Christian-James.com

In this post I’m going to give you a glimpse into my personal life and tell you why I’ve always had a taste for network marketing and the leverage that it provides.

I always knew I was going to be an entrepreneur. First of all, like I said in my about me page I couldn’t hold down a regular job for the life of me. I always had an issue with someone telling me how to do my job. It was hard for me to hold a job more than about a year.

I remember the first time I had a job for longer than 6 months. I must had been 24yrs old. I found this Marketing Company and it was structured like an MLM. Your commissions would rise as your sales did and once you became a “Team Leader” you could make over-rides off your crew. I had finally found a job that I was excited about and going to work was fun. It was crazy, this business was like a cult and I was ALL IN.

We’d show up in the morning and have HOORAH Meetings every day. I still remember the chants we would sing. The Office Owner would come in with his Ostrich-skin Boots and 10x cowboy hat. He lead the meeting by asking us, “How we feeling today?” and we would break out in full screams, “I FEEL WONDERFUL…I FEEL WONDERFUL…..BOOM, JUICE, BABY, SUCKER-MAN I FEEL WONDERFUL, RIGHT ON, RIGHT ON, RIGHT ON, JUICE.” We were the marketing division for a company called WWI-World Wide International. We sold advertising for restaurants and professional sports teams. They had a toy division too. You might have seen those guys walking down the street selling kids books and toys, etc. I started out like everyone else, going door to door.

It worked like this: a certificate for a restaurant would cost a consumer $19.99 we made $7.00 for each one we sold until we became a team leader then it went up to $11.00 for personal sales and 3 dollar over-rides off each one your team sold. It was an easy sale. We sold $20.00 coupons that had 10 buy 1 get 1 free, lunches and dinners. Sometimes the coupons would be worth over 300 bones. So what I did was go to companies and tell them I was from whatever restaurant we were promoting and we were here and had some coupons for their employees. They would let us into the lunch rooms and I would make a killing.

I was selling 15 to sometimes 40 certificates a day and the way the business was structured if you sold 100 certificates 2 weeks in a row, you became a “Team Leader.” Now the company hired people and you trained them, I also would recruit you if I knocked on your door and you told me you didn’t have a job. I’d say “wanna learn how to make 100 bones right now?” Once you trained them they were on your team. Then if you and your Team could sell 500 certificates 4 weeks in a row, you were given an opportunity to open an office anywhere in the Country you wanted to go. I had my sites set on Corpus Christi, Texas.

It took me a year or so, but we finally landed a BBQ chain that everyone in town ate at and I ended up selling 500+ certificates 8 weeks in a row and in my mind, I was already Beach side in Corpus Christi with Beer in hand kickin it on the white sandy beaches. I was in Dallas at the time and they said ok, they had a huge promotion party for me and I threw one for my crew because without them, I would have never been able to do it.

That’s when I had my first realization of the true meaning of leverage and what it meant to be part of a growing team where everyone was winning. I broke more Team Leaders than anyone in the history of the company. This is when they told me, Okay, well, we’re gonna send you to some other offices to see how they are run and get me into my office in a few months. I was so excited I remember calling my mom to tell her that some things were really coming together for me financially and I wanted her to come out and visit me. I went from Dallas to Austin to San Antonio and then I was supposed to go to Houston and then open my office soon after that. I remember being in San Antonio and waiting and waiting for something to happen but they kept putting me “on a bubble” telling me whatever I wanted to hear just to keep me around for awhile.

Every office my crew and I visited we were the top team. After about 6 months of being jacked around by this company with all the false promises I finally quit. I moved back to Portland and started my own Advertising company doing the exact same thing, only now I was a one man show. This was the first time I ever started my own business. It felt pretty good. I was 26 and loving life. I landed some pretty good clients. I was on top of the world, making all the money but unfortunately I was also the one making all of the decisions and I ended up making some really poor ones and ended up failing miserably. But we learn from our failures and I didn’t know it then but I was failing forward. I learned more from this endeavor than I ever could imagine even though at the time I thought I was a total failure.

I had always been passionate about fitness and nutrition, so I became a personal trainer and worked my way up to becoming the General Manager of a Top Fitness Chain. During this part of my professional life, I was not involved with any MLM company. You would think that after everything I went through I would be completely turned off to MLM — and I was, for a long time. But working in the gym, I was approached so many times by so many people and their MLM products that I eventually caved. I went to one of those “hotel meetings” and while I didn’t join that particular company, it opened me back up to the idea of network marketing. If I learned anything from my time in WWI that to make the big bucks you need leverage and that’s exactly what relationship marketing is, it’s LEVERAGE.

Today I’m a very happy and grateful for all of my life experiences because it’s led me to being a full time internet entrepreneur and network marketer. Because of the time freedom that’s provided for me I was able to become the husband and stay at home dad that I always knew I could be.

So…now that I’ve told you what it was that made me realize that I was an entrepreneur, I encourage you to take the time to look back on your life and see when and what it was that made you realize you were an entrepreneur. I look forward to your comments.

Getting a high ranking in Google’s search results can have a huge impact on the success of your business.
You can either hire the experts of a Search Engine Optimization company, or if you have the time, there are some simple changes you can make to your website yourself.

Step 1: Keyword Research
Finding out what keywords you think your customers would type in to search for your products or services. A keyword can be one word (e.g. “optimization”), but multiple keywords or keyword phrases can be  more effective, because they are more specific and more likely to be what your customers are looking for (eg. “ Search Engine Optimization Portland”).

Write down as many as you can think of. Brainstorm with your team. Think of alternative words. Consider geographical phrases if they are important to your customer (e.g. “Window Cleaning Portland”). Also, get some ideas from your competitors’ websites. Try to make a list of 10-20 keyword phrases. You can right click on your competitors website and click on view source, this will bring up a bunch of code, look around you’ll find out some great info.

Choose the two keyword phrases you think would be searched for the most. But also remember, the more competition there is for a keyword, the harder it is to achieve top rankings. If you want to rank high in Google for the keyword “insurance”, you have a very long journey ahead. So try your best to select two keyword phrases that are the most relevant to you business but that are not vague nor competitive. It’s a good idea to have 2 or 3 words in each phrase (e.g. “wedding catering services”)

Once you’ve selected your two best keyword phrases the next step shows you how to make some improvements to your home page.

Step 2: Web Copy
Web copy refers to all the words or text on your website. Because content is king in the world of search engines, your keyword phrases need to be placed strategically on your web page to convince Google that your content is highly relevant to those keywords. The more prominent they are, the better. (Keep in mind that as important as search engines are, customers come first, so make sure your copy also reads well.)

Here’s how you can increase each keyword’s prominence:

• Place your keywords in headings, preferably at the beginning of the heading;

• Include keywords towards the top of the page;

• Bold or italicise keywords where appropriate;

• Instead of having a link to another page that says “Click here to read more “, reword it to include your keywords, e.g. “Read more about our seo copywriting Services“.

An important tip is to also include these keywords in your HTML “title tag”. Use your content management system to make these changes yourself, or perhaps ask your web developer to do it if you’re unsure how.

Once you have fine-tuned your home page, consider adding new content, such as detailed descriptions of what you offer, FAQs and informative articles about your products and services. (If you don’t want to write these yourself, they can be located for free on the internet – do a search for “articles directory”).

It’s also good to bear in mind that search engines can only read text, not pictures. Often web developers embed words in images to look better for search engine spiders or use Flash for animation, but this is a major impediment to search engines.

Step 3: Linking
Each link from another website to your website (not from your website) is considered by search engines as a vote of popularity for your business and will improve your rankings.

But it is the quality, not quantity, of the links that is crucial. The other websites should be relevant to your industry, and preferably highly regarded themselves. Ten quality links count far more than 500 links from arbitrary websites. In the same way your personal business network can have a significant impact on the success of your business, so too the online network you build on the internet.

Brainstorm all the relevant websites that could link to you, such as non-competing companies, and industry bodies and organizations. Write a friendly email to each describing the benefit their visitors would get in knowing about your business, and request them to create a link to your website. Most people will not respond first time round, so a follow-up phone call is usually required.
Monitor your rankings in Google over the next few months by typing your chosen keywords into the search box, and recording your ranking. Also look at your hosting reports to understand what search terms your visitors are using to find your website.

The above process can be also be repeated for each page of your website. Remember to keep updating your content, and continually increase the number of links to your website.

As you see your rankings climb you should see a corresponding increase in web traffic and a substantial increase in sales. Be sure to record the source of your customers, so you can measure the success of your marketing efforts.

Remember, if you measure it, you can improve it.

It is well known in our industry that many people fail to reach their goals in life due to the mindset known as “fear of failure.” But did you know the other major factor that is often overlooked is known as “fear of success”?

Fear of failure will give you the inability to make decisions or take action based on not wanting to get rejected or experience negative outcomes. This negative mindset is easy to identify and there are many ways, through the personal development industry, to help reprogram the mind for success. However, the fear of success is much more subtle and harder to spot and also harder to reprogram.

Here are some indications of a “fear of success” mindset:

1. You study relentlessly to implement self-improvement techniques or personal development skills, but your life does not improve or may even get worse.
2. You settle for less than you feel you deserve or are capable of achieving.
3. You start new projects full of enthusiasm and optimism but stop trying and fall short before you have completed them.
4. You expect things to go wrong no matter how well the situation appears to be at the moment.

Can you identify your own patterns in the any of the above statements? The fear of success can also make you act in ways that hold you back. Look at the list below. These are the symptoms of “the fear of success”:

• Procrastination – putting off what needs to be done now even though you know it will bring you closer to your desired result. Everyone suffers from this inner ‘voice’ at some point in their lives (although some of us suffer from it more than others!). Procrastination is a ‘Dream killer’! How can you expect to reach your dreams if you do not take action steps? Always doing little things each day that will bring you one small step closer to your goal. This is why having a personal accountability partner is an essential in the fight against procrastination. Just Do It! Any action! Adjust your steps as you go but don’t sit and do nothing. Taking action is one of  the key ingredients  in personal development.
• Can’t see the forest for the trees! – This is the opposite of procrastination but has the same effect on your personal development. This saying is well known but have you ever given it any real thought? Don’t get caught up in your plan believing that it is more important than the actual goal! A lot of people get caught up in this. They start to think and act as if the plan is more important than my end result.
• Thinking that the time is not right – have you ever had to wait until the timing was perfect before starting a venture? I’m sure you know someone who has to have more information or a better plan before they can make their decision?
• Action is the key to success. Even taking small baby steps are better than taking none or waiting to see if your headed in the right direction! Even if your actions take you further away from your goal, at least gained insight and knowledge about what doesn’t work!
• Being a perfectionist – This a lot like any other and has the same effect, that you seem to be spinning your wheels. No matter how good a job is when its finished it can always be better! Musicians tell us how they hate listening to their own music because they can find a million things that need to be improved. Yet, we still enjoy them.
• Seeing only the problems – how do you use your focus? Do you constantly see only and all the problems involved? If you are this way, it is pointless trying to change overnight! However, you can use this mindset to your advantage while you push forward in your personal development to acquire an opportunistic mindset.

Here is a great example of a way to turn a negative into a positive. I used to do door to door sales for Dish-network. For 3 straight years our company led the Northwest in sales. Now, little did anyone know that there were only  2 sales people on our sales force. But we were young and hungry and the market was wide open. Not one day, for 3 years, did my sales partner and I ever say, “How many sales are you going get today?”…. We never focused on sales, but instead, we focused on getting No’s. It sounds weird, but it worked!

See, we knew that we could not work a 4 hour day and get 100 people to say no to us without selling at least 10 Systems. Then we would count the No’s we received throughout that day, divide that number by the amount of money we made and made a game to see how much money each person that told us no, paid us. We had a blast and made a game out of the rejection we would get, because we knew More NO’S Meant More Dough!

Most Entrepreneurs go through this, follow these guidelines and you will achieve success. Your fear of success will be whittled away and you will  move forward in your mindset and your growth through personal development.

Goal setting is the true secret to success in any area of life. But even though setting a goal may seem simple, achieving it is usually another question altogether.

Why is that?

Because you will never achieve your goals unless you:

(1) know exactly what it is you want,

(2) are passionate about your goal, and

(3) have a solid, realistic plan of action.

This is what marks the difference between dreams and wishes – and truly achievable goals!

Many obstacles and challenges will fly right in your face when you’re going after a goal. Here are 5 methods that will help get the success you deserve.

1. Know exactly what your goal is

Your first job is to find out exactly what your goal is. What will reaching that goal really look like? Be as specific as possible about exactly what your desired end result is. Your success will be a measure of your clarity – since an achievable goal plan cannot be created around a  “dream.”

If your goal is to create a more successful business, what does that look like to you? Are you thinking in terms of simply hiring someone else to give you more free time? Are you looking for a specific amount of monthly income? Or is it a specific lifestyle your goal looks like?

Regardless of what you want, the fastest way to get it is to first clarify exactly what you want in as much detail as possible. This can be hard work. But without being spacific, you’ll never have the focus required to achieve your goal.

2. Be willing to pay the “cover charge”

Success takes dedicated planning and effort. It’s like building a house. At fisrt all you have is a rough concept. Then you develop a finished set of plans – and you immediately move closer to success. The same is true of creating a better lifestyle, or a more successful business.

But there’s always an *cover charge* to be paid for success.

What is the cover charge?

Creating more success in your business may mean less play time. Writing your own book may require less TV. Being closer to your children may require adjusting your work or social activities.

It’s the “full glass” deal. If your life (your time) is already full to the top, there’s no room for something new. The “cover charge” is carving out the time to create that something new.

3. Focus on your goal every day

If you’re like me you want to achieve your goal as fast as possible. That’s why having the right mind set  is so very important.

Consistent daily focus is absolutely necessary to “burn in” the new neural pathways you need to create your new goal. Without daily focus, the old mental habits that have kept you from achieving your goal will continue to take over.

This happens all the time – because these old habits replay 24/7 deep in your subconscious mind. The only way to override subconscious anti-success messages is to consciously focus on what you DO want – and build new mind set!

That’s why there is no such thing as an “overnight Success”.

You have to re-commit to your goal every day. Don’t let your goal take a back seat to the daily tasks and distractions that will try to take over. Life WILL try to get in your way. Just get, and stay, on course every day. Focus on your goal, and on success!

4. Learn how to Get Passionate

One of the most powerful tools in your “success tool box” is having real passion for your goal.

Why passion?

Because intense passionate desire for your goal will help you create the right mind-set even faster. Many, many scientific studies have shown that intense emotion (passion) is a key success tool.

PLUS (and this is really a big plus), intense passion will also help you rapidly override any inappropriate old “failure messages” stored in your subconscious mind.

5. Take consistent action

In many ways, actually taking action can be the most difficult step. Successful goal achievement is built by taking one small action after another.

The word is ACTION!

If you commit to take at least one small action each day, your actions WILL add up and make a difference. So avoid sitting back waiting for that big second when everything will magically “just happen.”

You CAN create whatever you want in life. The secret is to determine exactly what you want, then pursue it passionately. But remember — in the end, only action counts! You can’t just dream about it! You have to DO IT!

Visualization is one of the most powerful tools for goal setting and attracting what you want.  Yet few people know how to properly visualize.  With the right technique you can begin to see outstanding results in successfully attracting what you want, granted you fully apply what you learn.

About two years ago my wife gave me a book to read called “Ask and it is Given” by Esther and Jerry Hicks who were featured in the Movie “The Secret” Now, I don’t know whether or not you have seen that movie,  heard the CD’s or read the book but I want to share some things that have helped me with visulization. First of all,  you have to realize that you are visualizing all day long. You may not realize it but you are always creating images in your mind.  When you are talking on the phone to someone you are trying visualize what they are telling you.  You also visualize when you are deep in thought.  When you are worrying about bills or worrying about the lifestyle you would like to live. You are also visualizing what you want.

The most difficult part however is using that creative energy to actually attract the things you want.  This is where a lot people have the most amount of difficulty.  Here is a really neat test to help you understand the most effective ways to visualize.  Think of the last time you were daydreaming.  Now try to remember what that was like or what it felt like.  If you can remember that very moment, you’ll notice that you were deep inside of your thoughts.
You were completely unaware of anyone or anything around you and as you were allowing yourself to visualize it you could not hear anything.  Someone can have a conversation with you and you will not have one clue what was said. You could feel clearly that you were having the experience as if it were real.
That is the power of visualization.

When you  want to visualize the things you want, you have to do it the same way you visualize the things that you don’t want. If you are feeling anxious or scared you lock yourself away in your mind with those thoughts. You loose sight of other possibilities and if it’s something that happened to you, then you re-live it in its full detail with all your emotions all over again. Try to immerse yourself with full emotions when you are trying to create the things you want. Many thoughts may come to distract you but if you will redirect your mind to what you want, your mind will be trained to hold that thought.