Does your phone weigh 500 pounds?

Do you promise yourself every night that “Tomorrow I’ll make those calls”

Whatever your call reluctance:

• fear of failure
• fear of rejection
• fear of looking foolish
• fear of success (what will I do if they say yes!)

You can, yes YOU can get over it, if you are willing to do something you are not doing now.

Get Yourself Out Of The Way

What do you need to do to get over Call Reluctance?  Get yourself out of the way.  The call isn’t about you.  Put the person you are calling first.  Too often we are so worried about what someone will think of us, we forget what our real mission in network marketing is; to help ourselves by helping others.

How do you get yourself out of the way?  It takes practice but it isn’t brain surgery.  The big piece of the puzzle is to focus on the person you are calling.  Let’s work with a real world example:

On one of your survey or drawing forms, someone checks the box, “Yes, I would like information about your opportunity.”  That’s pretty exciting.  However, how many times have you called someone who indicated one way or another they had some interest, but they didn’t call you back or said ‘No thanks” before you could even get started?

Did your conversation go something like this?

Hi Lulu, my name is Jillian Middleton and last week (or whenever) at the blah blah event you noted on our survey form that you were interested in information about our business opportunity. It is a great business.  You can make some extra money, or stay home with your kids, and it doesn’t take a lot of time to do, our product just about sells itself, blah blah blah.  (For some of you it may sound more like this: “Youcanmakesomeextramoneyorstayhomewithyourkidsanditdoesn’t takealotoftimetodoourproductjustaboutsellsitselfblahblahblah” 

It seems reasonable.  After all, they need to know just what this business can do for them, right?  But if it is so reasonable, why do so many people say, “no,” or “I don’t have the time right now” or “I don’t have the money right now” or anything else they can think of, in order to get off the phone as quickly as possible.

The answer is simple.  You didn’t tap into their reason for checking the box.  Let me say that again.

You didn’t tap into the reason they checked the box. What you did was tap into the reason you were calling them.  You made the call about you and your business opportunity.  You did not make the call about them.

“How can I make the call about them,” you ask?   “I don’t know anything about them.”  That is true you don’t know much about them.  But you do know something. And frankly, it is so obvious be glad it is not a snake, or it would bite you.  Read on and see how different this next call sounds and feels to you.

I know it is hard for some of us to imagine, but usually (not always, but usually) they do not care about your business, your company, or your product.  They have absolutely no interest in your business opportunity except how it might resolve, solve, or change what ever it is that they want to change.

What did you do by asking them “Why” they checked the box?

• You took them right back into the emotion they were feeling when they checked the box.
• You stopped talking and they started talking

Why are these two points critical?  First, humans are emotional beings.  Regardless of how rational we think we are, emotions are driving us.  Putting someone back into the emotional state they were in when they ‘checked the box’ is your first step to learn more about them.

Second, you can’t listen until you stop talking.  How are you going to know what to say next?  Listen, really listen. If you are really interested in what they are saying, really curious about them (rather than looking for the perfect time you can ‘sell your opportunity’) selling the opportunity becomes natural.

This process takes some practice, yes. But it isn’t brain surgery.  That said, it is important to note that practice is an action not a thought.  Practice with upline, crossline, a network marketing coach, anybody who can help you, get you, out of your way!

If you would like help to move yourself along this learning curve, join us for our complimentary (that’s no charge to you) “What The Heck Do I Say” call on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 9:00 am pacific time and noon eastern time.  These complimentary calls fill quickly. Register now.

In the meantime ponder, just what will your business look like if you were not stopped by fear?

Jillian Middleton is a Mentor Coach and Trainer, and author of the courses
‘5 Steps to Work Less and Make Money in Network Marketing’ ,
Setting Up Your Store Hours and Design Your Calendar,

Author of the forth coming book, MLM, The Myths, Legends and Money,

How to build a strong Network Marketing Business.

As creator of the ‘Savvy Sponsoring Strategies’ coaching programs, Jillian trains network marketers and direct sales consultants the same strategies she used to build two 6-figure network marketing businesses in 5 years.

Want to Use This Article on Your Blog or Website?

I encourage you to share, replicate or forward this newsletter or article to your web site, or distribute them in your ezine or magazine, providing you include the above attribution. You may convert it to text if you have a text newsletter, as long as the subscription, author links, and copyright information are kept intact. http://www.savvysponsoring.com

The New Year is a time for celebration as we usher out the old and bring in the new.

What “new” are you bringing in this year?

Obviously, bringing in “new” is what New Year’s Resolutions are all about.  In business that means setting new targets or goals.  Plus, learning new strategies and tools.  Another word for new could be change.  And, here is often the rub.

Most of us, at best, resist and typically fear change.  That’s why it is so difficult for us to set those resolutions to make those ‘tough’ business calls.  It means we have to develop new ways of thinking, develop new skills, and expect to fail.  Yes fail.  If we are doing something “new,” a realistic expectation is that we shall fail before we fully succeed.  Unfortunately, many adults fear failing with such passion they will do almost anything to avoid it.

We didn’t always do that.  Neither you nor I was born with a fear of failure.  We learned to be afraid to fail.  How am I so sure of you?  No,  I don’t have any magical powers and I”m not looking over your shoulder.  Here is how I know.

You learned to walk.  And you failed.  You failed at walking many times before you were able to stop crawling and get up on your feet and be steady.  And even though you were afraid of falling, you were exuberant and excited and did it anyway.  (If you doubt me, check out the wild eyed look of a toddler learning to walk.  If that expression isn’t a cross between excitement and fear, I’ve never seen it.)  Do you ride a bike?  How many times did you fall off your bike before you got your balance?  Do you dance?  How long did it take you to learn to dance so you didn’t step on your partner’s toes.  Do you play golf?  I try and make a brilliant shot occasionally.  The rest of the time I work to enjoy my frustration.  What do these things all have in common? Failure – Practice – Courage.

Failure

Failing is a natural consequence of doing something new.  Failure is a natural consequence of learning and growing.  Take a moment to think of all the things you’ve learned to do in this world you wouldn’t be doing, if you allowed fear of failure to stop you.  My life would be pretty drab and uninteresting.  How about yours?

Practice – Practice

Life is a learning curve.  Everything new that comes our way in which we choose to participate, brings with it a learning curve.  We learn by practice.  We learn by trial and error.   We learn by understanding our errors and then practicing with the new information.  Some things we learn faster than others.  Regardless, we are not pros when we begin something new or change how we do something.  For that reason our businesses become strong and successful for the same reason a professional musician gets to Carnegie Hall, we practice, practice, practice everything that we do which is “new” until we own it.

Courage

Courage is not the absence of fear.  Courage is what we have when we ‘do it anyway’ in the face of our fear.  Courage is a state of mind buttressed by the tools and support needed to move through our doubts and fears.

Our goal at Savvy Sponsoring is to personally coach you to:

• Actively go after what you want.
• Get the tools you need to move your learning curve way up the chart.
• Surround yourself with the necessary support to help you reach inside – to find your courage to fail and fail again in order

To Achieve Your Amazing Success.

Do You Want to Build a Strong Professional Referring Sphere of Influence?

If one of your goals this year is to become a savvy, professional, recruiter in your Network Marketing business, check out our no charge to you Five Steps to Increase your Sphere of Influence call.  This call will teach you what you need to do in order to become an insider in any business organization.  You will also learn what you need to do in order to build a strong, professional, referral base out of these business organizations.  What change would it make to your business if solid professional business people were giving you referrals?   Click here to listen to that call now.  (This call will be available only for a few days.  Don’t miss it, listen now.)

Check out our “It’s All About Recruiting” program.

If you join our “It’s All About Recruiting Program,” we will be your personal guides encouraging you, supporting you, and teaching you the core principles of recruiting to build a strong MLM business.  This short, inexpensive program will take you from being afraid to make calls, to developing the tools to determine what you need to say in order to break the ice and get down to business.

As usual, it is a guaranteed satisfaction, or your money back program.  If this is your year to fail and fail again all the way to your amazing success, join our “It’s All About Recruiting” program and kick yourself right to the top of your learning curve.

Last day to register for this class is Sunday, January 10, 2010.   Don’t miss out because you procrastinated.  We have included a bonus gift of private one-on-one coaching for the first 30 who register.  There are still a few coaching spots left.  Click here for the details.

Jillian Middleton is a Mentor Coach and Trainer, and author of the courses
‘5 Steps to Work Less and Make Money in Network Marketing’ ,
Setting Up Your Store Hours and Design Your Calendar,

Author of the forth coming book, MLM, The Myths, Legends and Money,

How to build a strong Network Marketing Business.

As creator of the ‘Savvy Sponsoring Strategies’ coaching programs, Jillian trains network marketers and direct sales consultants the same strategies she used to build two 6-figure network marketing businesses in 5 years.

Want to Use This Article on Your Blog or Website?

I encourage you to share, replicate or forward this newsletter or article to your web site, or distribute them in your ezine or magazine, providing you include the above attribution. You may convert it to text if you have a text newsletter, as long as the subscription, author links, and copyright information are kept intact. http://www.savvysponsoring.com

Prefer to listen to the article? Use the audio player below!

Equal amounts of:

• Family Fun
• Rest
• Good Food
• Grateful Musings

Plus A Whole Dollop of No Business

How can you “have a whole dollop of no business?”  In other words, just walk away from your MLM business?  Simple. Build in a terrific exit strategy for December and a great re-entry strategy into January. How?

Here’s the deal. A little planning goes a long way during these busy holidays. If you want to take the best care you can of yourself, and all those around you, plus have terrific holidays:

• Plan your December exit from work
• Plan your January re-entry back into work

I guarantee, if you exit gracefully from your business schedule, and have a solid plan to re-enter your business in January, you will walk away guilt free and let go of your business throughout the holidays. Not sure how to do that, relax….

Here is the step by step recipe.

Exit Strategy

Take the time to make a list of what must get done before you walk away from your office. Put only those things that really must get done onto your list. Once the list is complete, take another look and see if something else can wait.  If it can, get it off your list.

This is not the list of “what you would like to do.” It is a list of what-must-get-done-to-keep-you-sane during the holidays. Once the list is narrowed down to only what must be completed, go through the list again and see what you can delegate to someone else.

Do you do everything yourself because you believe no one else can (or will) do it as well as you?  You are sabotaging yourself and truncating the growth of your downline.

Leaders delegate. Good leaders delegate in order to develop new leaders throughout their MLM downline.  Do you need to develop your leadership skills?  Consider taking a Savvy Sponsoring Network Marketing coaching program in the New Year.

The trick is to take the 10 or 15 minutes necessary to do this. We are all busy this time of year. It can easily feel we don’t have time to STOP, and organize our thoughts and prioritize our actions. However, for every minute you spend prioritizing what you have to do and giving each item a time slot in your calendar, you will save not only time (lots of it) but your sanity.

Prioritize and Schedule Time For Each Activity

Prioritize and schedule time in your calendar for each of the must do items. Don’t work on anything else in your business until these items are complete. If you have some office time left when all the important “must do items” are completed, then keep working down the priority list. But get the most important things done first.

Sometimes we move so quickly we forget the basics of a smoothly run business.

• Work out of your calendar.
• Make sure you allot yourself enough time for each activity.
• Get everything (yes, everything) off that “to do list” and give it a time in your calendar.

Not only will you get more done…you’ll have some sanity to enjoy all those important people in your life too.

If you currently don’t work out of a calendar, (e.g. book everything you do into a time slot) you are courting disaster. Running a Network Marketing business from the seat of your pants may be a great adrenalin rush, but it is hell on the bottom line. It is also hell on your nerves and the nerves of everyone around you.

Not sure how to keep a good, easy, make your life sane calendar? Buy your business the Savvy Sponsoring Calendar CD and Workbook this holiday season. I promise, you will throw away your ‘to do’ list, get the important stuff done and be sane!  That is a money back promise and guarantee.

Turn Your Business Mind Off and Enjoy Your Holidays

If you take care of the important tasks and tie up loose ends before you close shop for the holidays, there won’t be anything to bug you.  You create peace of mind for yourself.  All the important issues are handled.  Plus, your calendar is ready to get you started when you return to work.

It is the undone, the unorganized things that keep nagging at you.  Take control of your business and the things that need to be accomplished with sound time management.  If you do, you will relax and enjoy your time with your family and friends.

Hint: To make your holiday time even more pleasurable, take all the things you want to do in preparation for your celebrations, and again, make a list. Prioritize – delegate where you can – and assign each item a time to get done. For example, if you want to bake cookies, why not plan the time so you can enjoy the baking.  Maybe make them with your kids. That is a lot more fun than doing them at mid-night the night before you want them. Hmmmm?

The Re-Entry Strategy

It can be really tough to get back to work after the holidays. If we are not careful, it can be mid-January (or later) before we are back into full swing. That isn’t a problem if it is what you planned.

However, if you do not plan this extra time out of production, how do you feel? Guilty?  Are you fretting about what is not getting done? Are you anxious about your next check?

Avoid the January energy vampire.  If you are supposed to be working but you are not, you are spending a lot of negative emotional energy.  Not only are you fretting about what you are not doing, you are digging yourself into inertia.  The longer you are in this work limbo, the more difficult it is to get a handle on yourself and get back into the business of building your network marketing team.  All of this can be avoided if you simply plan your re-entry.  If you are going to take time off work, then plan and enjoy it!

How to Make Coming Back To Work Easy

Don’t leave to go on vacation until you have booked at least one money making activity into your calendar for the first or second day that you are due back to work. This requires you to show up for business on time right after the holidays.

There is nothing like an important money making appointment to bring us back to work.  The more you book your calendar for right after your vacation with strong money making events, the more likely you are to get back into the swing of things right away.  Let us help you get your January in full swing, join our complimentary call on Wednesday, January 6th.  Click here to register now.

How do You Find The Time to Book For January?

How do you start to book January before you close shop? Simple, on that priority list we talked about earlier of what to get done before you close down for the holidays, book an hour or two in your calendar to make appointments in January. Set yourself a goal of two, three, four or ?? appointments and go for it.

Every appointment you set for January will help to make your time off over the holidays more enjoyable. You won’t have one foot in celebration and one foot in angst because you left things up in the air. Be good to you. Plan your holiday exit and re-entry into your business. You will enjoy your holidays knowing you have taken care of business.

Why not start the year out right living your time rather than just spending it.

Warmly,

Jillian

I was amazed at how many people asked about the ‘nuts and bolts’ of network marketing. How do you actually make it work? What do you do to get results?

This is a question we got from one of our listeners that we weren’t able to get to on our last call, but we will on our complimentary call July 7th.

Click here to register and save your seat now!

“We hear on conference calls and at convention great stories about results & financial rewards. But we are not told the nuts & bolts of how to create those results and the great financial rewards. What is it they are not telling us?”

The Magic is in the Detail.

When you hear an ‘expert’ talking about the number of people (s)he trained last or signed up last week, do you ask the tough questions you’d like to know? Or are you quiet (intimidated?) and wonder…

Where did they meet them?

How did they stop them?

Were they nervous?

If yes, how did they get over it?

Here is the deal folks, network marketing is a business of stories. Unfortunately all too often we only get the ‘back end of the story.’ The result. Plus, we only hear the good stories. This isn’t fishing folks. You don’t hear about the one that got away! You only hear about the successes. The key to your success is not about listening to the success of someone else.

The key to your success is getting the details of “how” they created the success scenario from step one.

Too often we are told (and tell our downline) what to do but not how to do it.

How many of you have asked your new recruit to make that list of a 100 and then sent them out to “make calls.” It isn’t that you are wrong. Your new recruit does need to make calls. But you have only told them what to do.

Certainly knowing what to do is important. It is critically necessary. But everything falls apart unless they also know how to make those calls. Do you spend the necessary time to make sure your recruit knows exactly what to say (how to do it).

Nothing stops someone faster than sending them out to do something that they feel they are not prepared for.

I’m not talking about feeling like an expert. They simply need to feel prepared.

Of course, if you only know “what to do” but not “how to do it,” it is tough to train and coach your new recruit.

What do you need to do?

If you are listening to someone who gets results you don’t get, then ask questions. Smart Savvy questions. Lots of them.

What is a smart question? Everything you’d like to know. What questions are running through your mind?

• How after being in this business a zillion years do you meet new people?
• If you’ve just heard this great story about someone they recruited, ask them ‘how did you meet them?”
• How many people did you talk to at the (mall, restaurant, event) before someone was willing to talk to you?
• How many of them told you ‘no’ before someone told you ‘yes.’
• What did you say to open the conversation?
• How did you get their attention?
• How do you get their number?
• How soon do you call them?
• Where they there when you called?
• Did they call you back?
• What kind of a message did you leave on the answering machine? (Do you leave a message?)
• How do you deal with “no.”

Aren’t these the very questions you’d like to have the answers to?

The problem is two fold.

1. Too often the stories we are told are all about results.
2. We don’t ask about the details.

Your Savvy Smartness lies in the details. The details bring out the magic of your business.

If you think this article was helpful, don’t miss our call on July 7th and we’ll have some fun with these questions. You can stop someone in a market and not be rude. You can talk to someone in a restaurant and not be rude. You can approach people with professionalism and confidence. You just need to know the “nuts and bolts.”

Come join us for an hour of coaching to talk about “how to nuts and bolts.”

Warmly,

Jillian

How do you work with new recruits?

There are two approaches to working with your hard found new recruits.

You are Hands off! You say, “I’ll be here to help you if you need me.”

You work with a strategically designed plan of action that includes scheduled check-ins with you after each step or combination of steps.

Here is what happens with the Hands Off approach.

It works well if you have a self starter entrepreneur who is totally committed to being wrong, — often — as they learn the right way to build their business.

Here is what happens with a strategic plan of action with scheduled debriefing check-ins.

Your new consultant keeps moving forward building their business with a sense of accomplishment. She knows what to do, how to do it and takes strength from you being there. You are her sounding board on which she bounces her mis-takes and successes.

Choosing the Hands Off approach often leads to the 500 pound telephone. Without a solid training system that promotes duplication it is easy to worry about recruiting. Recruits new and old only pick up the phone when they are clear they can deliver their promises.

Building a strategically designed plan of action takes an investment in time, energy, often money. It also builds a strong sponsor and duplicating downline.

The “Hands Off” approach is terrific when it works. However, because it seldom works, it is a terrible waste of dreams, energy and hope

How do you work with your new recruits? Tell us here!

Warmly,

Jillian

A neighbor of ours owns high end seafood restaurants that have been successful here in the northeast for a long time. It started as a Boston fish market, expanded over the years and recently opened in the south. He was talking about how difficult it was to make sure that every restaurant turned out each dish in exactly the same way. So people going into a restaurant at the airport got the same wonderful service and food that you got in downtown Boston or Atlanta, GA.

He went on to say how necessary it was to implement a system to drive the processes in the kitchen. Then have a way to measure the success of those systems long before the customer starts to complain! Sound familiar? It should!

Every business has the same issues. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the restaurant business, the dry cleaners business or you are a network marketer building a distribution center. If you want it to be a financial success your business needs:

1. A system to drive it so processes are done the same way regardless of who is doing it.
2. A method of measurement to make sure that the system is doing the job it should be doing.
3. Regular systematic communication with all the players to keep your hand on the pulse of what is going on with the people inside your business.

Do YOU?

Do you have a system in place that drives your business? Is everyone you sponsor (or your downline sponsors) trained the same way? They should be if they are going to work with the general public as an independent representative of your company. Yes, everyone.

Why would you turn someone loose to talk to people (even if they are only going to do one home event a month) unless you know they can do a great job? They are out there representing your company and the network marketing industry at large. Hostesses either love them because their party was successful or they don’t. People in the room enjoyed themselves and bought product, looked at the business or they don’t. Regardless, they are going to tell people about their experience. Unfortunately, they are most likely going to tell more people about a bad experience than they are about a good experience. People hate having their time wasted!

Do you have a way to measure the results of your activity? Or do you just keep on doing things hoping they are going to work? (Hope is a great thing but it is not a good strategy!) Plus, how sane is it to keep doing the same things over and over again ‘hoping’ to get different results? Hmmmm? If things aren’t working, how do you strategically implement change(s) into your downline?

What kind of communication/training/coaching is in place that your team can count on regularly? Are you limiting your business by trying to talk to every person individually? Or do you have (as they say here in Boston) a “wicked good” team MasterMind coaching call?

Want Some Help?

Want some help in setting these things up? Click here to register for our upcoming no charge to you teleclasses. There are three teleclasses in the series. Don’t miss any of them.

There are 11 months left in 2009. You can either whine or you can shine. (I know sorry, it is a bit corny but fun – and true!)

Don’t have the time to get your business in order?

And by the way for all of you who are saying, “Well I’d like to get my business that organized, but I don’t have the time.” Bull Manure.

• It takes less time to set up a business correctly than it does to run it by the seat of your pants.
• It takes less time to work a business that is set up correctly.
• With systems in place you can run a large vibrant team in the same amount of time you are flailing around now.
• Everyone around you will respect (not necessarily like) what you are doing. (Think about that one for a minute. Kids on board with your time. Your spouse or partner on board. How different would that makes things?)

There are no excuses not to be the best you can be. None!

The Economy is Too Bad

Traditionally network marketing companies do extremely well in hard economic times. Why? People are motivated to make a change. Many have already lost their job or are worried about losing their job. Waiting for the other shoe to drop creates urgency. I urge you to take advantage of this economic downturn to build your business

Are you ready?

Click here for our upcoming (no charge to you) coaching calls.

Warmly,

Jillian

What is a New Year’s resolution? Dictionary.com defines “resolution” this way:

• a resolve or determination: to make a firm resolution to do something.
• the act of resolving or determining upon an action or course of action, method, procedure, etc.
• the mental state or quality of being resolved or resolute; firmness of purpose.

It sounds noble to be ‘resolved’ to get something done. It sounds very adult, grown up and mature. It also means I’m going to have to pull out my ‘will power.’ In other words, to carry out that which I resolve to do (e.g., New Year’s resolutions) I am going to have to rely on my strength of will to make it happen.

I have a problem. It doesn’t sound like much fun. I don’t know about you but I don’t have much will power. Oh, I have internal strength. I know how to put my nose to the grindstone and get things done. But years ago I ‘resolved’ to live a life I enjoyed. Dragging myself around by my will power doesn’t fit that resolution.

If Not Will Power Then What?

If I want to enjoy what I’m doing then I need to FEEL compelled to do it. Here’s what Dictionary.com says about being compelled:

Therefore:

• if I want to make Bikram yoga a part of my life;
• or I want to work diligently at my business in a professional money making manner;

I need to find a way to be compelled to do these things.

How do you find a way to want to get up at 5:30 am to walk into a 110 degree hot room to contort your body and love it?

Or, how do you find a way to want to pick up the phone and give the best business presentation you can give multiple times each day you work?

Here is what I think. Most resolutions don’t last because they are made out of guilt, discontent or fear. And although these are really powerful emotions, they have a tendency to paralyze us rather than actualize us.

Back To The Fun Bit

Take a few minutes and ask yourself what benefit your ‘resolution’ or goal will deliver to you. Careful here, you’re looking at benefits not features. Doing yoga might give me a stronger more supple body but so what. What benefit(s) does a stronger more supple body give me?

A growing financially sustainable business might give me financial independence (feature) but what benefits does it give me?

To be compelled to consistently build a business, you need to want to do it. In order to want to do it, it needs to resonate emotionally. Benefits resonate with us humans. Benefits feed our emotions. If emotions are involved we are pretty much compelled to be in the game. Make sense?

Big Dreams (resolutions/goals) Small Changes

When I started Bikram yoga I was really excited about the benefits. I knew my body would move more freely. It would ache less after being in the car. I would rest better at night and have more energy. I would enjoy being back in touch with my body.

I also knew if I decided to go everyday I’d never do it. I started out two or three times a week (and not at 5:30 am either). I let my practice evolve as the benefits to me increased.

Your business is exactly the same. Don’t try to be the perfect entrepreneur starting January 1st. Be sane.

• Make a list of things you want from your business.
• Prioritize them.
• Take the first one and list all the benefits that are important to you.
• Add small steps of change to your calendar.  Need help with that calendar? See http://www.savvysponsoring.com/store
• Each day look at that list of benefits.
• Each week note any changes you see in your progress.

Don’t spend any time worrying about what isn’t getting done. Keep yourself emotionally engaged with your small steps and the changes will ultimately be huge. (You can take that to the bank!)

If you want to achieve your New Year’s Resolutions in 2009, make sure that everything you do fills your heart with joy because of the benefits it brings to you.

Enjoy your life and still get what you want! This is not a dress rehearsal.

Warmly,

Jillian

Savvy Events :

Are You Ready?

Did you know that a poor economy is the best time to build your network marketing business? In the last couple of months a number of retired network marketing leaders have called me for coaching. They all say the same thing, “In the last recession my business doubled (or tripled).  I’m going back to work.”

Are you ready to take advantage of a recession economy to build your business? Yes! Great. Watch for announcements here for the next Savvy Sponsoring programs to begin in March. These programs are sponsoring and training intensive. They will help you put your business into high gear. People are afraid. People are worried about their jobs, their retirements and the quality of their lives. It is complacency that makes it hard to build a business. If people are happy they stay where they are. But people are not happy. Where do you want them to go?

Are you ready for strong community leaders to join your business? How are you finding them? How are you talking to them? How are you going to train them? Is your system in place? Are you ready to duplicate your efforts?

Want to be ready?  Click here for more information or to reserve your seat.

Can you believe that another year is drawing to a close? Remember when you were a kid, and it was forever before summer vacation arrived? It seems that only yesterday we were both worried about and celebrating the turn of the century and this next year is the last year in the first decade of 2000!

Whoosh! And the time is gone.

For those of you who have worked with me, you know that I am known to harp…yes I’ll admit it, harp on the importance of how you spend your time. Reflect for a moment about what is more important to you than your time here on earth?

What is the most important thing to you?

In my years of coaching I’ve heard people put forth the argument that their children or their mate are the most important thing to them. I understand that feeling. Tom and I are together now for five years. It is very hard for me to imagine my life without him. I’m sure you feel the same way, but I’m married to the nicest guy on the planet!

Which is all the more reason that I need to put him second to my time on this planet. Why? The quality I bring to the time I have here is the key to living my rich full life with him.

I refuse to “beat time” and do things because I have to. I refuse to get into bed at night tired but not feel that I’ve enjoyed my day and made the most of my time.

Ok enough preaching. Here’s the deal. A little planning goes a long way during these busy holidays. If you want to take the best care you can of all those around you and you have terrific holidays, plan your exit from work.

Then plan your re-entry into work.

Simple idea and a sure bet way to enjoy your holiday. How do you do that?

Exit Strategy

Make a list of what must get done before you walk away from your office. Do your best to keep it short and sweet. Put only those things that really must get done on your list (and only those things that you have to do go on your list – delegate where you can).

Prioritize and schedule time in your calendar for each of these items. Don’t work on anything else until these are complete. If you still have office time left, then work on the “B” and “C” things. But get the most important things done first.

Sometimes we can be moving so quickly we let the basics go. Work out of your calendar. Make sure you’ve allotted yourself enough time. Get that “to do” list out of your hands and give everything a time in your calendar. Not only will you get more done…you’ll have some sanity to enjoy all those important people in your life too.

The Re-Entry Strategy

This is really easy to do but most of us don’t do it.

One of the biggest issues I hear after any prolonged holiday is how difficult it is to get back to work. Often it is mid-January (or later) before people are back into full swing. I don’t have a problem with that as long as it is what you planned. Because if you didn’t plan this extra time out of production, you are most likely spending that extra time fretting and feeling guilty about what is not getting done. And typically, the longer you are in this limbo the more difficult it is to get a handle on yourself and get back into work.

Don’t leave to go on vacation until you have booked at least one money making activity in your calendar for the first Monday or Tuesday (at the latest) that you are due back to work. In other words make sure that you have something booked in your calendar that requires you to show up on your first or second day back from vacation.

There is nothing like an important appointment to bring us back to work.

The more you book your calendar right after your vacation with strong money making events the more likely you are to get back into the swing of things right away.

Why not start the year out right living your time rather than just spending it.

Warmly,

Jillian

The news can be a bit scary at the moment. A $700,000 plus bailout (and that’s just the beginning) sprinkled with words like recession and depression. Things can look scary. Stomachs tighten and stress levels soar. What can you do?

Here’s my take. There is no point in my getting all wierded out, because there is little that I can do about it. I can let my elected officials know how I feel (and that’s a good idea). Then I have to let it go. It is, really out of my hands. This doesn’t mean that I ignore what is going on. The contrary, educating myself is important – reading and listening to good news sources. I like National Public Radio because of the variety of views. But stay informed.

However, it makes very little sense that I get my knickers in a twist over something that I can’t do anything about. I have no direct affect here, so after I’ve done all that I can do, the best thing for me to do is move on.

Obviously “moving on” is easier said than done, but that doesn’t let us off the hook to take control over the one thing we have control over – ourselves.

Reflect a moment. Do you make your best decisions under stress? Being emotionally distraught is not when I think my clearest! Being scared gets in the way of my clarity and hoses up my judgment. Not a good combination for decision making.

For those of you who have worked with me you know that I believe Awareness is Curative. What do I mean?

Awareness Is Curative

It means, that as soon as I become aware of an issue I’m having, I am already on my way to fixing the problem. The solution has already started. The trick here is awareness.

This is what happens to me. I’ll be working or playing and realize suddenly that I’m short tempered or feeling stressed out. You know, that knot in your stomach that signals all is not well.

Here’s what I do when that knot shows up in my stomach:

• Take a break immediately and be still for a minute and be conscious of my breath.
• Then I give the emotion I’m feeling a definition. Scared, angry….whatever.
• Then I give myself permission to feel that way. Yup just feel it. Don’t act on it.
• I then listen to the dialog going on in my head. Typically it’s telling me I’ve done something wrong or someone has wronged me.
• If I’ve done something I do what I need to in order to make amends.
• If someone else has done something I check my boundaries to see how I could have prevented myself from being in the situation so I don’t find myself here again.
• Then I go do whatever I’d do if this was not in my way. I ask myself this question, “If I wasn’t ranting and raving inside about the “wrongness” of it all, what would I be doing.” Then I go do it.

Keeping to Your Regular Day is Important

The last point of course is what gets you moving again in the right direction. That sage piece of advice comes from a women I worked with in Alanon. For those of you who don’t recognize that organization, Alanon is a support group for people whose lives have been affected by an alcoholic. When things were crazy it was important for me to remember to keep living. She used to ask me, If this wasn’t happening right now Jillian, what would you be doing? I’d tell her. And she’d say, “Go do it.”

Great advice to keep your life moving in the right direction.

Being stuck in an emotional crucible roots you in disaster. What’s more, most of the time we are rooted in these disasters because we are worrying about what might happen in the future. It’s not happening right now at all.

Is This Your First Disaster?

Here is an easy thing to do to keep yourself moving forward while the politicians determine the new monopoly rules.

Take a quick look around you and ask yourself if everything is OK right now? If it is, then things are great! Why? Because this is the only moment you have. You don’t need to sour it by worrying about something that may happen tomorrow or next week or whenever.

Besides which one of you hasn’t survived some kind of disaster? I know I certainly have. I got an email today from my Real Estate coach, Dave Lindhal. I thought he said it really well.

“When your neighbor looses his or her job it’s a recession. When you loose your job it’s a depression. Even if the rest of the economy looks great.”

If you’re like me, I’ll bet you’ve had times when money was short and it felt like options were too. I have been drop dead broke and thought I had no options. That was when I joined Excel Communications and it was the beginning of one of the best things I ever did for myself.

Often it’s when things seem at their worst that the best arrives. If you’ve get yourself in a knot of dithers you may miss it. Some of you know my story. I nearly missed Excel because I was in such a state of inner turmoil. But my best friend Coach Norine was persistent with me until I came to my senses and took a look. I got more information and low and behold there was a solution to my circumstances.

That’s the trick and the key. Don’t tune out but rather tune in. Keep your business moving forward, persevere and don’t worry about what you can’t change.

Educate yourself – read – listen – ask questions. Work with a mastermind group. Hire a coach. Go to free teleseminars – or pay for them. But keep yourself open to new ideas and new opportunities and solutions will come your way.

“The point of power is always in the present moment.” – Unknown

Warmly,

Jillian

Ahh when we are in the business of helping others to succeed it’s tough to think that the best way for us to be, is selfish. But I think it is. In fact, I think one of the issues many people in network marketing suffer from is not being selfish enough.

I know it sounds strange. Network Marketing is a helping business and we are all so interconnected. But I see the results of not being selfish enough all the time.

Do you recognize any of these?

• Often working outside of your regular hours because someone else couldn’t (or wouldn’t) make one of the times you offered.
• Calling downline multiple times offering (begging?) to be of service.
• Working with someone over and over again who doesn’t follow through.
• Doing more in someone else’s business than they do so that it gets done.

Not enough selfishness here.

Here’s what I think. The more you ‘bend over backwards’ for someone, the less inclined they will be to take control of their business and do what it takes to make it work. Ultimately their business is doomed because they’re not doing it. But here’s the real scary part…so is your business…doomed.

Don’t let the interconnectedness of network marketing stop you from being “selfish” enough to take care of you. What do you think?

Warmly,

Jillian

PS – Please join me and 9 other business experts, coaches and luminaries for a F.R.E.E event exclusively for leaders in the direct selling, network marketing and multi-level marketing professions. You know I don’t promote a lot of events… but I had to tell you about this one because the speakers are so extraordinary. I know I’m there too but really look at this list.

• Margie Aliprandi, President of My Mind Makeover
• Jane Deuber, Leadership Expert and co-founder of the DSWA
• Leesa Barnes, President of Marketing Fit
• Michael Oliver President and Founder of Natural Selling Sales Training
• Sandy Grason, best-selling author of Journalution
• Scott Stratten, President of Un-Marketing
• Jillian Middleton, founder of Savvy Sponsoring Strategies
• Michael Port and Elizabeth Marshall, co-authors of The Contrarian Effect
• Keith Ferrazzi, best-selling author of Never Eat Alone
• Sarah Robinson, Direct Selling Business Strategist and Founder of Profit, Purpose and Beyond

Profit, Purpose and Beyond will take place October 13 through October 24, 2008 (excluding the weekend). One speaker will take center stage each day at 1pm EST.

Go here now to get the details and grab your seat before they are all gone! Remember folks, there is no charge for this event!