photo credit: Matt Gush

In order to create success and make networking worth your time there are a few simple principals you must follow.

By engaging in these simple actions your efforts compounded over time will inevitably create lasting success, and lifelong friendships.

1- Regular and On Time Attendance- This should be self explanatory, but unfortunately it is sometimes taken for granted.

2- Show interest and Participate- Sitting in silence does not add value to the group or portray you as a resource. Ask questions, give valuable ideas, do anything to get people to say “Wow! I would like to speak to this person.”

3- Be a Resource, Not a Meaningless Advertisement- Constantly pitching and only attempting to meet with people who you feel can help you will get you nowhere. You must be willing to help others unconditionally.

4- Build Relationships, Set up personal meetings- One on one meetings is what are going to build your valuable relationships. If you are not willing to make this commitment your business networking efforts are going to be a waste of time.

5- Help Others Unconditionally- You willingness to help is what is going to build your credibility and your brand. Wouldn’t you like your phone to be ringing off the hook? By positioning yourself as a resource and helping everyone that you possibly can without the expectation of something in return is going to mean you have successfully created credibility for yourself and your brand.

6- Find Mentors & Engage in Personal Development- Success without personal development leads to failure.

7- Position Yourself as a Resource, Stay in contact with those you meet- Maintaining regular correspondence with your network will help you stay in the forefront of people mind. The more you can be a resource the more your emails will be opened and your site will be trafficked.

8- “Rinse and Repeat” Plan, Do, Review- You will only get better through repetition – Once you have gotten these simple steps down keep doing them! This is it, the basics. There is no need to reinvent the wheel.

Mastering the mundane is what creates lasting success. The ideas and principals have been written and rewritten over and over again for hundreds of years, nothing has changed.

You have all the tools and resources to build your business as well as you network, get to work!

photo credit: mi_ong_pasta

If you have no desired destination any old place will do. Setting up your goals and defining your “Why” is what makes it easier to get through trials and tribulations when they arise.

Having a positive attitude, and being optimistic does not keep obstacles from coming up, but it does help whether the storm. Having a goal helps us work with the end in mind, and without one dooms us to observe our present circumstances and dwell on what is or is not happening.

I attribute my daily success to believing it is going to be a successful day. It is sometimes difficult to believe when you think about your day and don’t even want to get out of bed to start it, but that is where your goals come in. Since my personal goals have been defined I have also written out an in detail description to what a “perfect” day looks like to me it is easier to focus on what good is going to happen. Now every day does not pan out “perfectly,” but I know that the activities I go through throughout the day are getting me closer to experiencing it on a regular basis.

This unfortunately does not work for those of you out there who hate what you do and are unwilling to change your habit and behaviors. There are just too many people hell bent on defining insanity on a daily basis. It is a time of change, and you are no exception. Evolution is taking place and life is evolving faster than ever before. Adapt of be left behind.

Define your goals. Write them down. What does a perfect day look like to you? Both a work day and a play day, define them both. How much money will it take for you to do what you love? How much would it take for you not to have to work for anyone anymore? What does your perfect life look like?

The questions are everywhere, only you have the answers. Good luck!

photo credit: h.koppdelaney

Ya know fun spelled backwards is nuf. Who wants nuf! For most people there never is enough. Mainly there is never enough money or time. However, more than 80% of people choose to lock themselves up in a prison every day.

The only difference between someone who goes to a job they hate day in and out and an inmate in a prison, is the inmate knows where they are. Fortunately when the student is ready the teacher will appear. Hopefully this article will help you kick someone you know in the butt, because I know you already have it all figured out…

I think it goes without saying the reason most people just settle for the cards they are dealt and don’t take the risk of having the life they want is fear. That is understandable, but ask yourself this is it scarier to know that you are going do something you hate the rest of your life or take a leap of faith in yourself and maybe just maybe create a happier life?

This is not to encourage you to just jump on the next opportunity that comes your way. You still want to take calculated risks, but use a basic calculator. To identify the risks in an opportunity you wish to pursue it is simple addition and subtraction, what is attractive about this to, how will it help me get closer to my goals, and am I willing to deal with others peoples criticisms to get there. There is no obtaining the levels of success you want without opposition.

The hell with those who can’t see your vision! We still need people like that to cook, clean, and mow our yards! You are different, you are strong, you are focused, and you will stop at nothing to achieve the lifestyle you and your family deserves to live. Excuses are a thing of the past, when you find out you need to make an investment and you know you don’t have all the money accounted for you find a way!

Obstacles are going to be your excuse or your reason. Nothing worth having is ever easy. What are you willing to do, what sacrifices are you willing to make for your family to build a legacy for generation to come?

Become a student of success, turn off the TV and pick up a book. Turn your car into Drive Time University and learn from those who have achieved levels of success you aspire to. With the internet, and libraries, and the people out there willing to help you all of the resources necessary for success are at your finger tips. They have always been there people have simply chosen not to acknowledge them.

Take advantage of the infinite resources available to you and I will see YOU at the top!

There are more and more home based and franchise opportunities coming along every day. You undoubtedly have been confronted with at least on over the last few month. Here are a few helpful little tips of how to effectively evaluate any opportunity.

First you always, ALWAYS want to evaluate the five key areas, which is the criteria Harvard Business College developed:

1) Company- How long has it been around, and does it have the capacity to withstand the test of time.
(Many people seem to think that all the money is made when a company starts or is at ground floor, this is not the case! A ground floor industry, with a rock solid company is a more efficient way to look at it)

2) Need in the Market Place- Is the product of service you will be offering filling a need? Will people live truly be better because they have what you offer, or will they just be storing a bunch of product to maintain their autoship?

3) Product- Must be something you can confidently put your name behind. You must become a product of the product. It is your testimonial that will attract attention, not the artificial excitement you have to been instructed to display.

4) Compensation- Obviously you want to get paid, but make sure you are building for longevity. If there are caps on your income or forced retirements why would you decide to put your sweat, blood, and tears into something that will only be temporary?

5) Timing- Timing is to business what location is to real estate. It is no longer if you are in the right place at the right time, it is now if you are the right person in the right place at the right time. YOU ARE THE KEY FACTOR!

If you have recently gone to a presentation that sold you on your dream for the first 40 min and presented the “opportunity” to you for 20 it is more than likely not a solid opportunity. Don’t allow people to excite you into a business. Allow the product or service to excite you. Get yourself a testimonial and then you have an exciting story.

Think of it this way, if there wasn’t an opportunity attached to whatever product or service you will be offering would you just purchase it if it was offered to you? Just be cautious to not letting the opportunity sell you the product, let the product sell you the opportunity.

And last but not least is duplication, how easy is it for you product or service to be duplicated? Will Wal-Mart be able to offer it once it sees some profit to be made? The ability to duplicate a product or service is what determines the longevity of an opportunity.

Please utilize as many of these tips as possible before making a final decision to invest time and money into your potentially amazing future. It is all up to you. YOU CAN DO IT!!!

Good luck!

This is an excellent question to ask when you would like to audit yourself and your actions. Meeting thousands of people over the past 4 years of networking has taught me one thing specifically, talk is cheap. Business networking is a game of sorting and numbers just like anything else. Beware, there are a lot of people out there talking a big game, but when it comes down to their key philosophies they will prove to be a disappointment.

Don’t let that discourage you! That is what is great about business networking; YOU get to choose who YOU align yourself with. What you must train yourself to do is identify the people that are trying to make $100k with a $30k philosophy. These are the people that appear to always be flustered and busy, but most likely they are chasing the same people who have been telling them “no” for months.

Being excited is wonderful, but only when excitement is effectively directed towards the achievement of one’s objective. Ignorance on fire draws more attention that knowledge on ice, but it is when you can harness the fire and combine it with knowledge that you will have true power.

Adopting a few simple principles and activities, then consistently doing them over an extended period of time will reveal not only the discipline of a person, but uncover the success that may have been hiding just beneath the surface. Having a relaxed intensity is key, when you don’t allow insignificant things to fluster you, when you can keep you focus on the end result then and only then is when all the pieces of the puzzle begin to come together to unlock massive success.

How much is your daily routine worth? Is it enabling you to achieve the levels of success you desire? If not, then when would NOW be the best time to make a change?!?

Having the proper mindset when attending business networking events is imperative. Realizing that these events are not about you, but about everyone you come in contact with and how you can benefit them will make your life much less stressful.

When YOU can identify and explain someone’s challenges better than they can YOU will be seen as an authority figure and will be sought out for the answers. This doesn’t mean have a product or service in your back pocket to pitch that will potentially assist this person. People don’t want things they want results. What value are you able to provide and how fast are you able to provide it? Your level of success depends on the size of the challenge you can resolve, whether that is in your business or someone else’s.

You must know what YOUR target looks like, and be able to explain that in as few words as possible. Be the example. When you are able to say I want to meet XYZ person, in ZYX industry or I would like an introduction to YXZ company and STOP TALKING. You have just allowed that person to either begin thinking of someone they can connect you with or left it open for them to ask you the question of WHY or WHAT DO YOU DO?

When you are being asked these questions “don’t vomit all over them,” give a two sentence answer and reflect a question back to them to begin identifying who they are, what they do, who they are looking for, and what are successful actions or challenges they have faced that you may be able to assist them in to help them achieve their next level of success.

Become a selfless problem solver and idea factory for all that you meet. When you have mastered this you will become the “go to” person for whatever comes up in your client or colleagues life.

Willingly help others with no expectation of anything in return and your life and your business will flourish!

Good luck, now let’s go meet some people!

It is unfortunate, but if you are not aware by now you should be. The vast majority of people are unable to live the life they intended by the age of sixty five. Here is the break down I was recently previewed to during a financial seminar.

A study of 100 peoples financial well being calculated from when they were 25 to 65:

1-Wealthy
16-Above Average
45-Average
22-Below Average
6-Poverty
10-Welfare

With all the millions of people in America for that matter, going to colleges, dreaming, aspiring for more out of life, why is it that only about 1%-5% are truly achieving their dreams? If your dreams today are your answers for tomorrows questions what is the hold up? What I have come to find out is that everyone dreams, but not everyone dreams equally.

We have heard that “the sky is the limit,” “shoot for the stars so you can settle for the moon.” Settle!?! This is the land of opportunity you shouldn’t have to settle for anything! The time is now to take control and put an end to your “Journey Of Brokeness” (J.O.B.). If you need the “secure” income for the time being that is fine, but if you are not spending time, regardless of how much it is, building some type of passive income stream life is not going to be getting any easier anytime soon.

Don’t give the control to your financial planner who is telling you how much to put away so you can have an income when you are in your 60’s, work hard on something you believe in NOW so in the next 3-5, or 5-10 years have a remarkable income that will pay you the rest of your life. Whether it is learning to invest wisely in real estate, studying internet marketing to leverage global markets, getting started with a network marketing company, whatever it is find something where you can control results. Everything has ratios, number of contacts to number of deals.

It is 100% up to you. The price is the promise. How much are you willing to pay, and is it worth it? Ninety percent of business and success is inspiration, only ten percent is info. “Some of us learn from other peoples mistakes, the rest of us are the other people.” – Zig Ziglar

Make the decision today and stop being the other person. Step out of your comfort zone and take action!

Good luck and have a wonderful day!