Network Marketing Tips

‘Are you WORRIED? Do you have many ‘WHAT-IF thoughts? You are identified with your mind, which is projecting itself into an imaginary future situation and creating fear. There is no way that you can cope with such a situation, because IT DOESN’T EXIST.’ taken from an excerpt from ‘The Power of Now’ by Eckhart Tolle ******************************************************************************************

‘The Sad…and Harsh Reality’

Yesterday a friend of mine, Misty, was a victim of domestic violence and was violently murdered by her fiance. I live in a bubble where things like that don’t happen. Domestic violence? It wasn’t anything that was expected. No one really knew what was going on behind closed doors. As her friends and family start to cope with Misty’s loss, I think we are all taking stock in our own lives.

Sadly, through tragedy, comes a our own reality check into our own lives. Should I change anything to make my life better? The more I thought, the more I realized that there wasn’t anything I’d change. That’s because, only two years ago, I suffered a life event that turned my world upside down. As I worked through it, it gave me the opportunity to take stock in what was making me unhappy. My job was #1. I lived in the ‘poor me’ syndrome. ‘Boo hoo, I don’t like my job and I’d rather be building my own business.’ ‘Boo hoo. I drive this stupid company car that I don’t like.’ ‘Boo hoo, I don’t have this, or I don’t have that.’ It’s exhausting just thinking about my mental attitude that led up to this life event, and in some ways, caused it.

‘The Powerful Healing Process…’

In order to heal, I delved into self-development. I absorbed everything I could and the more I read, the more I learned about why this event happened, how I could work through it, and what I could learn from it. It turns out, the most painful time of my life turned into the most enlightening experiences of my life.

‘I Finally Rid my Life of It’

I’ll give you the abbreviated story: I quit my job, cold turkey. I didn’t really know what would come next. I just had faith. I would NEVER had had that mindset before self-development. The old me would get caught up in ‘What if I can’t help pay the bills,’ ‘What if I don’t make my network marketing business happen and I can’t get another job,’ etc.

‘What if?’

Because of the path I have chosen, those ‘What if’ scenarios never surfaced and my life has just worked out. Because of the belief in myself and my CHANGE IN MINDSET, I have been led to an amazing team with Agel, I have been led to mentors who have truly taught me transformational life lessons, I have been led to business partners that truly have what it takes to succeed in this profession, I have been led to future JV partners who I know will be wonderful, lifelong partners, I have been led to learn how to heal. All of these things have been life-changing events and I couldn’t imagine my life without any one of them.

‘The Lesson’

I had always read to set goals, visualize them, see them everyday. I made vision boards and posted them in my bathroom. I still do. However, strangely enough, I wasn’t achieving them and it was frustrating. That was, until I read the most powerful book I have ever read and discovered the ‘ultimate lesson!

Vidette Vanderweide reveals the ultimate lesson in the extended article, ‘The Meaning of Life in Network Marketing?‘ She is a network marketing veteran and coaches other network marketers to utilize a cutting-edge online marketing system to rapidly build their network marketing businesses.

Today’s news started with a story about a gentleman, by the name of Steven Slater who worked for an airline. After 28 years of working as a flight attendant, Steven lost it as his job. He was frustrated with an inconsiderate passenger, cursed her out over the airplane microphone, grabbed two beers, and exited the plane through the emergency door and down the slide. He ran across the tarmac and, the poor guy just went home.

Ask yourself: how many people do you know who can relate to that? The sad reality is that more and more Americans are collapsing down into a depressive state thinking their whole life is amiss because of one single, miserable factor: their job.

The cold, hard fact is, that corporate America is expecting more and more from it’s workers, but are not giving back to reciprocate the effort. Workers are being asked to be ‘Team Players’ and ‘be glad we have jobs right now, but, unfortunately, we will not be giving salary increases this year.’ I know this, because I lived it personally. It’s crap and we don’t have to take it anymore!

I, personally hit my breaking point almost a year ago. I simply had had enough with the micro-management of my area manager and just quit. I surprised myself with my actions, and shortly had to face the reality of what I had just done. I just gave up my income, my company car, and I have no financial means to support myself.

When desperate times come, we FIGURE IT OUT! Quitting my job was a defining moment in my life! I had always been a fan of network marketing and set out to make profession. I did it successfully in under a year and work passionately everyday to help those ready to SNAP in their corporate jobs.

Corporate American, in my opinion, is strictly for those who settle for being mediocre. Who settle for the ‘that’s life’ excuse. Our world couldn’t run with them. That said, Network Marketing is for those who realize they are tired of being dictated to. They no longer settle for anything, take control and make things happen. Many people do fail in network marketing, there is no doubt. They are the one’s that just wait for something to happen and don’t make it happen themselves. That said, when desperate times are among us, Network Marketing is the place to turn!

Steven Slater, unfortunately, sacrificed his whole career because of one lousy, ignorant passenger who made him snap. HE is the exact kind of person I want to attract to my business. I KNOW what it’s like to be there. I KNOW how to turn it around quickly and laugh at all the schmucks still working at my former company. I KNOW what it’s like to truly enjoy life and I want to show the good, ‘ole Steven Slater’s of the world that his darkest hour will be his most defining moment!

Vidette Vanderweide is the author of the extended article, ‘Why I Want the Raging Flight Attendant on My Agel Team!’ She is the producer of the the brief video also titled, ‘Why I Want the Raging Flight Attendant on My Agel Team!’ Vidette coaches network marketing professionals how to market themselves online in order to quickly build an MLM organization.

I attended a very exclusive and intimate internet marketing event this past weekend. This was an amazing opportunity to learn from our industry’s greatest successes with only 20 people in attendance.

My personal business coach, Jeffrey Combs was one of the speakers. He is a 7-figure income earner and a business coach to top network and internet marketers. I have coached with Jeffrey and can honestly say that he has given me a couple of defining moments in my life. I have to say that I would not be where I am today mentally, emotionally and professionally had I not been introduced to Jeffrey.

That said, Jeffrey shared quite a few KEY nuggets of information at this event. He is a master at identifying why we REALLY procrastinate as entrepreneurs….and it has nothing to do with lack of time or because of a job! Our procrastination truly comes from internal emotional blocks that are buried deep within us. These blocks were put there because of an event in our past that now manifests into procrastination. For example, our mother used to say, ‘You’re never going to amount to anything if you keep doing what you’re doing.’ We internalize that, then as adults, when we are afraid to death to pick up the phone and dial a prospect, we procrastinate. Although we do not actually hear our mother’s voice in our heads, we unconsciously believe that we won’t amount to anything, so why bother calling? We go find something else to do.

Jeff also made us realize the importance of results consciousness. As we set out to perform an activity, as entrepreneurs, we will have to have a result goal in mind. If we just ‘wing-it’ and do the activity, we won’t know if we were successful or not without knowing what our ultimate goal was.

This is just the tip of the iceberg in what Jeffrey shared. All readers are encouraged to read the extended article in order to extract all the information Jeffrey shared.

Vidette Vanderweide is the author of the extended article, ‘Jeffrey Combs Advice to Network Marketers.‘ She is the creator of the ‘MLM Recovery Revolution,’ a FREE video training series available for a limited time. She is an online marketing coach to network marketers.

Recently, I wrote an article about my dislike of the word, ‘Mompreneur.’ I received some great feedback and even some questioned whether or not my husband was involved in my business with me. I quickly replied, ‘NO!’ Now, that out of the way, I will say that he is very supportive of me, however, we both agreed early on that we keep our careers separate.

When we got together, I was very independent. I had lived on my own since college, I had moved around to different fun cities because I could, and I was truly dependent on no one. I had a really hard time when I first got married. Having to really become a ‘team’ on where my life was going. I couldn’t just decide to quit a job and get a new one without talking it over with my husband. I couldn’t just move when I got bored with a place. I HATED that! It was a very difficult transition for me and after eight years and two kids, I am not totally recovered from my independent ways…far from it!

That said, when an independent woman gets married and has kids, there is a sense of independence that is lost. Your decisions are not you own anymore, and to this day, it is sometimes difficult for me to accept that. When I make a tough decision, I have three other people’s lives to think about, not just mine. My career and my home business is MINE! It’s the one place where I have independence. I make the business decisions that I think are right. It’s the one place where I can make decisions and it only affects me. Yes, it ultimately affects the financial future of my family, however, my decisions are strategic and will positively affect my home life.

Working in the home business industry, I hear a lot of complaints about unsupportive spouses. Two things come to mind. One, why give an unsupportive spouse the ability to affect your business! When you TRULY believe in what you are doing, then it shouldn’t be too hard to stand up to an unsupportive spouse. Now, that said, the second thing that comes to mind is that usually spouses are usually unsupportive when they have seen no fruits of the labor of their entrepreneurial spouse. If that is the case, then the entrepreneurial spouse better start digging deep and locating tools and systems that will allow them to build their business quickly and start to earn an income. Nothing turns the head of an unsupportive spouse then the business actually affecting the family budget financially!

It is a personal choice to involve your spouse in your business. I choose not to. Whichever you decide, boundaries must be set in the way of goals and expectations. This is a critical step when starting the business. My independence hasn’t really been easy on my marriage. I work on it everyday, but it does rear it’s ugly head a lot. With that in mind, it is still something that is important to me. I choose to fulfill that personal goal, however, when I get home each day and my home is filled with laughter, music and wholesome fun, something I’ve become dependent on, I know that what I have set out to do independently truly is the best for my family!

Vidette Vanderweide is a successful ‘Mompreneur.’ She has created a short video regarding this subject titled, ‘Another Idle Rant from a ‘Mompreneur’ – Spoutilize or No Spoutilize ?‘ Vidette teaches network marketers to utilize cutting-edge online marketing strategies to quickly build any network marketing business.

The vision I have when I hear the word ‘Mompreneur’ is of a cutsied up little mom, dabbling at a home business knowing that her successful Corporate-America husband will pay the bills and the payment on her BMW X-5 with 2 car seats in the back. No one takes her seriously and sees her mostly as a mom and certainly not as a career woman.

Here is the sad truth for me: I am a mom and an entrepreneur, so technically that makes me a ‘Mompreneur.’ I still hate the word, but if the vision above comes to your head, buddy, you’d better take your hand and slap it upside your head for me!

I attended a recent Internet Marketing event called the ‘No Excuses Summit.’ I couldn’t believe how young and successful these presenters were throughout the weekend. Some had reached millionaire status in their 20′s! For a little while, my confidence was shot to hell because I was 35 and had not yet reached millionaire status. That said, that feeling only lasted a short time. Why? Because what I also realized that MOST of these young millionaires had achieved it in their parent’s basement without a spouse and without kids.

What I quickly came to realize was what a freaking ‘Wonder Woman’ I am! I am on track to reaching my goals of a millionaire by the age of 40, however, I have had a later start in learning a whole new industry and have two kids in tow! My kids are very young and while these successful ‘kids’ had nothing but time to figure out internet marketing in their parent’s basement, I have kids yelling, ‘M-A-M-A, where aaaaare yoooouuu’ as I hide in the garage trying to get my articles written. After my articles are written, I have to clean up the house quickly to make sure it doesn’t smell like poop, only to follow that up with dinner, baths and bedtime. Then go back to my ‘garage office,’ to catch up on training, or follow up calls, or whatever else had to go on the back burner for the short work day that I had.

Let me say that I am in no way trying to take away from the successes of these young entrepreneurs! I realize they still had to have commitment and dedication to achieve these levels of success. I am, however, giving major props to the moms who have made a decision to NOT put their career dreams on the back burner and tackle them while keeping up a house and raising kids. I have seen so many moms put their own goals and dreams on the back burner for their kids. I’m not willing to do that. I am not willing to lose a piece of myself for kids. Yes, I will sacrifice sleep and many other things to achieve MY goals and also give my kids what they need. I do what I do in order keep a balance between ME as a career woman, and ME as a mother.

It’s tough balancing everything. Mother’s have an innate ability to balance and to juggle. ‘Mompreneurs’ are some of the most powerful women out there and deserve to be respected and appreciated! The next time I see a ‘Mompreneur’ networking group, you can be sure that I’ll be attending! These are just the people who understand what I am going through and have high aspirations like I do! I will not quit, I will not fail, I will succeed for all the moms out there who thought their life had to go on the back-burner because they have a house to run. To hell with that! We can do that and still have our career goals! We ARE ‘Mompreneurs!

Vidette Vanderweide is a dedicated ‘Mompreneur‘ and MLM veteran. She is the producer of the ‘MLM Recovery Revolution,’ which is a video training series that will assist any Network Marketer recover their business. She also teaches ‘Mompreneur‘ Network Marketers how to market and brand themselves online in order to attract quality prospects to their business!

Yesterday I was reviewing my team in my primary business with my upline. We were identifying those who were action takers and who I was going to spend my personal time with. I have one lady on my team who I love and want to spend time, however, my upline pointed out that she hadn’t produced a whole lot. In speaking with this team member, she has been frustrated with the amount of people who have told her they don’t have the money to get started with the business.

During our conversation, we both agreed that neither one of us EVER gets that objection. Never. However, that said, we also both realize that the lack of money is the #1 objection most network marketers encounter.

As we journey down the network marketing road, we hear from all directions the importance of mindset has in our success. We go to company meetings and our CEO’s talk about it, Oprah talks about it, heck, even our uplines talk about it. That said, I have come to realize in my six years as a network marketer that there is absolute truth in this. I truly believe that mindset separates the good from the great!

As with my team member with the money objections, when someone gets started in the business with needing to know the ‘cost,’ they are doomed to attract the same type of people. There must be a shift in mindset that happens. Out of the ‘scarcity’ mindset and into the ‘abundant’ mindset. Without this shift, these entrepreneurs will be a casualty of network marketing and revert back to the life of endless employment.

The other side of that holds a totally different picture. Prospects who ask about the ‘investment’ into the business see the ‘glass half full’ and have higher aspirations. This is exactly what Mike Dillard talks about in his book, ‘Magnetic Sponsoring.’ Abundant thinkers will attract prospects with abundant thoughts and will want to know the ‘investment.’ Broke people with a ‘scarcity’ mindset will continue to attract people who ask about the cost.

Mindset is a direct result of attracting people to want to ‘invest’ in a business or those who want to know the ‘cost.’ Scarcity vs. Abundance. The shift from scarcity to abundant thinking will start to take shape with Napolean Hill’s book, ‘Think and Grow Rich.’ This book was the catalyst to so many successful entrepreneurs worldwide!

Network marketing as a profession will continue to flourish due to the mindsets of abundant thinkers with high aspirations. To the opposite, it will also continue to be marred by the unrealistic mindsets of those who think it will be easy and those who work with a ‘scarcity’ mindset. It will only be with massive mindset shifts will our profession get the accolades it deserves!

You can access the extended version of this ‘Magnetic Sponsoring’ article at Vidette’s site. Vidette Vanderweide is a network marketing professional and consistently sites about MLM training articles. She has also producedthe revolutionary MLM training, The ‘‘MLM Recovery Revolution.‘

If you know anything about Internet Marketing, you would have heard a little buzz about one of the most influential weekends in the industry. This summit was called ‘The No Excuses Summit’ and was held in Las Vegas. This weekend was organized by legendary internet marketers Raymond Fong and Ferny Ceballos. The summit featured extraordinary names in the industry like, Mike Dillard, Katie Freiling, Jonathan Budd, Justin Christanson, Mark Hoverson, Brian Fanale, Norbert Orlewicz (big sigh…out of breath…). It was emceed by veteran cutie-patootie Jimmy Davis. This weekend was nothing short of amazing due the to fact that Ray & Ferny were able to get all of these names to this summit on the same weekend.

Jimmy Davis started the day with his installment of the two and a half day program. This young phenom is nothing short of adorable and delivered his ‘awesomeness’ (he termed himself ‘awesome’ throughout his presentation) but still delivered a powerful presentation with all seriousness. It is amazing that a 28 year old success story like this has his head on the way he does. It’s nothing short of amazing.

As with almost anything network marketing, Jimmy first worked through the importance of our ‘Why.’ Why were we building our businesses, why were we there searching for more knowledge on building our organizations? From there he also worked us through identifying our current strengths and weaknesses so we recognized the ‘excuses’ we use when trying to avoid these weaknesses.

After identifying those particular areas, we then moved on to the Six Key Areas of a Top Producer. Jimmy went on to explain these areas in a visual drawing giving us a visual of where our businesses currently were.

These areas were as follows: 1. Mentor 2. Positioning 3. Building a Team 4. Multiple streams of income 5. Marketing 6. Systemize

Jimmy continued to go into detail in these areas and explain the deeper meanings of each area. He explained how to position our strengths and weaknesses in these areas in order to move our businesses more rapidly. The visual of my business was pivotal to me as it defined exactly the areas that had been holding me back.

Jimmy brought everything together by making us look at the ‘wheel,’ which represented our business and seeing how our strengths and weaknesses were so different. The difference gave us a ‘flat tire’ so our businesses couldn’t move forward. However, the a-ha moment for me was seeing how I could improve my weaknesses, back off of my strengths a little and create a more balanced wheel, which would allow my business to leap forward.

This was the moment when it all came together for me and we were only in the first hour. To actually visualize my business and see my weaknesses identified the very reason my business seemed to be in lock-down. It was the very information I needed in order to maximize my results from the weekend. A pretty powerful moment from someone who I thought was too young to teach me anything. Lesson #2!

For the extended version of this article, please visit Vidette Vanderweide’s blog post titled , ‘No Excuses Summit.’ Vidette is a network marketing professional and teaches network marketers elite marketing strategies to build their organizations online. She has also produced a video in support of this article, which is also entitled , the ‘No Excuses Summit.’

This 4th of July marks a special day in American history. We take the time to celebrate our great nation and really stop, if only for a day, to appreciate what we’ve been given. Unfortunately, as of late, our world has been saturated with the challenges our nation is facing…i.e. an economic crisis, the largest environmental disaster in history, natural disasters, etc. I ask for the 4th of July weekend, we shut it all off. Don’t allow it into our minds and focus on what we have available to us.

We hear our friends, family, neighbors losing their jobs, losing their homes, losing faith in our future. But what is right in front of us, under our noses, is what this great country was founded on, FREE ENTERPRISE! We as Americans hold our own futures in our hands. We have choices that SO many people around the world could only hope they’d have a right to. We have choices to control our lives or let someone else control them. We have a choice to depend on others to make our future, or to write our own futures.

This great country was built by our ancestors who had a dream. A dream to come to a new country, find employment and devote their lives to that country. They risked their own lives to cross the ocean for months at a time for just a glimmer of hope. Their hope was to build a life that would give their children a better life. Just take a look at where our country is now. They have reached their goals by the simple fact of where we are now. We are the most powerful country in the world even at our weakest moment.

There’s no doubt that the country has changed over the last 234 years. Our country’s challenges continue but we have the ability to get ourselves out of it. Americans now have the opportunity more than ever to take back their lives and lift this great country up. Our ancestors worked very hard to give us the opportunities we have now. Free enterprise is very scary venture for most Americans. It’s outside the box for many to consider since we’ve been engrained to think employment is the way of life. That said, when more Americans start to take back their lives, venture into Free Enterprise, then our country will start to right itself again.

Network marketing or MLM, as it is also called, has become a viable profession to change individual’s financial futures. Powerful businessmen like Warren Buffett, Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki are sound supporters of our industry. Network marketing can and will be the answer for more struggling Americans in the upcoming years.

This 4th of July, I will be appreciative of what I have in this great country. I have opportunities now that my great-grandparents moved here to set up for me. I am grateful for the sacrifices they made. Our country is challenged right now, but we are still powerful! We are resilient people that have the ability to turn this thing around. I have no doubts that we will!

Vidette Vanderweide is a seasoned veteran of the MLM profession . She actively builds her MLM team. She also teaches those with their own MLM businesses the most elite and cutting edge marketing strategies(that your upline isn’t telling you about) to get massive results in any MLM business! Also published at Why I Am A Proud American.

Handed a Pink Slip? Now What?

About two months ago, I was told that a good friend of mine was laid off from his job. I was shocked. He had been at the company for almost 15 years, he earned 6-figures, married to a stay-at-home mom, and he was the bread-winner of the family!

I have another friend who was in the Army. Served in Iraq. Came home a year ago to a new baby after his tour was over and hasn’t been able to find a job. He has now taken a contract civilian job in Iraq in order to make ends meet, but he doesn’t see his BRAND new baby for 3 months at a time.

These stories are all over the place now-a-days! When I do hear one, I am so grateful for the profession that I have chosen. I work my tail off to learn the skills it takes to achieve the ridiculous success people only dream of. The more I learn, the more I earn. I do get frustrated at times. I do want to quit at times, but I don’t and I won’t. Yes, I do have to sacrifice time with my kids here and there. You probably say, ‘that sounds like a job!’

It might sound like a job to you, however to the 3% of network marketers who earn significant livings, its nothing of the sort. You see, they will tell you it was NOT an easy ride. They will say, ‘IN THE BEGINNING, they had to develop skills to become good at what they were doing,’ ‘IN THE BEGINNING, ‘they had to sacrifice time with their families,’ ‘IN THE BEGINNING, they wanted to quit at times.’ You catch my drift. IN THE BEGINNING, it was hard, but they stuck to it and are living significantly different lives as a result! This isn’t a job. This is a gift that is being handed to people everyday and so few of us take it!

There are those who are given the gift and they sit in their Easy Lounger waiting for their money to come served on a silver platter. Then you have others who receive the gift, open it carefully, pull out the instructions and work diligently putting the pieces together. Before long, they hit the ‘ON’ button and the gift if moving full-steam ahead!

Why the difference in thinking? The same happens in the work force. Why do some people stay for YEARS as a mail room clerk and some scoop up the promotions almost as quickly as they appear on the job board? Because the ones scooping up the promotions are the ones that WORK for it. They learn new skills, they work late, they stay in front of the important people who can teach them, they put in the time!

The dedication is not that much different from ‘working a job,’ to working a network marketing business, however the rewards are FAR more beneficial. ‘Working’ a network marketing business means working for 2 – 5 years MAX!! Then you can retire. ‘Working’ in a job means you work for 40 years and retire broke! Ugh, why don’t more people get it???

I have to say, I sent both my friends the business overview of my company with their permission. Neither watched it, however both gave me a polite, ‘Thanks, Vidette, but I think I’ll hold out on something more stable.’ I bit my tongue, stuck to my professional guns and wished them both luck on their search. What I really wanted to say was, ‘You were just given less than a day’s notice that you no longer have a job and THAT is stable? You’ve been out of work for 2 months (for one and over a year for another) and you won’t look at a 30 minute overview of something that could be what you’re looking for? At the very least, its an option – if you don’t like it, I’m cool with that, but take a look! To not look is simply ignorance.

Here we are now and both my friends are in the same situation. I know it sounds like I’m knocking my friends and I don’t mean to. I just want to get the point across that there are options that people aren’t even taking an educated look at. They make up their minds and decline the option without even knowing about it. If you’ve been handed a pink slip, know this: ‘safe’ is now the new risky! Don’t be safe! Being safe will keep you broke. Being ‘risky’ and trying something a little out of the ordinary is what will get us out of this economic meltdown! When people are making money again in non-traditional ways, they will spend, and our country will start to move again! Network marketing will produce more millionaires this year than any other industry! Be a part of it! Some will, but others that do, life will never be the same!

Where do you begin if you’ve never been a network marketer? You need to find a mentor and a system that will get you earning a check quickly. Remember, you are starting a business so there will be money needed to start and keep up your business. If you’re hurting for money, get creative. Most of us had to in order to get started! Who’s right for this business? Anyone who’s tired of depending on a boss, in desperate times and anyone who is disciplined. Dive in, get started! Look at the links below to get your search started! I started 1 year ago an my life is SO different! I’m a worker, I’m not a quitter and I was desperate. I have figured it out and can teach you the exact steps to follow! Get started today!

Vidette Vanderweide is a seasoned veteran of MLM. She is the creator of ‘Handed a Pink Slip? Now What?’ and is giving away ‘Three Golden Nuggets That Will Explode Your MLM Business’ for FREE for a limited time! She also teaches the most elite and cutting edge marketing strategies to get massive results in any MLM business!

Anyone researching home based businesses will quickly realize what an intimidating task this really is! The internet is an incredible tool to aid someone in finding a business and finding success in this industry. That said, it can quickly be turned into an overwhelming experience when one runs into tons of business opportunities, systems and tools to build a business, the opportunities to purchase leads…aaahhh!! May recede back to normal work life because, being inexperienced in this arena, the possibilities are endless!

This article will offer advice on how to save some time and give the fledgling home business entrepreneur a fighting chance at making the right decision from the start. A sad statistic is that most network marketers will go through eight different MLM companies before finally finding their fit. Those are the ones that stick around long enough to keep going. Most won’t make it that far and be convinced that the profession doesn’t work. It absolutely does, but most new entrepreneurs aren’t aware of the things to look for in the beginning to reduce the amount of time it takes to find the right fit.

So, being in the network marketing profession for six years, most of it full-time, I will say that I am passionate about it. That said, I have seen great people leave the profession because they are frustrated with their lack of success. Most of the time, the cause of their frustration is one of a four reasons: lack of mentorship in the profession, not being a good fit for the company(ies) they are involved with, not having the skills to develop their business or lastly, not having the right systems in place to help them build their business quickly and get to earning a paycheck quickly. My goal is to coach new entrepreneurs on the things to do upfront, so we keep these great people in this profession and see more new entrepreneurs realizing their financial and time freedom goals sooner rather than later. The objective of this article is to assist you in finding a business for the home based business opportunity seeker.

These four areas will be the topic of this article. If you are looking to start a home-based business, then these are the areas to print out and be diligent about finding! When you do that at the beginning, you will ultimately, put yourself ahead of the new entrepreneur pack and find a fit faster so you are into momentum faster!

So, you may be approached with a business by your cousin Susy. Susy has just gotten started in her business as well. That said, the last thing you will want to do is join right away. Do your due diligence! You see, Susy may have turned you on to the home based business idea, however, Susy’s business may not be the right fit for you! So, let’s get to it and show you how to do your due diligence:

1. Finding the right mentor – Finding a great mentor in this business is step number one. This should be done BEFORE you even find a company to partner with! I know that sounds backwards, but hear me out. The mentor you partner with will absolutely make or break your success. Although you may find that your cousin Susy’s company is a good fit for you, being new herself, Susy is NOT going to be your mentor. A mentor should be someone who does the business full-time, has a vast knowledge of network marketing, and can guide you through the steps of quickly building your MLM business. This person may be in your company or they may not be. I wrote an article about this topic, entitled: ‘Find a Mentor for Your MLM Program (http://voguenetworking.com/blog/2010/07/01/mlm-program-mentor/). You may ask, ‘Why would someone outside of my company offer me help?’ Because anyone successful in this industry and one that is truly a Network Marketing Professional will want more successful entrepreneurs in our profession. Successful people get to the top by helping others, even when they do not ultimately benefit personally. Your mentor must be seasoned in this industry and want to be of the greater good for the profession! Ultimately, I would suggest finding this mentor FIRST, then joining the company they are with. That way, you know they are seasoned, so you also know they have done their due-diligence on the company. They have looked at the aspects we’re about to discuss and made their decision based on their years of knowledge of the profession and you can feel comfortable knowing you don’t have to dig as deep into the following category.

2. Finding the right fitting company for you – There are five aspects to look at when determining if a company is a right fit for you. Again, seasoned mentors will use these aspects when determining if they will join a company, so if you find an experienced mentor you feel comfortable with, then you can bet the company will be a fit. So, #1 – does the company have a sizzle product? Is it a product that isn’t a dime-a-dozen in the profession? Does it have any competitors in the market? The company should have a category-creating product! #2 – Capitalization – if the company is a newer company, less than 10 years old, then research on the capitalization of the company needs to be done! Most companies will fail in their first five years due to their lack of capitalization. This is a devastating event for network marketers when they’ve built an organization only to have it go to pot when the company goes under. #3 – Compensation plan – this may be very unfamiliar to you at this point. I will not get into all the detail, but the question you will want to ask is ‘how do I get paid?’ You will want to be sure you have the opportunity to be paid on MULTIPLE generations of your organization. If you are paid mostly on your personally sponsored people, than that plan does not promote the right behavior and you will not want to join the company. Stick to companies with compensation plan that promote good behavior by training deep into your organization and you reap the results. The best compensation plans right now pay down seven generations or more! #4 – Management Depth – does the management of the company have years of network marketing experience? Do they have experience starting, building, and expanding MLM companies internationally? If they are a seasoned, successful business person, but outside of the network marketing arena, take precautions. Network Marketing is a whole other animal! #5 – Field Leadership – ask your potential upline who the top earners are in the company. Google their names and see what you find. (Rest assured, any top earner will have some negative things written about them. There are always bitter people who degrade someone’s name so that will be inevitable). These people should be renowned names in the industry. Again, because they know a goldmine of a company when they see it, they have joined their company based on their professional knowledge. You want to join a company with BIG names associated with it.

#3 – Develop your skills now – You will learn and develop skills when you educate yourself on the profession. To be honest, a great mentor will not take you under your wing if you’ve never picked up a book on network marketing. Why? Because they know that you will be one that wants to have your hand held, you’ll be afraid and want actual words to use. You will need to be babysat. Now, when you gather knowledge and skills through reading, listening to CD’s and live seminars, your mentor can now help you hone the skills. They can practice with you. They can coach you. If you haven’t been a self-improvement reader yet, start with Napolean Hill’s, ‘Think and Grow Rich.’ You’ll impress any potential mentor when you mention that book!

4. Marketing Systems & tools of the trade – Systems are critical to your success as a network marketer. When starting a business, your experienced mentor will tell you to market to your warm list first. Everyone you know should know what it is you’re doing and should see your business presentation. Know now that most will NOT join you in your business. Then you will need to create your own prospects after that by networking, and prospecting consistently. You absolutely have to do that. Now the thing that will separate a great leader from an ordinary upline will be if they offer you a duplicable system that will help you attract leads online and create a faster-growing organization. Flat out, systems outside of the ordinary way you will be taught to build a network marketing business are, hands down, the way you will become one of the top earners of your company, and cousin Susy will stay in the masses of other networkers grinding away at their business!

These four factors, when known up front, will absolutely assist you in making the best decision when starting your home based business. My decision to start my own business, unequivocally, was the single best decision of my life. I didn’t know the things above to look for, so it took me three companies before I learned them. The fourth time around, using the aspects above, I finally found my mentor, my company and my system and things took off! ‘Taking off’ is something you will want sooner rather than later, so be sure these same things help you determine your fit!

Vidette Vanderweide is a 6 year veteran of the network marketing profession. You kind find more knowledge by viewing the video entitled , ‘Finding a Business for the Home Business Opportunity Seeker.’ She also coaches on the most elite and cutting edge marketing strategies that your upline isn’t telling you about to get colossal results in any network marketing business!