There is a great phrase “What would Jesus do?”

Whether or not you are a Christian there is something to be learned from this phrase. Basically what this phrase means is that Christian’s will use this idea to reflect upon their own lives and whether or not they are living the kind of life they should. They will say to themselves “What would Jesus do?” Then reflect upon whether or not their actions are the kind of actions they think Jesus would be doing. Perhaps they might react to a negative situation and say to themselves WWJD? (What would Jesus do?)

Now I know some of you aren’t Christian’s and you’re wondering why on earth I would bring this up when talking about MLM and network marketing. Here is why. This is a powerful idea and a powerful way to reflect upon your own life.

Instead of saying what would Jesus do… Say to yourself “What would my upline do?” Perhaps you don’t have a strong upline. Instead you might say “What would the distributor of the year do” or “What would the top distributors do?” Think of the top people in your company, the people recognized at your convention, on the conference calls, or in your marketing materials. What would those individuals do?

Hopefully you have a mentor or idol within your company that you can model your actions after.

Each day as you’re going through the day ask yourself WWDYD? (What would the distributor of the year do?) If you find you’re doing actions that the top distributors wouldn’t do, then perhaps you’re doing the wrong activities.

Another way people refer to this is… If your downline did what you’re doing today, would your business be growing? Would it be growing as fast as you want it too?

This is a great way to keep on track. Make sure you’re spending your time working on the right activities. Make sure your being the right kind of leader for your team.

So remember, “What would Jesus Do?”

- Ben Fitts

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Hi readers,

A few weeks ago I was contacted by a fellow named Robert Pagliarini. He said that he was the author of a new book called The Other 8 Hours: Maximize Your Free Time to Create Wealth & Purpose. He wanted to send me a free copy of the book to review it, no strings attached.

I agreed to read the book and less than a week later the book arrived from the publisher.

I had a plane flight and brought the book with me.

It turned out to be a great book and I highly recommend all of you get over to the Other 8 Hours and check it out. When you get there you’re going to find a ton of free resources, a newsletter, and yes, you can also buy the book. I don’t get a commission or anything other than a free copy of the book to read

The book talks about how we have only 24 hours a day. In the book Robert explains how MOST of who we are in our lives is made up of what we do in that other 8 hours. Meaning the 8 hours we aren’t at work or aren’t at sleep. In fact most of us really don’t have 8 hours. Our day probably goes something like:

6 AM wakeup & get ready for work
7:15 AM leave for work
8 AM arrive at work
8 AM – Noon work
Noon-1 PM lunch
1 PM – 5 PM work
5 PM to 6 PM drive home (why is afternoon traffic always worse than morning traffic?)
6 PM – 11 PM (5 hours of personal time)
11 PM to 6 AM (7 hours of sleep, not even a full 8 hours)

Most of our lives probably looks very similar to this. Between getting ready for work, going to work, working, driving home, etc. we actually end up with less than 8 hours of personal time a day.

However this extra 8 hours are in fact the most important hours of our lives. Let me state that again. These other 8 hours are the most important hours of our lives.

Think about it… You probably met your spouse and dated your spouse during these other 8 hours. If you have kids you probably made them during the other 8 hours. You raise them during the other 8 hours. You go to church and do your social activities during these other 8 hours. Some of the most important things we do in life make up the other 8 hours.

What this book is about is about making the most of the other 8 hours. The web site the other 8 hours also resources on how to make the most out of your other 8 hours. Robert even mentions starting a business as a way to eventually have more time and do the stuff you want to do instead of going to work a job for some corporate boss. He even mentions network marketing as one possible business. Although he doesn’t speak real highly of network marketing.

One of the other tools he has is similar to my schedule for part-time networkers. It helps you plan out your schedule and make the most of your time.

The book was a really good read. I read the entire book and underlined several parapgraphs. I think you’ll like the book too.

- Ben Fitts

PS. Dear FTC (see my post from a month or so ago about FTC guidelines.) I did receive a free review copy of the book but was not paid to endorse it and these links are not affiliate links.

Popularity: 2% [?]

If you’re a network marketer and you’ve been in business for awhile at some point you may be offered a chance to buy mlm genealogy lists. Many people consider these to be the creme de la creme of mlm leads because they are people who are already familiar with our industry. However there are some things I feel it is important to warn you about.

Tonight I received a phone call offering to sell me MLM Genealogy leads. Let’s call this woman Ms. B.

Ms. B. told me she had a list of YTB people to sell. She said she had heard some bad things about YTB and that the company might be shutting down. She said she had about 8400 names, phone number, email, and address for YTB people to sell and she was calling me because she thought someone in my company might be interested in them. She thought these people might be looking for a new opportunity.

Being an ethical guy, little warning bells started going off in my head…

After she gave me her pitch I asked a few questions.

Question 1.
Why aren’t you using the leads yourself? Why are you trying to sell them?

Ms. B answered.
She has a lot of MLM experience but she prefers to be a leads broker and she has a lot of experience brokering these kind of leads. Her family were MLMers but she never really got into that side of the business.

More warning bells are going off for me. Why doesn’t she do MLM? Did she sell these to family members or friends already? If they are so great why isn’t she working them?

Question 2.
How many times are you going to sell these leads?

Ms. B answered.
Anyone selling you leads would be lying if they said they didn’t sell them multiple times. However she said since it was a small list she would only sell these 3-6 times and would give me 3 months exclusivity before selling them to anyone else in my company.

This was pretty honest. She is right leads companies sell leads more than once.

Question 3.
How fresh are these leads?

Ms. B answered.
18-24 months old.

More warning bells are going off now. If they are 18-24 months old, why are they just now going up for sale? Has she been selling them for the last 18 months? Did the person generating the leads already milk the leads as much as they could before selling them off to someone else?

Question 4.
How were these leads generated? Were they from an existing YTB members genealogy list?

Ms. B answered.
These names were generated from web sites of YTB members on the internet. Someone wrote a program to capture the names, emails, phone, and address of YTB members from the internet.

At this point I’m livid with anger. You see I run web marketing web sites for my company. I HATE people like this. This person is what we call a “scrapper”. They scrape the content of web sites. They find someone who has YTB marketing web sites and they scrape the content to find the name, email, address, phone, etc.

If you’re someone like me that runs marketing web sites for team members of my company, what happens is this person points a computer program we call a “bot” which is short for robot. They point the bot at your web site. Then the bot tries a bunch of different combinations of usernames until it find someone that exists. It then scrapes the content off the site for the name, email, phone, etc. and puts that info a database. It then continues trying more variations of usernames.

Besides this being unethical it is also a computer attack. They generate tens of thousands of requests or even hundreds of thousands of requests on the web site in order to find a few thousand names. It can even temporarily break a web site, cause a web site to perform poorly, etc.

In addition I feel this is unethical behavior. I feel that people who try and steal genealogy lists are bad apples. I would hate for someone to attack my downline and try and steal them all away for some new opportunity and I would never want to do that to someone else.

Ms. B. couldn’t believe that I was upset. She couldn’t believe that I didn’t understand that this is they way business is done. She claimed that because this information was freely available on the internet that I was upset.

Needless to say the phone call ended shortly thereafter and I won’t be recommending anyone to her.

I hate people like this. She isn’t a networker so she has no idea how dirty her behavior is. She can never truly understand because she doesn’t have a downline. Or maybe this is one reason why she doesn’t do MLM herself and only brokers MLM genealogy leads.

What do you think? Have you ever bought a genealogy list? Have you ever bought lists that were generated from spamming/scraping web sites? Have you ever had someone attack your downline to try and steal them away to another company?

- Ben

Popularity: 2% [?]

2010 is here!

What is your plan to grow your MLM business?

I heard a great tip from a friend of mine who is the top money earner in my company. He said he starts with a plan of action every year to pretend like he is starting over in his business. He acts like January 1 is the first day he is starting and puts together a plan of action based on that philosophy.

I know for me personally when I start a new project I’m excited. When I start in a new network marketing business in the past I’m very aggressive. I build my lead list. I call all my friends and family. I get aggressive with my advertising and marketing.

The problem I personally experienced is that I built a large business quickly. I then got into a mode of managing and working with my team. I have 6200+ people on my team. I let myself get too busy managing my business, training others, etc. It’s a different mindset than when I was first starting out.

Plus over my many years of being involved in my business I’ve met new people and my friends list probably needs to be updated.

Starting now I’m refocusing and pretending I am starting out from scratch again. I’m setting my goals. I’m building my list of friends and family. I’m contacting my warm market. I’m going back to basics. I’m going to work hard again just like I was starting out from scratch. I’m not ignoring the people already in my business I’m just refocusing on building again. Leading by example.

I think it’s a great idea.

If you were to pretend to start over in your business, what would you do?

Leave us a comment and let us know!

- Ben Fitts

Popularity: 3% [?]

One of the biggest challenges facing most people who start a home business is finding the time to work the business. Most people work a full-time job and start their business to make some extra money, and eventually leave their job behind.

Yet, how do they do it?

How do they manage their job, their family, their personal lives and their new home business?

One of the biggest things I’ve found in my network marketing career is the importance of consistency. Consistency of working even a little bit every week is far better than working hard, then stopping for a while, then working hard again. If you can find a way to consistently build your business each and every week you’ll look back a year later and see a successful business growing. However if you stop and start a lot you’ll probably find that your business is struggling.

I came up with this schedule to help out part-time network marketers.

The schedule allows you to create a time schedule of your week. You can put in times for working your job, spending time with your family, even time to have a personal life. As you create the schedule you’ll begin to find that you have little pockets of time where you can build your business. It might be your lunch hour at work. It might be Tuesday nights…. It might be on the weekend. You’ll still be able to have time to do all the things you enjoy doing, but with a little sacrifice you can find some time to consistently build your business.

Download a copy of the schedule for part-time MLMers here.

This is my first draft at this schedule. Leave a comment and let me know if you find the schedule useful or if you have any suggestions. I appreciate you!

- Ben Fitts

Popularity: 4% [?]

Hi readers,

Did you know the FTC has updated their requirements for bloggers to disclose paid endorsements?

That means you and I as network marketers that are paid to promote a particular product or opportunity now need to disclose that information.  It also means if you refer some affiliate program for a autoresponder or internet provider or whatever you now need to disclose that information as well.

Here are 6 quick videos from the FTC explaining the new requirements. You can also view the text of the endorsement guidelines here. (PDF)

Popularity: 3% [?]

Hi Readers,

I wanted to share some good news with you.

We’ve been rated a top 50 MLM blog and a top 10 MLM Blog. I’m pretty proud to be included with some of these other famous MLM trainers.

In August we were rated a top 10 MLM Blog by Roosevelt Cooper.

Just this week we were rated one of the top 50 (his isn’t in numercial, but alphabetical order) by That MLM Beat and George Fourie.

Thanks Roosevelt and George! I appreciate the recognition!

- Ben Fitts

Popularity: 6% [?]

Dear part-time MLM Networker,

Today I want to continue my conversation on how to be a successful part-time networker with 5 Tips for Part Time MLM Networkers.

1. Get your own domain name
2. Get a permanent email address
3. Get a dedicated phone number & voicemail
4. Get professional business cards
5. Setup your own web site (not the company site)

Some of these might seem obvious to you but I can’t tell you how many people on my team don’t do these basic things.  They treat their business as a hobby not a business!  If you want to attract GREAT leaders to your team then you need to follow these 5 simple steps.

Get Your Own Domain Name

Most people don’t understand just how simple this is.  You can register your domain name for about $10 a year (a little less or a little more depending on where you register.)  You can then “forward” your domain name to the web site your company gives you.  This is super easy to do and usually only takes a few minutes of your time. It makes you look A LOT more professional this way.

For example, my company provides me a web site like:

http://www.sendoutcards.com/1899

I bought a domain name to forward to my site like:

http://www.TryBensCards.com

Not only does it give you a more professional image but it has a practical reason too.  It is a lot harder for people to type the wrong name or to go directly to the company web site without my affiliate id.  I’ve seen people do things like type “www.sendoutcards.com/1899″ into Google.  Guess what? Google does a web search and doesn’t neccessarily show my site!  It might show an advertisement for another Send Out Cards rep!  Now if someone enters in “trybenscards.com” into Google they will only get results back that point to me, not another Send Out Cards rep!

Get a Permanent Email Address

Take this example.  You’re at a networking event for the local chamber of commerce and you receive two business cards for people with the same greeting card company.

One of their business cards has an email address:

redsoxfan72@yahoo.com (not a real email)

The other has an email address:

ben@TryBensCards.com (not a real email)

Which one looks more professional?

Again this both has a more professional appearance but it also has a practical use. If you have your own domain and email address associated with it you can forward your email anywhere. You can forward your email to gmail or yahoo or comcast or whomever you want.  When you change your internet service you just change where your personalized email address is forwarded!

Imagine you’ve been building your business for 5 years like I have.  Imagine someone who met you a couple of years ago is now at the right place and is ready to start a business. They contact you at your email address but it bounces back to them as undeliverable.  You just lost a new distributor because you changed your email address!

Forwarding your email address is usually as simple as forwarding your domain name.  Many domain name registrars will offer you email for your domain or email forwarding.  Usually there is no cost or very little cost (under $10) to do this. So why not do it?  Why risk someone not being able to get in touch with you because you changed your email address?

Get a Dedicated Phone Number & Voicemail

This one should be obvious but how many people get started in their business and put in their cell phone number or home phone number as their main contact method.  Imagine a business owner who just had a business failure and is interested in getting back into business.  He hears about your opportunity and contacts you but when he calls he gets your personal voicemail with the music background, the kids playing, the dogs barking, etc.  Is he going to take you seriously?  Worse, what about those of you pursuing multiple opportunities at once.  How do you setup a professional voicemail for 2 or 3 or 4 opportunities?  You need to get a dedicated number for your business!

There are a couple of good options for this.

#1 You can setup a toll-free number.  The service I use starts at only $2 per month.  You can give your business a professional image, get your own voicemail, fax service, etc. all for $2 a month. Then you just pay 6.9 cents per minute.  You can even search for your own numbers.  I figured out my name “BEN FITTS” spelled out on a telephone is “236-34888″ so I did a search for any toll-free numbers that contain 236-3488 and found 877-236-3488 was available.  I bought this for only $10 a month!  BOY what a professional  image that makes me have!  MANY times people have commented on how cool it is that I have my own name as a phone number. PLUS it’s easy for people to remember.

#2 You can get a cheap VOIP phone line.  VOIP phones run off your internet service. They offer unlimited calling, long distance, and voicemail for one low flat rate.  I have a VOIP line which comes in really handy for long distance calls to host conference calls, call back prospects, etc. Plus I have my own voicemail which I can record which is specific to my business.

You can get a VOIP phone for $199 a year flat rate.
You can also get a VOIP phone for $25 a month if you prefer to pay monthly.

Get Professional Business Cards

Your company probably provides some basic business cards for you to use.  However these are usually fairly generic. For example our “Send Out Cards” business cards have the company logo and such on them but they don’t really talk about what we do! They don’t talk about our products or our business opportunity.  It’s not a very effective business card.

Another practical reason to get your own business cards, as well as your own phone number, email, and web site is that you MIGHT change companies in the future.  My business cards say “The Custom Greeting Card Guy” on them.  They don’t say “Send Out Cards”. Heaven forbid if something happened to SOC I’d still be able to use my business cards.  They’re building my brand not my company’s brand.

You can even get free business cards at some place like Vista Print. You only pay shipping. (Or you can customize the cards and make really nice cards for only a few bucks extra.)

Setup Your Own Web Site (not the company site they give you)

This one is a little bit more advanced… But setting up your own web site is a great way to give yourself a more professional image.  It helps you build your brand, not your company.  People buy into you, not your company, your product, or your compensation plan. They buy into the belief that you can actually help them achieve their goals and dreams.

There is also a very good practical reason to use your own web site. That reason is Google loves unique content. Google hates all the company web sites because Google knows most of these web sites are the same.  I’ve actually written a 44 page ebook about this topic.  You see Google knows that when you have an affiliate site for your company 99% of the content is the same as everyone else in your company.  They know that you’re name and photo on your site might be different but the content is the same.  Google doesn’t want their listings to show 10 web sites that all look identical. Instead they want the 10 listings that show up to be unique.  Owning your own web site will give you an advantage in Google.

I don’t care if you start out with a Web Site Builder that basically allows you to answer a few questions and setup a web site, or if you pay a professional to do it for you.  The fact that you setup your own web site will be a huge advantage to you vs. all the other distributors in your company that don’t have one.

In Closing

Building your network marketing business part-time doesn’t mean you have to look like a hobbyist.  A few simple tricks like registering a domain name, setting up a permanent email address, buying a dedicated toll-free or voip phone, getting professional business cards, and creating a unique web site will give you a professional image. These tricks also often have practical uses that can help you be more effective in sponsoring and recruiting others.  Your total cost for these services is minimal and the rewards are truly great.

What other tips do you have for making your part-time MLM business have a professional image?

- Ben Fitts

Popularity: 5% [?]

Hi everyone,

I’ve written a couple of times recently about how I’ve had to go back to work part-time. (read them here and here)

One of the key things you want to do when you build your business part-time is to always be prepared. You might be at your job or at your kid’s soccer game. No matter where you are you always need to be prepared to do business.

One thing I do to stay prepared is I keep a plastic storage container in my car.  Inside this container I keep all my marketing materials. It has rungs to hold file folders. In these folders I store things like flyers, brochures, magazines, DVDs, business cards, etc.  That way when I’m out and about and an opportunity arises I’m always prepared.

For example in my ebook on how to effectively market with flyers I talk about how I use tabbed flyers like you might see in a convenience store or grocery store.  The other day I was at my new part time job and I went to a local shopping area to get some lunch.  As I got out of my car I noticed this shopping area had some little community bulletin boards setup where I could post a flyer.  I got a flyer out of my car and tacked it up on the board.

If I wasn’t prepared I would have missed that opportunity!  Sure I could come back another day and put up a flyer but I’d have missed my first opportunity.  Maybe the next big money earner came in that day and I would have missed them.

The difference between success and mediocrity is very small.  In baseball 3 extra hits per 100 at bats is the difference between being an all-star or a average joe.

The same goes for your network marketing business.  By being prepared 100% of the time you’ll find a few situations where you can capitalize on that opportunity.  It only takes a few of these opportunities for you to distinguish yourself from everyone else!

Do you have any examples of missed opportunities or examples of how you always stay prepared?

- Ben Fitts

Popularity: 5% [?]

When we think of personality traits we want to see in our team members we often think of the good traits.  We try to find people that personify the leadership we are looking for.

However one thing I’ve discovered is that it is a little like “Yin and Yang”.  The reverse is just as important.  It’s equally important to know what the negative traits are.  Especially when you have big teams you want to focus on working with the right people.

A few “experts” out there might not approve of my calling it like it is, but when you have a team of hundreds or even thousands or tens of thousands of team members you have to focus on the right people.  You cannot allow the bad people to drag you down.

I for example have some people who I come into contact with that are maybe overly selfish. They’re only worried about making money for themselves not helping their team make money.  Maybe they’re only focused on new people and not people who they’ve already sponsored.   Other people might talk bad about team members or cause negativity in the ranks.

A lot of times you’ll find team members that ONLY focus on the negative.  They only call with complaints.  They never do things for themselves but always call you to ask you how to do it.  You want to figure out who these people are so that you can make their contacts a low priority.  You might not want to answer their phone call but instead let it go to voicemail.  You might not want to return their phone call right away or perhaps respond via email only. Often times by forcing the negative distributor to wait they will get over their issue which was so urgent to them.  They might actually go and figure out how to do it themselves or perhaps their anger or frustration over their issue dies down and they’re able to think and react more clearly.

You have to keep your distance from the negative people so you can have more time to focus on the positive.  This is how truly successful leaders get to whether they are.

What do you think?  Am I off my rocker?  Have you had any experiences like this? Do you have any tips?

- Ben Fitts

Popularity: 4% [?]