Hi team,

My friend Shay Wheat just emailed me and asked for our help.

She is a member of Successful Thinkers along with some other really cool people like Rudy Ruettiger from the television movie “Rudy”.  This is a new group of entrepreneurs, coaches, and business professionals and they’re holding a big event on November 6th for success minded people like YOU.

If you can be in the Sacramento, CA Area on November 6th from 6:30 PM to 10 PM you can attend for FREE.  If not you can watch the web cast live (also free!)  I know I’ll be watching the webcast myself.

Use this link to register so my friend Shay can benefit. She’s competing TODAY to see who can get the most referrals. If she is one of the top people she will get international exposure for her business!

Topics from the Hope Dream Succeed event include:

• Building your local community
• How to approach others about your business
• Taking advantage of technology
• Relationship building
• Branding yourself online
• Business to business
• Referrals are your best source of business
• Women’s leadership
• Facebook
• Twitter
• …. and more!

Register for FREE Today and help my friend Shay while empowering yourself by listening to these other powerful successful thinkers and business experts.

Remember if you can get to Sacramento on the 6th you can attend the event live and in person for free!

- Ben Fitts

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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

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Hi readers,

I was torn up over whether or not to talk to you guys about my situation.  When my wife and I decided I needed to go back to take a job I didn’t want anyone to know. I’ve been a full time network marketer for a little while now and I felt like it might be confusing to others to see that I was going back to work.  I thought they might loose their faith.

Most people’s dream with network marketing is to do what I did. They dream of quitting their job and going full time as a network marketer.  They dream of buying their dream home. They dream of staying at home with their families.  That is the position I was in.

I was afraid that people who read about my situation would give up their dream.

Then I realized it was  more important to be honest with everyone.  Life has ups and downs. Your business will have ups and downs.

For example when prospecting or holding opportunity meetings I like to be honest with people that you can make a lot of money in this business but it is going to require work.  It will require some skills. It will also probably require some time.  It won’t happen over night.

Similarly it’s important to let people know that they could have ups and downs in their business.

I make more in my network marketing business than many people’s full time jobs.  Yet for me living in an expensive area of the country and spending too much of our money meant we got into some debt and I needed to make some more money.  My wife wasn’t really as into the business thing as I am. She wasn’t into the idea of living on a budget. For me my dream was to not have a JOB.  For her she was satisfied working for a living and being comfortable. She liked a guaranteed paycheck every month, not a paycheck that fluxuated greatly depending on my business.

Now that we’re separating (or divorcing – I’m not sure yet) we’re going to be taking on extra expenses.  I don’t have healthcare so I have to pay my healthcare out of pocket. I have to have a place to stay, heat, electricty, etc. I will have some lawyer bills and other expenses.  I may even have to pay some alimony or give my wife a percentage of my business. So for at least a little while I’m going to have to go back to work.

What worried me most was that my  team members might not understand. Some of them may live in parts of the country where they pay 1/3 rd what you pay for living expenses.  Others may have a spouse that makes a lot of money.  Some people might be able to build their business full time on $20,000.  Others might need $100,000.

For me I had to bite the bullet and go back to take a job for awhile. It sucks. It hurts me a lot to admit I wasn’t very good with my finances. It hurts to say I didn’t grow my business as much this year as I wanted/expected.  BUT I know it’s temporary.  I know this just drives me more and makes me want to work harder at my business.  I also know I’m in a great position.  I have an awesome business already and if I focus on my business for a little while it grow faster and I’ll be able to work my way out of this situation.  Having that business gives me a lot of freedom and luxuries that other people wouldn’t have.  For that I’m thankful.

In the next couple of weeks I want to talk more about what to do when you’re a part-time networker.  How do you focus on your business while you’re working a job, having a family, etc.  How do you make the time for your business.

For more info, come back next week

See you soon and always keep your dream alive.

Ben Fitts

Popularity: 4% [?]

Hi readers,

I’ve been writing about network marketing and MLM for several years on this blog.  Usually I post once or more a week even on a bad week. On good weeks I might post 5 times.

Lately you might have noticed I was writing a lot  a couple months ago, and then suddenly not writing so much… What happened you ask?

I’m going to be honest. Probably more honest than any other network marketer you’ve ever seen.

#1. Our debt was kicking my butt so I went back to take a part-time job.

#2. My wife decided she was ready to quit on our marriage. Didn’t want to work on it.  She just wanted to move on. I won’t get into the gorry details but part of the reason why I’m back at a job part-time is my marriage.

SOOOOO…. It’s been tough around here lately.  I’m trying to get things squared away. Meanwhile I may have more time to write and pursue my business than ever before.  I think I’m due for a whole series on how to build a business while you have a job…

I’ll keep you guys posted.

Your thoughts and prayers are welcome as always…

- Ben Fitts

Popularity: 4% [?]

This is a great article from the BNI newsletter about how to get past the gatekeeper.

The gatekeeper is the secretary, receptionist, personal assistant type person that is the one answering the phones for the decision maker. Successful business to business sales people have to learn to get past the gatekeeper so they can get to the decision maker.

I thought this was a pretty interesting article and wanted to share it with you. This is not the only way to get to the decision maker. As the greeting card guy I can attest that brownies with a card are another powerful way but this is one idea for cold calling businesses…

Click to read the full article.

I hope you liked the article!

- Ben

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