My intention for this piece is not to offend anyone or to intentionally irritate. However, the truth that will be told here may just do that.

This morning I was doing some reading and since my memory is so bad, I don’t remember who wrote it. Anyway, he was talking about why people seem to be lucky. His theory was that people make their own luck by creating ‘spider webs’ of influence. In english, he meant the more relationships you create, the wider your influence, especially within a particular niche.

I remember as a young kid, my Dad would take me to New York Mets games. I would always think to myself how ‘lucky’ the people were who were sitting in the first row. I mean, you can’t just go to a ticket window and buy front row seats. These guys must have been really important.

Fast forward several years, and I had many friends in business who just happened to have company tickets to things like Mets games. I could go to any game i wanted and have my choice of sitting in a luxury box, or sit in the front row.

Did I sit around waiting for luck to hit me? No, I made friends, I increased my circle of influence, thereby increasing my chances of getting things I wanted and needed (like tickets to games).

So what the heck does this have to do with IBO Toolbox? I will tell you.

IBO toolbox encourages networking, which is why it is such an awesome tool. But one thing they encourage also is commenting on other people’s press releases. When you comment, you get rewarded with points you can redeem for advertising like banners. It is patently obvious to anyone who is a serious marketer, and who isn’t, simply by looking at the comments.

“Great PR Greg, couldn’t agree more” or “Great PR Thanks for sharing”. There is nothing genuine about either of those common comments. They are nothing more than playing along to gain credits so they can put up banner adverts.

Those who do this are nothing more than direct marketers looking to sell, sell, sell! No relationship building whatsoever. It shows in the fact that they have been in 12 different marketing ventures in the last year.

On the other side of that, you are rewarded for posting press releases also in the same way as posting comments. You know whats coming right?

Garbage press releases that are no more valuable to anyone reading than your puppy’s pee pee pad. They become a longer version of a wall post sales pitch. “Hey find out how I turned $7 into $3,000 a month residual income!” If you are clicking on that out of anything other than morbid curiosity, then you may want to consider going heavier on the medication.

All is not lost. IBO Tool Box is an awesome opportunity to meet people and network. Just consider what you are posting. If you are the direct marketer who could give a crap about providing any kind of value, your luck probably won’t get much better.

If someone calls you to talk and announces that they saw your profile on IBO, and your first instinct is to go into telemarketer defense mode, you should be doing something else. For Pete’s sake! This is the most influential way to meet and relate to people…by speaking with them!

This is your chance to talk to someone and shoot ideas off each other. So what both of you are committed to your MLM. Nobody said the only topic of conversation had to be someone switching companies. You never know. You may learn something about a neat trick to get your youtube videos ranked high on Google.

Heck, you may teach them something! It’s time to get out of the shallow end and put the swimmies away. Those who are insulted by this and want to call me names simply aren’t serious about their business and are looking for a magic button to make their business happen. Some reading this may not know any better until now. I know I was in that category at one point.

In closing, if you are actually serious about your mlm, you must start building your ‘spider web’. You can’t hide behind landing pages and ‘made-for-you’ videos by your company. Start networking and meeting new people in your niche.

You will be amazed at how much faster your learning curve levels out when you start talking to new people as well!

Yesterday, which was Sunday, I sat in Church and listened as Pastor Chris talked about how how he came to Christ and the first person he brought to Christ. It was a heartbreaking story, but I at least want to share it, albeit in summary.

Chris was friends with a girl in High School. They went on a church youth leadership retreat of some kind. She wasn’t as passionate for the church at that time, as she went because her parents sent her. But she saw how Chris handles himself, and it inspired her to start asking questions of him on their drive back home. He said he actually pulled over and they talked for about an hour about what accepting Jesus had done for him, and the significant changes it had made in his life.

That day, his friend decided she would accept Jesus into her life as well. She was baptized shortly thereafter.

About two months later, a friend called and asked if he was watching the local news. He said no and turned it on at the urging of the friend. There had been a fatal car accident in town, and the victim was none other than his friend he had helped lead to Christ. She was 19.

A day or so later, her parents called and told him that she had done nothing but talk about how accepting Jesus had changed her life! The parents thanked him sincerely and asked if he would speak at her funeral. He said he nervously accepted.

The day of the funeral, he got up and spoke in front of a church with what he estimated was over 300 mourners. He told his story. He told about the ride home from the youth leadership retreat and how she accepted Jesus as her Lord and savior that day. It was small consolation, as the loss of such a young life is devastating. However, knowing that she had punched her ticket for everlasting life that day, the friends and family of this young girl had peace.

At the end of his statements, Chris issued this offering. Remember, he is 19 years old. He said, “If anyone in this church wants a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and wants everlasting joy in Heaven, come to the front and accept Jesus into your life today!”

Close to 100 people came forth at a funeral to accept Jesus that day. There can be no more fitting end to a funeral, especially given the girl’s story, than to have brought 100 more people to Christ at her service.

As I listened to Pastor Chris tell this story, I couldn’t help but to hear similarities to MLM. Here was a guy who led by example. Someone showed interest, he shared his story and results and she was on board. The next part is the crazy part. In a tragic way, he was thrust in front of a large group. Again he shared his story. he told how it benefited the young lady they were gathered there for. Incredibly, or maybe not so incredibly, he ‘sponsored’ almost 100 more people.

You see, he didn’t stand on the corner shouting at people trying to sell them on the benefits of accepting Christ. He inspired through words and action which led to more exposure.

This is a true story and I really believe it illustrates how the greatest compensation plan (Christianity) works in all facets of life, including MLM!

That’s a good question. Growing up catholic and going to Catholic school, I thought I was on track. I received all the sacraments. I went to church. I went to confession. I was a good person (as good as an adolescent can be).

However, there was one thing missing. I followed all the ‘rules’, but I was missing the key component to salvation. A personal relationship with God.

When I became a bit older, I felt like I wanted more. Going to church every Sunday and living a good life and following all the rules didn’t seem like it was enough. I wanted more. Well…I found it.

This being the Christmas season, I get frustrated watching the hoopla surrounding sales and shopping and all the bullcrap that goes along with the commercialization of Christmas, and it’s ironic to me the sacrifices people will make to save a few bucks on something, and the lengths people will go to get a ‘thing’ that will make them ‘happy’.

Think about it. People set up tents and camp out on a concrete sidewalk in order to be the first three people into Best Buy to get the special sale on the iPad. People join a mob scene at WalMart for gifts.

Let me ask you this, God sent his only son to be the embodiment of our sins so that we might go to Heaven and achieve salvation. Do you see the same passion from people to gain that gift as you do watching them pursue a discount on an unimportant ‘thing’. Our time here is but a micro blip. This video is what many of us are living for.

We sit in lines and literally fight other adults to get the toy our kid wants. That is hard! Yet we forgo salvation, the ultimate gift from God, when all you need to do to claim it is to ask for it. No rules, no sacrifices (it was done for you already), just accept that you are a sinner, and ask God to come into your heart. That is it!

It is amazing how God’s Grace will consume you. Your personal relationship with God is all you need. You will understand what being content really is.
There is a great saying that sums it all up for you. ‘The rich man is not the one who has the most, but the man who needs the least.”

I hope you think about this. Christmas is the birth of our savior. He gave us a gift that we may claim any day of the week and it is the easiest, yet most important gift anyone can give you.

No fluff, let’s get right into it. Free URL shorteners like budurl and bit.ly may seem like a good idea, but they are actually costing you sales and subscribers.

Back in the day, they were great because they kept you from having a super long url. Now it just looks amateur. Do your potential customers take you seriously as a professional marketer? Nope.

Worse than that, they don’t trust affiliate urls or shortened urls. Just think how you feel when you see one. Does it instill confidence in you in the competence of the content provider?

Many people will either click away, or worse, erase your affiliate tracking number once at the destination. There are people out there that don’t want you to make a buck on them.

Here is the other thing to consider with url shorteners. many email servers do not allow them. They consider shorteners SPAM and will not deliver your messages to your subscribers if the message contains a url shortener. Imagine buying a solo ad and nobody gets your message. Your list will have terrible open rates because they aren’t even being delivered!

Here is a fact of life. You must have the right tools and resources to not only survive but to succeed.

If I was to change a car battery, I need some basic tools. If I had a needle nose plier could I change the battery? Perhaps. But what if I had a 3/8 drive ratchet with a #10 deep socket. I would definitely get it done and in less time than if I was using an inappropriate tool for the job.

The point is that having the right tools will not only get your job done, but they will expand the amount of time you have to do other meaningful things.

In my opinion, using free url shorteners is one of the most costly mistakes internet marketers make. You are not only slowing the progress, but killing it entirely.

Do yourself a favor and CLICK HERE to evaluate an invaluable tool that will keep you from losing affiliate sales and costing you subscribers.

Let’s keep it simple shall we? The question of the day is, “What do i say to my lead?”

Simple answer. First we must remember that when we are listening to our lead talk, we are losing, unless they are answering our guiding questions. That is paramount in understanding why you aren’t closing sales and sponsoring people.

The first question you should ask is one that will immediately put them in their emotional pain. “So John, Why did you fill out the lead form? What were you feeling?”

The obvious answer is how he saw an opportunity to make more money and wanted more information.

The follow up question is the killer. “So why do you want to make more money? What is your situation that is making you look for a way to make more money?”

The answer can go two ways.

1) “Well I am making great money with Tootie Frooti whiz bang juice.”They might try to go into their sales pitch. Cut them off immediately and remind them that they filled out a lead form about this opportunity. No time for b.s. If baloney continues, cut them loose. On to the next one.

2)They will take the opportunity to tell you the truth. They will tell you that they are living paycheck to paycheck and they are worth far more than they make. That is the prospect we want.

It is like being the psychiatrist prodding the patient to talk about themselves and allowing them to reach conclusions. Every question after that is nothing more than getting them to vocalize their financial situation.

Another follow up after they discuss how they work long hours would be, “So you are trading time for money and you feel like you are missing out on your kids growing up?” (assuming they mention they have kids, and they usually do)

Once you have gotten a few minutes of the prospect vocalizing their frustration, you summarize it for them. Wrap it up nice for them so they can see you holding up what they just described to you.

“So John, if I hear you right, you are working 60 hours a week and just paying the bills. Your wife is burned out and wants to have a family vacation, but you can’t take the time off, even if you could afford it?”

Ouch! That hurts! But the table is set.

“John, are you near your computer? Good. What is your email address? Okay John, I am sending you a link to a 10 minute company overview. It is 6pm est. I will call you back at 6:15 pm so as to give a few extra minutes to watch the entire video. Write down any questions you may have. Are you ready to make changes John? Okay go watch the video. I’ll talk to you in 15 minutes.” Hang up!

So here is the formula… Start off by immediately getting right into their emotions(YOU MUST LEAD THE CONVERSATION!) + build on what they tell you. Get them to feel more of their frustrations. + Summarize what they have told you and ask them to verify it. “So what you have told me is A,B, and C. Is that right John?” = $$$ in the bank.

What I just gave you, sales trainers charge hundreds per hour to teach sales people. It works. Lots of network marketers, after they know you have watched a video of theirs will ask you, “What did you like best about the video?”

That’s okay, but it isn’t leading the prospect to the sale. Stand by tomorrow for what the next step is…..

Have you ever looked at a situation and then listened to someone give an observation of what both of you are looking at, and thought to yourself, “That is not what I am looking at”, but accepted it at face value because they were an ‘authority’?

I’m sure you have second guessed yourself before, as we all have. We have all been in situations when we said to ourselves, “I should have gone with my instincts. I know what I see.”

Let me give the most obvious example. Our economy. This is not meant to be a political post, but it illustrates my point. We are told by our current President and just about everyone in his administration that we are in a ‘slow recovery’. The economy is getting better.

Dude! The word recovery and our economy should not be used in the same sentence right now let alone the same page!

Anyone with a shred of objectivity can see that this economy is in the shitter. You know better.

Likewise, when you have failed miserably in network marketing at least 5 times, and you get on a training call with so called heavy hitters in the company, and they tell you to make a list of 100 people and suggest you call them and say stuff like, “Hey Bob, It’s me Joe. Yeah I know its been too long. But hey listen the reason I called is because I have been having trouble at work lately and have been looking for something else. I think I may have found it. Would you take a look at it and give me your opinion?”
“Well geez Joe, I suppose I could….”

“Great Bob, let me just conference us over to a quick sizzle line call that will lay it all out now, okay Joe?”

“No Joe, that isn’t a good idea right now. I think I’d rather put my scrotum in a blender.”

I actually listened to someone tell hundreds of people on a training call to do that. Attempt to get someone to listen to a 10 minute sizzle call out of the box.

Here is another good one. Ever joined an online marketing group on Facebook? Join this, join that. There is zero dialogue, just ridiculous pitch after pitch. It reminds me of a scene from one of my favorite movies, Dumb and Dumber. Being in these groups makes me feel like the guy in the middle. Watch the video to refresh your memory.

 
Ha Ha! I love that!

You know better! If even one was telling the truth about how much they are making, we would all be making millions! But our desire to believe that it can be done the easy way gets in the way of our instinct which is tapping us on the shoulder going, “Tom, look at his Facebook profile. He is fishing out of a dinghy with a huge smile on his face featuring his three teeth! He is not making a replacement income with Matrix Gusto Tsunami Cash Gifting System. Don’t you remember last week when he was making thousands a day with Virtual Bullshit Avalanche Lead System?”

In short, you are smart. Smarter than other people online treat you. Listen to your instinct, it’s probably right, unless you are Joe, and you think dumping Bob on a sizzle line call is a great idea while Bob is standing naked in his dark bedroom with lavender warming massage oil in his hand trying to play Klaus the Bavarian masseur with his wife.

If you laughed at this post, share it. If you think I’m an idiot, share it anyway. If you think you are Klaus the Bavarian masseur, get real.

I’ve been super busy this week, and subsequently was unable to muster some inspiring words for my friends. However, I do have a fun observation I made a few days ago.

I was driving in my car the other day when a commercial came on for Michelob Ultra, and ‘living the Ultra Life’.

They went on to have several people give testimonials about what drinking Michelob Ultra helped them do.

One lady said she hiked the Grand Canyon. Another guy said he dangled a few feet over a huge bear.
Yet another claimed to do a zip line over a 400 ft. ravine.

I believe their message was that when you drink Michelob Ultra, you are able to do amazing things that you otherwise would never do… you know, live the Ultra Life.

Well, unbeknownst (you’re jealous that I can use that word in a sentence) to me, I must have been living the Ultra Life since I was about 17 because I can rattle 10 things off the top of my head that I did that I NEVER would have done had I not been drinking.

1)Dance on stage with two girls bigger than Honey Boo Boo Child’s mother at a club in NYC while Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock performed ‘It Takes Two’ behind us. I was extremely Ultra that night.

2)Put a shock collar on that belonged to my brother’s largest dog. (have the video of that somewhere)
3)Crashed 4 weddings in Michigan with another Ultra friend of mine dressed as Al Gore and George Bush (during 2000 election campaign)

I can go on and on but the list gets ugly and I don’t want to ruin your high opinion of me. Ha ha!

I know you weren’t expecting to hear drinking stories tonight so somehow I will pull this thing together with some Metaphor, or Simile. I’m not sure which is which I wasn’t paying much attention that day in English class.

Here we go! The big takeaway is this…Be careful when somebody tells you, “Dude you look friggin cool as hell on stage with those girls!” or “All you have to do is push a few buttons and you will start seeing commissions like the $86,321.98 I made last month. You can have it all for $37!”

Keep living the Ultra Life!

They are not the same. You should be asking yourself, “which am I doing?” Am I making money online? Or am I really building a business?”

Truth is, you may think you are building a business, but you are just scrambling to make every dollar you can.

Yeah I know its all about making money, but consider this, if you stopped, would you still get paid?

Here is a good test to see if you are building a business or just trying to make money. Go to your Paypal account and look at the products you have purchased in the last 12 months. I mean everything, Fiverr gigs and all. How much have you spent? Be thorough. If you don’t have Paypal, look at your credit card statements. What have you purchased?

Take a good look at the products you bought. I will share with you my findings. I spent over $2,000. Believe it or not, that is on the low end of the average internet marketer. I will share some startling results in a minute on that subject.

The worst part of what I found was that most of the stuff i bought, I don’t even remember what it was. I don’t use it and I don’t recall what the product or program even is! The name of the vendor gives me no clue as to what it was. Talk about shiny objects?!

Here’s the point. Most internet marketers are constantly being bombarded with new angles. A new facebook app, or a new strategy to get free traffic to our blog. It always seems these new products appear about one week apart. Just enough time to ALMOST be done implementing the last product.

If this sounds remotely like you, you are not building a business. You are trying to make money online. You are trying a new way to advertise on craigslist, or the new Java script that puts your youtube video into a rotation to get more views and comments.

NONE of these things is helping you build a business. They are only short term bumps to help make a quick affiliate sale.

I am not saying that making money online is bad, what I am saying is that focusing on the short term will keep you FOREVER looking in the short term.

Does that make sense? Your goal is to do what? Make $5,000 $10,000 a month or more right. Does Dave Wood use a special whizz bang facebook landing page to make $20,000 in a day? No. He is selling it to you. Dave Wood has created a massive list of followers through awesome content. He primarily used blogs as a vehicle. Now, he can shoot out an offer through his affiliates and his own list. BAM, in one day, one email it’s windfall time.

Guess what happens next?
You’ve got 20,000 people trying to do the same thing. They start posting on facebook telling about David Wood’s new blog network that pays 100% commissions.

Guess what else? There are a small number of people who actually use the platform to blog, make connections, become an expert in something and share that value with others. Yup, thats right, they use the platform to grow their sphere of influence by sharing VALUE, instead of trying to peddle the thing for a couple bucks in the short term.

Getting this yet?

Now back to the startling information from a good friend of mine. This gentleman (who will remain nameless because I am not a name dropper) has a mentoring program. He asks that every new person to get in the program fill out a questionnaire. It takes a good hour to do it. Below, look at some of the results…

Remember how much I said I spent? Look at the high end! Damn!

Here’s another…

Any of these sound familiar?

The worst is the fact that this mentoring program costs several hundred dollars. There is one question near the end that asks if you are totally committed to following the plan they lay out for you. 15% said they didn’t think so! What?!!!!!!

What kind of dumbass forks over hundreds of dollars to someone to help their business, and they don’t even intend to follow through? Ummmm….

Conclusion:

After looking at your purchases in the last 12 months and critiquing what you are doing at the present, maybe you will come to the conclusion that you are indeed scrambling to make money online and not building a business.

If this makes any sense to you, and you want to know more, subscribe to my RSS feed below and get updates as I share with you how you can shut out the noise and build a foundation for long term growth.

http://inspirefirstmarketing.com/feed

I apologize for my usage of the language, I can’t help that I am a gifted wordsmith.

If you are like me, almost overly motivated, you may be able to relate to my mental constipation. I have many irons in the fire so to speak.I am doing everything I can to maximize my online marketing efforts.

I’ve got a blog, a content syndication group, and I do all sorts of other internet marketing activities that take up huge amounts of time and mental capacity.

Couple this with the fact that I am getting set to take my family on a road trip to Dallas, I am trying to sell one of my cars, and I think subconsciously I am thinking about the anniversary of my father passing 12 years ago.

I am having a less than stellar week. I am noticing that I can’t remember stupid stuff. I am constantly losing papers, keys, wallet and just about everything! I am just super dull mentally.

It Is Time To Take A Mental Dump!

In order to be effective at anything we need focus. Right now I have the focus of a Tourettes sufferer after 5 RedBull drinks. I have a feeling you might be relating to this as you read.

It is imperative that we recognize this condition we have gotten ourselves in. It must be addressed. Why? Because in order to get back on track, we need to first accept that we are overloaded.

Here is what I do.

First, stop everything I am doing, facebook, blog, seo, wife, kids, everything. You are useless to damn near everybody right now. I dare to say, not only is your business suffering, but so are your relationships with your spouse, family, and friends.

Find a quiet place and pull out the Bible. Read. This brings me all the way back to the most basic and most important fact of my life…that Jesus is more important than anything else crazy that is going on.

Once I find that place of relief and peace, I write down EACH and EVERY issue affecting me at that time. I ask Jesus to give me the power to deal with it and most importantly, MOVE ON to the things most important to me.

It is amazing how simply the problems that were bringing me down get dealt with and pushed back.

Now It Is Time To Get Back To Work!

You may not be a Christian, but the process is the same regardless of your God. For me, acknowledging that I CANNOT handle everything myself, and that I need to get re focused on what is truly important, God, makes everything easier. Remember, nothing is impossible with Jesus.

This is how I ‘dump’ the static that is crackling in my head. Re centering myself around my belief in God gives me the same mental effect, as Metamucil does for…well you know.