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MLM Woman Issue 102
August 1, 2005This FREE monthly newsletter is made possible by our advertisers and customers. We thank them for their support!
From the Desk of the EditorWelcome to the 102nd issue of the MLM Woman Newsletter. This month we feature articles on how to think like a winner, how not to compare yourself to others, how to make time for your soul, the amazing power of beliefs, and 7 simple marketing tips.
As we enter into the last month of summer, I hope you are all having a chance to relax a little and to plan your business for the fall. If you have not yet taken some time to recharge, give yourself a break and do something fun and relaxing. You'll find that you'll come back to your work refreshed with new ideas and enthusiasm. Remember, all work and no play, definitely makes Jill a dull girl!
Enjoy the summer!
Linda Locke, Editor MLM Woman
Work at Home Moms (WAHMs) -
Don't Compare Yourself to Others!
By Carrie LauthWAHMs, do you constantly compare yourself with other WAHMs and come up short?
You know how it is . . . you feel like this WAHM's website looks better than yours, that WAHM's direct sales business is more successful than yours, and then there's that one WAHM who is everywhere spitting out infoproducts, seemingly in her sleep.
Do you torture yourself like this?
This is something I've been giving a lot of thought to lately. Maybe it's because I had to take a long hiatus from my own business to start a baby growing, or maybe it's because as women we just tend to compare ourselves with other women and focus on our perceived inadequacies. As WAHMs, we even tend to justify our negative thinking!
Whatever the case, I hope I can help you avoid this problem with some things that help me when my thoughts turn negative. First I'll talk about why comparing yourself with others is a fruitless exercise, then give you some positive steps to take to help you stop it!
1) Comparing yourself to others is an incredible waste of energy.
Here's why: We're all unique individuals with different talents, skills and abilities.
One WAHM may excel at technical aspects of web design while you can write great articles. One WAHM may be a great networker who is always finding joint venture (JV) opportunities while you can optimize web pages with one hand, nursing a baby at the keyboard. One WAHM may be a real people person while you're great at testing and tracking your marketing efforts.
Use your unique talents and personality to your benefit in your business. Keep honing your skills and beefing up your weak points with learning, but don't expect your basic personality to change! Celebrate your strong points.
If you need to, treat yourself like a child. When you do something you're proud of in your business day, say out loud: "Great job! I'm so proud of you!" Or put a cute little sticker in your organizer, paint your toenails, drink something hot and yummy, whatever . . . just give yourself some positive reinforcement.
Let's face it...WAHMs need more energy to do all they must do, don't suck it up with negative thinking!
2) Comparing yourself with other WAHMs is unfair.
Everyone also has different challenges. Are you pregnant? Have little babies or toddlers? Several children? Chronic health problems? A special needs child? Are you a single wahm? A husband that works too much? Caring for an elderly relative? Limited budget? See what I'm getting at here?
Stop beating yourself up and acknowledge your challenges. We all deserve a pat on the back for doing something to improve our financial standing whilst caring for house and home!
Now, let's talk about some of the things you can do to stop comparing yourself with others.
1) Decide whether this negative self talk is just moodiness/fatigue/morning sickness or whatever, or if you really DO need a kick in the pants. Proceed accordingly.
2) Acknowledge the challenges that you work around, mentioned above. Give yourself about one minute to do this.
3) Now get busy. Get your notebook (the one you keep within reach at all times when those great ideas come to your mind) and make sure you've completed your "Daily Activity Standard" (those activities that pay you that must be done daily). If so, spend 15 minutes working on that project you've put into bite sized pieces.
Finally, remember that appreciation attracts prosperity, and thoughts of lack and "woe is me" only repel it. And don't waste any more time comparing yourself with other WAHMs!
About the Author
Carrie Lauth publishes a free "no fluff" ezine full of helpful information for work at home Moms. Get your free copy plus free subscriber goodies at http://www.business-moms-expo.com/newsletter.html
Pick Your Picnic
Copyright 2005 Leslie Householder
John Sims was traveling with an associate. The associate said, "John, aren't you going to put on your seatbelt?"
John replied with his raspy tenor voice, "Why, are we going to get into a crash?"
"No, but seatbelts save lives..."
John retorted abruptly in his usual blunt way, "Seatbelts don't save lives."
"Of course they do! Once I was driving with my family and something told me to make sure everyone was wearing their seatbelts. So we all belted up, and just as we turned a corner, there was another vehicle coming at us in our lane. Even though it was a head-on collision, we all survived because of those seatbelts!"
John was firm, "No, the seatbelts didn't save your life, whatever told you to put them on saved your life."
Probably a decade has passed since I heard John relate that story. Leaving a lasting impression on me, its message has deepened and taken on new meaning. He's right. It wasn't the seatbelts that saved their lives. True, they played a part in the actual physics of keeping the bodies secure during impact, but the credit belongs to the voice of warning. The "life-saving" seatbelts were there during the entire trip. But the timeliness of the prompting, and the man's response to it, changed the would-be tragedy into a miracle.
I am reminded of a game I played in high school. Planning to take some friends to a picnic, my friend and I prepared a tape recorder which described our every move as we traveled from our starting point to the final destination. When it came time for the event, we told our unsuspecting
friends to wait at a payphone until we called them and told them where to find the hidden tape recorder. Our instructions: "Turn it on and follow the directions explicitly!"At the end of the journey was the picnic fit for a king. But along the way, we followed our friends, incognito. The most hilarious moments came when they tried to mimic what we had done, but in the wrong places. Having accidentally fallen out of step, our friends found that the description of our actions no longer suited their surroundings and, to us, it became absolutely laughable. If they had only known where they were trying to go, they could have improvised and found their own way.
Sometimes we look at others who have reached an admirable destination in their life, and then imitate their same steps in an effort to achieve their results. We listen to their tapes, read their books, and attend their seminars; and then we do our best to follow what they say. While we can learn a great deal from people who have what we want, we must realize that we're not always on the same sidewalk, so to speak, as they were when they began their journey to the picnic. We've had different life experiences and carry with us a different variety of baggage, all of which makes a difference. We need to have the destination clearly in view, so that when someone else's instructions do not work, we are still able to improvise our way to success.
So, how do you identify your picnic? It's so simple that most people discard the idea as unimportant. This is one reason why few ever discover the power behind it. All you have to do is simply DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT.
If you knew you could not fail, what would your goals be? This is actually the toughest part of achieving success; the part that at least ninety-seven percent of the population will never do. Create a description of the success you desire, and commit it to paper. Write it in the form of a gratitude statement as though it has already happened. Then you are entitled to, and can trust the impressions which come to your mind. By doing this, you've done it: you've 'spotted' your picnic table. As you hang on to the vision, you'll know instinctively just how to get to it, because it will be in clear view. Without it committed to paper, your impressions will seem random and you'll struggle to know what to do next. Perhaps you've already felt that way.
Take control of your life, and experience the exhilaration which comes from proceeding methodically toward your worthy ideal. Your success begins with the dream...and happens after you've done your part to enlist the voice of inspiration on your journey. See it in your mind, commit it to paper, and be grateful for it before it's even yours. This puts you in tune with that 'inner voice', and you'll finally know just what to do, and when.
About the Author
Leslie Householder is the author of The Jackrabbit Factor: How to Eliminate Risk through Inspiration, and Hidden Treasures: Heaven's Astonishing Help with Your Money Matters. Watch the Jackrabbit Factor movie, or receive 8 free Jackrabbit eLessons by visiting http://www.jackrabbitfactor.com.
How to Make Time for your Soul
By Suzanne Falter-Barns
The locust are buzzing. The fireflies flashing, and we can almost swim in Lake Champlain. That means it's just about popsicle weather, which is the perfect time to get serious about your dream. There's more daylight, less squeeze in schedules, and more time to connect with your soul.
These are some great ways to tweak your routine to better serve your dream. Dig in before the summer slips by. Your heart will thank you!
- Unplug your television. Even better, completely remove it. Or put a lock on it. You can find them at Time Scout or Eyetimer.
- Cancel your subscriptions. Get rid of anything you don't read. I just gave up The New Yorker (which I'd 'read' for 26 years ... or let pile up.) If I can do it, you can, too!
- Make regular 'soul' time every day. If you're a morning person, get up one hour earlier and dig into your projects. If you're a night person, stay up one hour later.
- Time your projects. Determine before you start just how long you're willing to work. Then prepare to be pleasantly surprised when you make your deadline. We used this to write our songs for my new show (see below) and it worked like a charm.
- Don't waste your lunch hour eating. Bring lunch to work, eat it briefly at your desk, and then get out there and do what really matters to you.
- Stop agreeing to do things you don't truly want to do. This includes volunteering, meeting friends and family, and serving on committees.
- Redesign your work schedule. Create one day or several afternoons a week to concentrate on the things you really want to do in life. Explore flex-time alternatives in your workplace. Consider telecommuting, working from a home office, or going free-lance with your company.
- Put the kids to bed earlier. Establish 'grown up' time, a time zone when all children are in bed (even if they're only looking at books or listening to tapes before going to sleep) and the adults get to have a little room to breath.
- Cut corners cooking. Take advantage of gourmet take-out and grocery-store fast foods, such as prewashed salad, precut vegetables, and premarinated chicken.
- Stop answering the phone. Return calls during a pre-scheduled set time each day that works for you. Or better yet, email a reply, and post your email on your answering machine as a better way to get in touch.
Divide up the housework. Hand over the laundry and vacuuming to your mate. Teach your children to do dishes, cook meals and mop floors. And be willing to give up control of the end results. Read Patricia H. Sprinkle's book, Children Who Do Too Little; Why Your Kids Need to Work Around the House (and How to Get Them to Do It) for terrific pointers on how to make this happen.
- If you can't relax your standards, delegate. Hire local teenagers, professional housecleaners, or even a temp service to help you clear out your desk, answer correspondence, pay bills, organize closets, walk the dog -- whatever you can give up that makes more time for you.
- Do something you truly love. Once you've created this time for yourself, use it wisely. Take on the challenges and dreams that really will improve your life. Chances are that once you start, it will be very hard to stop.
Best of all, thank yourself for doing that work that you are truly meant to do ... and not so much of the other stuff that slows us all down.
©2005 Suzanne Falter-Barns LLC.
About the Author
Suzanne Falter-Barns is an internationally known author and speaker whose work has been featured in Woman's Day, SELF, More, Fitness, and more than 100 radio and TV shows. Pick up her free article, '36 Guaranteed Time Savers' at www.howmuchjoy.com
The Amazing Power of a “Belief”
By Dr Jill Ammon-Wexler
Executive Advisor
What is the true power of a thought?
Just last week one of the entrepreneurs I work with wondered why he could "never seem to get ahead financially."
"I've done everything all the self-help books tell me to do," Edward explained. "I've set goals, I've visualized, I've gone to one seminar after another -- but I still can't seem to get any more money in my life."
"Tell me," I asked, " what you BELIEVE to be true about having more money."
Here's his list of beliefs about money:
I just can't seem to make any more money.
I have hit my peak financially.
It is just hard to make money.
The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.
I really can get along OK without more money.
The tax man will just take it anyway.
I do not want to sell my soul just to have more money.
Many people will agree with his list. So what's wrong here?
The basic problem is this: Edward's internal beliefs about money do NOT support his desire for more money in his life. In fact, his beliefs actually negate his desire.
How Beliefs Run Our Lives
We each have a set of beliefs and assumptions for every area of our life: From money to success - from relationships to your body image. And most of these beliefs go way back into your childhood.So what?
Because of the very nature of belief, we truly BELIEVE them to be true. In fact, we automatically assume a belief is true without even thinking about it.
Edward BELIEVES he would have to sell his soul to get more money in his life, and the tax man would just take it anyway. And he also believes he has hit his peak financially, and really CAN get along without more money.
Does that sound like a set of beliefs that support his desire to have more money in his life?
Have you examined your subconscious beliefs about what you say you want to create in YOUR life?
The Power of a Belief
Most of us are willing to scrutinize all aspects of ourselves, but can get very defensive if someone dares question our beliefs.We assume our beliefs are beyond question. So they often remain unquestioned, and cansimply run right over any goal that goes against them.
Science in Action
But I discovered the scientific truth behind how a thought can overturn a belief when I first began to use biofeedback in a clinical environment.I especially recall the wife of a prominent local surgeon, She came to me hoping biofeedback would provide some relief from her crippling back pain.
Mrs. Robbins (not her real name) had been in an especially nasty high speed car crash three years earlier. She had wrenched her back, and her back pain had never healed.
She hobbled into my clinic leaning heavily on a cane. Her physician husband was recommending surgery, and she was only trying biofeedback on a whim.
In the first session we discovered her belief that she would never heal from the trauma (her best friend had died in the crash).
I attached biofeedback sensors to her back, and we both observed the computer feedout as she painfully attempted to move her legs. Then I hooked up the sensors to her arm, and had her tense, then relax, her muscles. She clearly saw the difference between relaxed and tense on the computer screen.
Then I suggested that her back pain might be muscle bracing that had become a chronic habit -- and proposed an experiment in which she would just think about allowing her back to relax.
We placed sensors on her back again and I turned the screen away from her as she began to think about allowing her back to relax. Sure enough, the spikes reduced dramatically. When I rotated the screen so she could see it, her jaw dropped.
The power of her thoughts had immediately reduced the muscle spasms in her back. I asked her how her back felt. She was even more amazed. The skin had begun to warm as her circulation was partially restored.
After only three biofeedback sessions she was able to release the muscle spasms in her back with a single thought. And a few weeks later the cane was gone.
She had cured herself from a crippling belief (I don't think I'll ever heal) with a single powerful alternative belief (I can relax the muscle spasms in my back.)
Old beliefs CAN be replaced with success-affirming positive thoughts.
Replacing Limiting Beliefs
Replacing limiting beliefs requires dealing with the ANTs (Automatic Negative Thoughts) are attached to those beliefs.If you do have limiting beliefs, your ANTs will constantly reinforce those beliefs. The only way to stomp ANTs is to create new positive beliefs to replace the old negatives!
It does NOT matter if you believe these new positive beliefs at first.
Go ahead and read that sentence again!
Your mind is a creature of habit. The more often you consciously focus on your new positive beliefs, the faster they will be taken into your subconscious mind and replace your old limiting beliefs.
Do a mental house-cleaning and get rid of those ANTs.
About the Author
Unleash the AMAZING POWER OF BELIEF in your own life. Dr Jill's "TAKE CHARGE" ecourse is based on her 30 plus years of experience guiding and inspiring thousands of entrepreneurs, executives, and success-seekers in 192 countries of the world. It's fast moving, powerful, and can turn your life around on a dime. Show Me!
http://www.quantum-self.com/smash_your_limits.htm
7 Simple Marketing Tips
Copyright 2005 Bob Leduc
Here are 7 simple marketing tips to help you boost your sales and profits quickly. All are easy to use and work for any business.
Tip 1:
You can constantly improve the effectiveness of your advertising by allocating 80 percent of your advertising budget to proven promotions and 20 percent to testing new things. When something new works better than your proven promotions, move it to the 80 percent group and start
testing something else in the 20 percent category.Tip 2:
Customers are usually receptive to more offers from you immediately after they buy. Follow up every sale with another offer for a product or service related to the one they just bought. Many will accept your offer ... producing an easy sale for you.Tip 3:
Make your sales presentation more believable (and more effective) by converting general statements into specific descriptions. Instead of "quick and easy", explain exactly how quick and how easy. Also, reduce round numbers like "15 pounds" into specific odd numbers like "13.7 pounds". It sounds more authentic.Tip 4:
Most people are more interested in getting value for their money than in getting a bargain. Find some low-cost ways to enhance the perceived value of your product or service. Then test raising your price. Don't be surprised if both your sales and your profit margin go up.Tip 5:
Search for and test some alternative marketing methods you may be overlooking. That's how one internet marketer discovered direct mail postcards. They proved to be a highly effective and very low-cost way to generate traffic to her web site. Plus they conceal her marketing efforts from competitors who can see (and copy) what she does online.Tip 6:
You can make your sales message more effective by presenting everything in terms of the benefit it provides to customers. For example, don't just list testimonials from satisfied customers. Point out that those testimonials prove you have an established history of delivering what you promise.Tip 7:
Include a Questions and Answers page on your web site with the answers to frequently asked questions. It enables prospective customers to get instant answers to their questions ... and reduces the number of questions you have to answer yourself.One More ...A Bonus Tip:
Avoid making any sales claim that sounds exaggerated . . . even if it is true. A bold claim creates doubt in your prospect's mind and jeopardizes the sale. Reduce any bold claims to a more believable level.Each of these marketing tips reveals a simple, proven tactic you can use to boost your sales and profits quickly. All 7 are easy to use ...and have proven highly effective for any type of business.
About the Author
Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales. He just released a New Edition of his manual, How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards ...and launched *BizTips from Bob*, a newsletter to help small businesses grow and prosper. You'll find his low-cost marketing methods at: http://BobLeduc.com or call: 702-658-1707 After 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV
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