Hi everyone,

So you’re a network marketer, but do you buy from other network marketers?

That’s something I’ve been thinking about lately. There’s a bunch of different companies with different products out there. Everything from laundry detergent to insurance to health supplements.

Why don’t we as network marketers help support our brethren and buy from them?

So I’m going to start. I’m looking to loose 20-25 lbs or so. I’d like to find someone who is a network marketer who represents a nutritional company that has products which can help me loose weight and be healthier. I’m willing to BUY from you. Here are the rules:

1. I’m willing to be your customer. I’m not looking to become a distributor.

2. You must be willing to provide me free samples so I can try your product and see if I like it.

3. You must be willing to buy my product in exchange for me buying product from you. (I will of course provide a free sample account so you can try my product.)

Simple right?

I’m not trying to recruit you, just trying to exchange goods and services with a fellow network marketer. I’m not looking to join a new company because I’m already busy working my own company and as one of the top 40 people in my entire company I don’t need another opportunity. I expect that you’re probably in the same situation so this is not an exchange of “opportunities”. This IS an exchange of products and services.

If that sounds interesting to you contact me.

- Ben Fitts

Popularity: 11% [?]

Hi guys,

My wife asked if you guys could help out.

You see she started blogging a couple months ago.

She has this list, that she calls “the things she wants to do before she dies“.  I told her not to call it that because when she completes her list what’s left, but to die…  So she came up with:

(On Living an) Intrepid Life.
Stop wishing and start doing.

You can check out her blog at IntrepidLife.net.

One of the things she has asked for help on is getting behind the Green Monster at Fenway.    You see the Green Monster is a legendary part of Fenway.  AND legend has it that some people who have been allowed to visit Fenway have been inside the Green Monster and have signed their names there.  Usually this is something reserved for celebrities and the like.

So my wife has decided she wants to sign her name too.  She doesn’t have the contacts (yet) so she has posted on her blog and asked my help in asking around if anyone has a friend who knows someone who can get her inside the green monster so she can sign the wall.

Can you help her?

Thanks for listening!

- Ben Fitts

Popularity: 9% [?]

Hi everyone,

I’m proud to announce I’ve launched my new talkshow!

Let’s Talk MLM

The show talks about topics related to network marketing, mlm, and home business. It has been a  lot of fun recording these and I already have 5 shows completed!

YOU can also participate by going to the web site.  You can leave comments and feedback on our show.  We’re also setting up audio comments so you can leave an audio comment and it could be played on future shows!

Also if you know anyone that is a music producer or knows about producing podcasts… I’m looking to work with someone who can do intro/outro/bumpers/promos.

What’s a podcast you say?

Think of it as an audio blog.  It’s a blog that has MP3 shows attached to it.  You can download the MP3 to your computer or music player (Ipod, Zune, etc.) or you can listen to them and stream them over the PC. (that means listen live.)  Plus you can subscribe to shows and they can be downloaded to your computer automatically so that next time you’re ready to listen you don’t have to download anything.

Pretty cool, right?

Check out my new podcast Let’s Talk MLM and let me know what you think!

- Ben Fitts

Popularity: 10% [?]

I heard this statement once.

Your income is the average of your 10 closest friends.

I’m not sure if it’s true but I do believe that it has a ring of truth to it.

Think about it. You reflect your friends and their behaviors in many ways. Are your friends stoners or drunks whose only desire is to get wasted all the time? If you hang out with that kind of person how are you able to separate yourself from their behavior?

From the other side of things do you have friends who are financially sound? Do they have good jobs? Do they have income producing assets like real estate, businesses, etc?

You see when you hang out with your friends you tend to talk about the topics that you have in common. If your friends are successful people who are constantly working to improve their life, their finances, their business, their family, their relationships with others… Then you will tend to be effected by this. You’ll be more inclined to be involved in those same activities.

Are your friends the kind of people who have had a lot of financial issues? Are they always complaining? Are they always blaming others?

Perhaps you need an example.
One example from my own life is I have been talking to my wife about buying a private plane and taking lessons to get my private pilot’s license. The license costs $6000-$9000 and the planes I have been investigating range from $80,000 to $135,000.

My wife hears that and freaks out. You see she grew up with blue collar parents who never made a lot of money. They did invest their money. They paid off their bills. They bought assets like stocks and bonds and mutual funds. However being that they never made much money in their life they tended to think in terms of “hording” their money.

I on the other hand tend to think in terms of producing more and more money. Investing money into assets that produce further income.

You might say, how can you do that with a private plane?

Simple. You lease it out to a flight school that rents the plane to students. Around here you can rent a plane for something like $40-$50 an hour.

It’s a paradigm shift. The wealthy think differently than those who have never been wealthy. If you hang out with wealthy people then you learn some of the tricks and strategies the wealthy people use and then that helps you increase your own income.

Does that make sense to you or do you think I’m way off base here? I’d love to know what you think!

- Ben Fitts

Popularity: 9% [?]

I was listening to a network marketing expert the other day who was discussing why he takes notes in a journal.  In this interview he quoted Sir Francis Bacon, “Reading makes a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.”  I heard this paraphrased as “reading makes a full man, but writing makes an exact man.”

He went on to say that you can read a book without concentrating on it.  Have you ever caught yourself re-reading a section because you realized your thoughts were wandering and you didn’t really grasp what you read?

However you can’t write without concentrating on what you are writing!

It’s an interesting point that I haven’t really thought of.  I have some journals I take notes in.  I keep track of my daily tasks and activities in there.  It’s one way I can keep myself on track.  However I don’t really “journal” or write about my activities or my lessons learned.  Perhaps I should start.

Here is one more great quote for you: “Everyone should have two books with them at all times.  One to read and one to write in.”

What do you think? Do you keep a business journal?

- Ben

Popularity: 13% [?]

I heard something pretty interesting in an interview the other day. This genteleman was a minister and also a very successful network marketer.

He pointed out that in the bible everyone had a business. No one had “jobs”. Everyone was self employed. The only people who had jobs were: slaves and soldiers!

Why is it that in modern times many Christian’s have come to feel a stigma towards being a business owner? Why do Christian’s especially feel so negative towards money?

- Ben

*As an aside: I’m a Christian, I went to a Christian College, My parents both graduated from Christian Seminary and have been ministers, My grandfather was also a minister.*

Popularity: 12% [?]

This is for novices who want to learn more about internet marketing. One of the most important things you can do is to buy your own domain name.

A domain name is the way people find internet sites. Google.com is a domain name for the company Google. Gmail.com is Google’s email service. It’s the domain name for their email service.

Having a domain name also gives you a professional appearance. Take for example a new person who starts their business. Most new people will do something like go get a new email from Yahoo:

mynewbusiness@yahoo.com (fake example)

Compare this to the person that buys a domain name and gets email for their business:

ben@mynewbusiness.com (another fake example)

Having a domain name gives you a much more professional image than the guy who is using a Yahoo email. Plus the guy using a Yahoo email is actually helping Yahoo build their brand! He isn’t braning himself!

One more reason to get your own domain name… And perhaps this is a bit technical… It allows you to forward the domain name to your company web site. That way on your business card they see:

www.mynewbusiness.com instead of www.mymlmcompany.com/userid/ben

Again you’re building your brand and you look more professional. Plus you don’t have to risk typos or risk people who just go direct to your company instead of typing in all the information. Finally if your company ever creates a better web site you don’t have to change your business cards, your ads, etc. You just change where your domain forwards to. It’s kind of like call forwarding. You can forward your calls to your cell phone, or you can change it and forward it to your summer home on the beach. With a domain name you can forward it to mymlmcompany.com today or mynewflashwebsite.com tomorrow.

In short having a domain name gives you flexibility and provides a more professional image for your business.

- Ben Fitts

Popularity: 14% [?]

A lot of people ask me how I’m so successful at sales.  They ask me what to say to a prospect or client. 

What’s funny is I don’t really have a canned speach or pitch or anything.  I keep it real simple.  I start by asking them some questions.

So in my card business I simply start by asking: “How do you communicate with your customers?”

Then I stop and listen.

Usually they set themselves up and give me all the ammunition I need to close the sale.  They say things like:

• I don’t really communicate with my customers enough.
• I know I should communicate with them more often I just don’t have time.
• I used to send cards but I’ve been so busy I haven’t sent cards in years.
• I use email to communicate with them but it’s getting harder and harder to get my emails delivered.

You see how easy the sale process is after the customer gives you feedback like that?  Even if you’re horrible at sales you could probably close that deal.  Right?

So what are some leading questions you could ask people in your business?

- Ben Fitts

Popularity: 15% [?]

I’ve always believed that if you’re on a limited budget in your MLM business you should begin by investing in yourself.  Invest in training yourself.  Invest in learning new skills whether or not they are sales skills, marketing skills,  or personal development. 

Benjamin Franklin said ‘If you empty your purse into your mind your mind will fill your purse full of gold.’

That’s a pretty darn powerful statement and pretty much is in line with what I’ve alwas said. 

I was listening to an audio the other day from a powerful network marketer and he was discussing how much time he spends learning and studying and going to seminars and things.  Even though he is a millionaire he still invests in training and personal development.

- Ben Fitts

Popularity: 18% [?]

Let’s look at this another way.

Many of you have commented on my post about “sticking with your MLM” and said, “What if I have no upline support?”

That’s a tough one.

On one hand if you have a successful upline you have a leg up.  Your upline knows what to do.  Your upline may have systems in place.  Your upline may have training in place that you can plug your new people into.

Having an active and successful upline can make your job easier.

HOWEVER the buck stops with you.    You don’t usually hear about the top money earner’s upline.  Very rarely do you find a top money earner whose upline helped them much.  The buck stops with them.  They are the ones who are successful.  They are not successful because they joined a strong upline.  Know what I mean?

I personally feel that it helps to have a successful upline if you’re new.  However if you’ve been in the business for awhile it’s more about YOU than it is your about your upline.

- Ben Fitts

Popularity: 20% [?]