Before you pick up the phone to call a prospect, find a place of inner calm and quiet. Do some breathing exercises. Say a prayer. Sing a line or two of your favorite song. Do whatever it is that helps you to get centered, inwardly calm and allows you to tune out any distractions, even your own misgivings or fears. If you are not in a place of peace, your customer will pick up on it immediately, even over the phone.

Next, you should have no agenda other than to find out what your prospect needs wants or desires or and to discern if your product or home business opportunity is right for them, and they for it. Don't enter into the conversation trying to sell, enter in trying to listen. Remember how you have felt when you pick up the phone and that annoying telemarketer is on the other end cramming a bunch of information down your throat, bludgeoning you with all manner of questions and not letting you get in one word edgewise? Don't put your customer through that same torture.

Start off with some small talk, allow them to open up to you and begin to identify with you. If you pay attention, you will know when this has happened. Then start off with a question or two that can only be answered, yes, like "it would be great to have more money at the end of the month wouldn't It?" Get them agreeing with you, then move on to more open ended questions that encourage them to give you their need, want or desire. At this stage, listen, pay attention. Accept their answer, don't judge, don't rebut, and by all means don't interrupt. You've got them talking, now let them talk. Acceptance does not mean agreement or validation. By accepting their answer you make them feel you are genuinely concerned about them. Of course you had better be. If not, they will pick up on that one as well.

Now, here is the real meat of the subject. Once you get them talking, if you will really listen rather than try to formulate a response or an answer, you will know when they are giving you cues to close. Unsuccessful sales people begin to offer answers, rebuttals and talk themselves right out of the sale! Don't sell past the close. When they give you the opening, offer them the solution to their need want or desire, be brief, and then shut up! In that moment, silence is golden. If you have done a good job, they will feel as if they have solved their own problem, found the answer to their desire. You have successfully sold yourself, and they have bought into you.

In summary, sales, MLM or otherwise, is about selling yourself and getting customers to buy into you. It's about making them feel they have solved their own problem, answered their own need. Successful sales people know how to listen more and talk less. They know how to accept their customers answers without necessarily validating them, especially with objections. They have no agenda but to find out what their customer needs, wants or desires and to see if what they have to offer will meet that need. Successful sales people listen for cues to close and then do so, they don't sell past the close. Successful sales people know how to listen. Are you a good listener?