Broken Leg Networking

Well, here I am sitting with my broken leg elevated. Not exactly what I had in mind when thinking about how to spend my springtime. I have recently discovered while speaking with my brother-in-law, I’m not even going to be able to stand on my leg once my cast comes off…much less walk. It’s going to be quite a while before life is back to normal. Thank goodness for the Internet!

Even when you can’t really leave your house, networking is still possible in these modern times. Of course you can (and should) interact with others on the web even if you aren’t laid up.

Working your network marketing business from your computer is definitely efficient and cost effective. There is no need to be forced into it. It should be embraced. You can reach people you would never have had any other way of meeting.  How wonderful is that? There are no boundaries!

Your business can even expand to other countries using this medium. The possibilities are practically endless.

They are always coming up with new sites where you can connect with like minded people.  Each social networking site attracts all kinds of different folks with a wide variety of interests…and most have many subsets within each category. There is something for everyone.

Don’t wait to break your leg to get involved in networking with others beyond your own backyard.

What is Good Karma?

You may have asked yourself, exactly what is good karma?

Well, if we consult Wikipedia about karma, we find “Karma is not punishment or retribution but simply an extended expression or consequence of natural acts. Karma means “deed” or “act” and more broadly names the universal principle of cause and effect, action and reaction that governs all life.”

This would seem to be saying good deed doers receive good in return in their life.

I believe this can be as simple as giving a smile to another person.  Have you ever noticed when we flash our pearly whites at another person, whether we know them or not, both spirits seem to be lifted up pretty much immediately. This appears to be a universal truth.

Isn’t it great making someone else’s day brighter?…then as a natural byproduct, our own life is enhanced also. Cheering others up make us cheerier.

What is good karma? If you ask me, it’s like the boomerang effect…what you throw out comes back to you in kind.

Internet Prospecting For Success

The Internet is such a vast and varied place that you need to know what you are after in order to be effective.  Of course, it is entirely possible to find a new destination that you weren’t aware of originally.  It may be possible that changing  your direction would be the smartest thing that you could do.

Use the Internet!  Seriously, where else are you going to be able to meet more people?

Since part of the equation for success is a numbers game, wouldn’t you think it was a smart move to be able to increase those numbers?

If you had your choice of being in a room full of like minded people at a networking event or being the one on stage at a networking convention, which one would you select to get your message out?

The internet has the very real potential for you to be able to have the same effect as getting to speak in a stadium where people have gathered from all over the world!   There is one important difference though, you get to speak to each potential candidate for your business as though you were speaking directly to them, one on one.

In many ways the internet can actually seem very personal.  You get to connect with others through articles and videos and your audience has an opportunity to connect back with comments.  You can then comment back to them and a dialog is started.  Others can also enter into the conversation adding their take on it.

Everyone has their own unique way of communicating their thoughts and feelings.  No two of us are exactly alike.  The diverse opinions and perceptions of everyone weaves a beautiful tapestry of humanity that is displayed all over the internet.

It doesn’t take much looking to see that you can learn a lot about others if you just know how to put yourself in the other guys shoes.  Look at things from their perspective.

Adding value to others is the only way that you will deserve their attention.  This is where your focus must be.  Give to others.  Pay attention to what they want and need and you will be amazed at how much they will pay attention to what you have to say.

Don’t just guess what the issues are.  Let your prospects lead you in the direction where they need help.  The journey will be worth it.  Your destination will be success!

Fire Up Your Networking

I’ve always been sort of a pyromaniac. Is there anyone who doesn’t actually love a good fire?

As  a child, when my family went camping, I always looked forward to the irresistible  nightly  bonfire that my dad built.

I’ve also always been kind of a goody-goody too.  Which means that when I was a kid and I wanted to play with fire, I did it in the safest way that my child mind could think up.

So, my sister and I took a book of matches and our little beach bucket with us to the neighborhood park.    For safety’s sake, we filled our pail in the lavatory sink.

When we arrived, we were happy to see that no one was playing basketball on the asphalt court.

Even though I’m tall and was always asked if I played basketball, at the time, I wasn’t coordinated enough  to walk and chew gum at the same time.  So I had no business being near any hoops…except maybe hula hoops.

Off we proceeded to center court, with our water filled bucket, matches ready.

Since it didn’t take very much to amuse us, we were having a great time lighting one match after another (over the bucket) when we were caught.  Not by a grown up, but by the older brother of one of our friends.  He threatened to tell on us…unless we became his servants.  So what else could we do?  We agreed.

For some reason, our main duty as I recall was to stand with our arms out to our sides, keeping them up as long as we could.  I guess he thought that was funny.

Well, that brings me to this past weekend.  Since it was cold out and my husband was gone, it was up to me to get the fireplace going.

The first day, everything went perfectly.  My fire was roaring in no time.  On the second day…not so great.  I did finally get it going, but only with a lot of tending.

What was the difference?

This started me thinking about fires.

I wondered about Smokey Bear (he dropped his middle name, you know) and his cause of saving the forest from fires.

“Only YOU can prevent forest fires!”

Did that mean that only I could start a forest fire?

How exactly does one dropped match burn down a whole forest when I had a hard time get my fireplace to light with quite a few.

I had carefully placed the kindling in a tee-pee shape with crumpled newspaper underneath.  I then lit the paper in several spots, several times.  A bit of fanning and nice little fire erupted…and then died down to basically nothing.  More kindling, more paper, more fanning…ablaze again.

Of course, I hadn’t even put any real wood on there, yet.  It was too soon to pile on the big stuff.

After rearranging the log placement many times and adding to it, it seemed that I had a real fire going.  It couldn’t be neglected or it would surely go out.

It finally got to the point where it only needed tending from time to time and stoking occasionally to keep me warm.

You are probably wondering what any of this has to do with network marketing.

One thing that comes to mind is that when someone is really making things happen, we say they are on fire or that they’re all fired up.

Fires and networking businesses (or any business for that matter) actually have many similarities.

They all start out small.  They are all unique.  Some grow into a big blaze, maybe even to epic proportions…out of control.  Others fizzle and die for lack of trying or lack of understanding what it takes to build it in the proper order.

Even though some fires are started accidentally, they all begin with a combination of circumstances (intentional or not).

The electrical fire is started when there is faulty wiring that is plugged into an outlet that has power running through it.  No fire ever begins with a carelessly tossed unlit cigarette.

There is always some sort of initial cause.  Cause and effect go hand in hand even if we can’t always figure it out.

I suppose it might be possible to accidentally sponsor someone.  I guess that someone might see something about your business and ask you if they can join, but I’ve never heard of it happening.  It definitely never happened to me.  Come to think of it, I also don’t know anyone who accidentally burnt down a forest.

When you look at anything that is past it’s infancy stage, it becomes more difficult to decipher how it got to where it is.

In the case of actually doing anything well on purpose, there is usually some sort of small, imperceptible trick to it.  Something that was done at or toward the beginning that made it either possible or at least easier to do.

Learning from someone who has done the thing that you would like to do is the fastest way to speed up the learning curve.

It takes some different skills to start something up from scratch than to keep it going or grow it.  It really helps to have some tools to work with.  The fireplace broom and dustpan were excellent for removing the old ashes to start fresh and have room to grow my fire without smothering it.  The poker and the tongs were indispensable for moving hot logs around to create a hotter fire.

It takes more than one log to build a bonfire but you can get a nice one started with a bit of kindling and just a few logs.  The same is true of your business.  You must start with the fundamentals and then it only takes a few good builders to get it red hot.

The Recipe For Success (Part 2): Take Action

Part 2

The second part of the recipe for success equation was eluded to in Part 1. It is simply this:  TAKE ACTION.

As we all know, nothing ever happens until we take action. You could have the greatest ideas in you head, but who would benefit from that?

Even though it is simple, it’s not necessarily easy. Putting one foot in front of the other is easy once you know how to walk, but in the learning stages everyone falls down…a lot. If you gave up trying to figure out how to move using your own power in an upright position, you would either still be crawling or you would be a tremendous burden on others.

Some people don’t have, or have lost the capacity to walk.  That’s not what we’re talking about here.   Even so, most of them have found other means of getting around. They serve as a great example. An awesome lesson can be learned from so many of these valiant souls. They have a lot to offer and have chosen to rise to the challenge.  They are productive.  They contribute.  They don’t use excuses. They take action!

The ability to take action is in everyone.   Start small.  Celebrate each success…no matter how small. Build on your successes.

Everything counts…even the mistakes!   Maybe, especially the mistakes. They are quite frankly unavoidable when working to achieve anything.

Notice what doesn’t work but don’t dwell on it, just adjust. The only way that you can really know for sure what works and what doesn’t is through action. Trial and error. Each and every time you make an attempt, you are making progress. This gets you closer to the prize.

The process is really quite simple. Take an action. Notice the result of taking that action and then evaluate that result.

If it is a pleasing result do more of it if that is appropriate. If the result is unappealing to you, then go back and make any adjustment that seems appropriate to you and begin again. There is always something that you can do to improve your result.

It helps to know your destination. If you don’t know where you are going, how will you know when you get there.

When measuring the accuracy of each attempt, there must be a yardstick to measure against. You must know your desired outcome in order to determine what new action will be required.

The formula is really the same as the one that you use to drive anywhere. When driving you are constantly making little course corrections in order to stay on the road, moving at the rate of speed desired to reach your final destination.

In fact, once you become proficient  at driving, you can do a multitude of other things with ease as you continue on your way.             .

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