Genetic Mutations

We hear it all the time.  We should all have our teeth cleaned and examined a couple times a year.  Colonoscopies are recommended to catch any cancers early.  Women should get regular mammograms after the age of 40. 

I try to follow the suggested medical guidelines, which led me to my annual mammogram last year.  When my doctor discovered a “spot” that did not appear on earlier mammograms, he ordered a biopsy.  The test was benign, and I was relieved.  My grandmother and an aunt died of breast cancer, so I have reason to adhere to the regular checkups. 

I saw my doctor again this week and received a good report on my latest mammogram.  He pointed out that I have two more “spots” that he will be watching, but for now, no biopsy is necessary.  He then proceeded to ask me about my ancestry.  When I responded that I am of Eastern European descent, he asked whether the family was of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, to which I responded “yes.”

He went on to explain that those of Ashkenazi Jewish descent had a higher incidence of breast and ovarian cancer than the general population.  He suggested that I have BracAnalysis Testing for the mutated gene that is sometimes inherited by those in this group, both women and men.

Those who test positive for the mutated gene have an 88% chance of getting breast and/or ovarian cancer at some time in their lives.  So knowing whether I carry that gene will determine my current and future treatment.  For instance, he said if I test positive, he would perform a biopsy on those two suspicious abnormalities that appeared on my most recent mammogram.

I had never heard of this type of testing, nor did I realize that Ashkenazi Jews had a greater risk of breast and ovarian cancer.  This made me wonder what other diseases or disorders were common in certain ethnic or racial groups.

A brief Internet search informed me that Tay-Sachs disease is also more likely to occur among people of Ashkenazi (eastern and central European) Jewish descent and those of French Canadian ancestry. 

Sickle cell anemia is another genetic condition that is more common in particular groups, people of African, African-American or Mediterranean heritage.  I knew more African-Americans had sickle cell anemia, but I did not know that people of Mediterranean heritage also are more likely to develop the condition.

About one in 2500 Europeans develop cystic fibrosis, but only in one in 90,000 Asians do. I had no idea that disease was more common in a certain group than others.

Common diseases and conditions not connected to gene mutation also vary in frequency among certain populations.  Although millions suffer from hypertension, it occurs more frequently in African-Americans than European-Americans; and type 2 diabetes is especially common in Hispanic and Native-American populations.

I imagine further research would reveal far more medical conditions affecting one group more than others.  My lack of time to perform the research outweighs my curiosity to know about them.  I did, however, find it interesting to learn about the BracAnalysis Testing and about how various groups are more prone to specific health issues than others.

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To learn more about Julie Klein and Xpress Healthcare, visit http://joinxpresshealthcare.com.

I Want it, and I Want it Now!

If you join a network marketing company with a product and comp plan you love, the potential to earn that oft-cited six-figure income is yours for the taking.  However, I will be so bold as to say that the vast majority of these people will not do so.

I am approaching the two-year mark working my business.  I have made observations along the way of some things that, unfortunately, a large percentage of Affiliates with my company – and reps with most network marketing companies – have in common.

They want to earn a lot of money to improve their life – NOW, not in months or years.  And, they do not want to actually work, but expect the money to fall in their lap.

Those in network marketing who expect to earn money without putting in the effort might just as well buy a lottery ticket.  Sorry folks, but no one is going to hand you a pile of money.  From the time we were children, we have been told that if we want something, we must earn it. 

My company, Xpress Healthcare, sells discount savings plans.  Our plans offer discounts on health and dental care, pet care, legal services, prescriptions, roadside assistance and much more.  You noticed I said we “sell” these plans.  We do not give them away, and people do not come looking for us to beg us to allow them to purchase the plans.  There are many ways of selling them, but it does all come down to sales.

The best way for Xpress Healthcare affiliates to earn a great deal of money is by 1) growing a large team; and 2) selling our plans to large groups and businesses.  I have had too many team members to count say they are joining to sell to businesses – Business to Business, B to B. 

Our founders built our company to sell our memberships in mass quantities.  They have provided us with myriad tools and resources to enable us to do so.  However, no matter how many tools and resources are available, no one can sell to large organizations or companies without dedicating lots of time, building relationships, talking to people about what we have to offer them, and just plain hard work - lots of it.

There is a lot of money to be made for someone interested in selling memberships to groups, but
no matter what, it is based on hard work.  There is nothing stopping anyone from becoming an affiliate with us and earning six figures a year by selling to groups.  It comes down to how much time someone is willing to put in – and for how long they are willing to work for it. 

Even those who start earning money quickly often give up, because their income is not growing as fast as they think it should.  I believe that two to five years is not a long time to work a business with the potential to earn enough money to retire.

I am using Xpress Healthcare only as an example.  Nearly every company has a product or service they are selling, and every single one of them requires long-term effort.  All businesses in network marketing have the same challenge when it comes to finding good quality team members. 

To earn a six-figure income, all anyone needs to do is work hard and stick with it for as long as it takes.  I’ll repeat that last part – for as long as it takes!  I am willing.  Are you?

To learn more about Julie Klein and Xpress Healthcare, visit our website.

More Than Just Stay at Home Moms

I have several articles recently about the increased number of people who are working from home.  I found it interesting to note that the number of home businesses AND the number of telecommuting jobs has increased a great deal over the past decade or so.  About four million more people telecommute to work from home today compared to 1999. 

At one time, working at home was the realm of stay-at-home moms, with companies such as Avon, Mary Kay and Tupperware well represented.  Start-up companies then arrived on the scene, bringing more people home to work. Since the turn of the 21^st century, however, the number of individuals working at home has increased by tens of millions. 

Many people who once had small store-front businesses have moved those businesses to their homes, and their clients come to them there.  Their clientele may be smaller, but their overhead is as well.

Many larger companies and even major corporations now allow more of their full-time employees to work remotely.  This flexibility on the part of employers makes for happier employees.  They save on gas and commuting expenses, and many companies have even seen an increase in productivity for their remote workers.

The increase in work from home employees has grown particularly high in the computer, science and engineering industries.  Jobs performed in front of a computer can readily be moved to employee’s homes.  With high-speed Internet and services like Skype, companies can even hold virtual meetings.  Due to the challenging economy, employers have also been cutting back on costs, and letting people work remotely can reduce their expenses. They require less office space, and their utility bills are cut, for example.

Self-employed individuals and small business owners make up a large percentage of home workers.  During the past several years, along with the increase in unemployment, the work-at-home trend as grown. 

With the huge advances in communications and technology, millions are choosing to start and work their own home businesses.  This has subsequently led to the creation of thousands more business opportunities in a relatively brief period of time.

We have also seen a dramatic rise in those who work full or part-time jobs away from home while they are working a home business.  For most, their goal is to grow their home business enough to enable them to work at home full time at some point in the future.

My own story is similar to many others.  I began working my first home business, a typing service, about 15 years ago.  Both my husband and I worked jobs, and my business supplemented our income.  I was subsequently laid off my job with the County, and started a new job with the DEA.  A couple years later, I was laid off that job as well. 

Since my husband was still working full time, I started my search for a better-paying home business.  I found one (a party-plan company) that I worked for a year, with no success whatsoever.  I then started with another company where I operated my business for six years, earning a supplemental income.  While nearing the end of those six years, my husband’s employer went out of business.  Being at retirement age, he qualified for Social Security, so he decided not to search for another job when most companies were cutting their staff, not hiring.

Shortly thereafter, I found a business opportunity with a competing company.  I am now approaching my second year with Xpress Healthcare, and for the first time since working at home, I am earning a living.

There is no reason to believe that the huge growth in telecommuting jobs and home business opportunities will not continue at a rapid pace.  Even as the economy is improving, albeit slowly, I anticipate that millions more will be seeking business opportunities as opposed to a job.          

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 To learn more about Julie Klein and Xpress Healthcare, visit http://joinxpresshealthcare.com

Ah, Sweet Chocolate

I am most definitely a “chocaholic.”  I love chocolate, preferably dark chocolate.  Fortunately, if I abide by the “Everything in moderation” tactic, I can enjoy chocolate, because it has antioxidants, which protect the body from the effects of free radicals.  Free radicals can contribute to heart disease.  It makes sense, because chocolate comes from a plant, and many dark colored fruits and vegetables contain antioxidants.

Studies have proven that only dark chocolate provides health benefits.  Milk and white chocolate do not qualify.  Dark chocolate contains eight times as many antioxidants as strawberries!  It is good for your heart and can help keep your cardiovascular system running well.  Studies have shown that eating a small piece of chocolate daily may even lower blood pressure.  It can also reduce LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) by as much as 10%.  Some studies suggest chocolate may reduce the risk of stroke as well.

Dark chocolate stimulates the production of endorphins, providing a feeling of pleasure.  It contains serotonin as well, which can act as an anti-depressant, and theobromine and caffeine, both of which are stimulants, giving us a “pick-me-up.”

Let’s face it, even with all these health benefits, chocolate is high in calories.  Remember I mentioned “moderation?”  If you maintain self-control, you will enjoy the benefits of oleic acid, the same fat contained in olive oil.  But there again, even “good fat” contains high calories.  Saturated fat, the unhealthiest, is also in chocolate, which can increase the risk of heart disease and raise cholesterol.

Most studies that have been done on chocolate are based on about 3½ ounces of dark chocolate daily.  A dark chocolate bar has about 400 calories. If you eat ½ a bar every day, you’re consuming 200 calories that should be replacing 200 calories from the remainder of your daily consumption.  If you add those 200 calories to your diet without cutting anywhere else, no matter how many health benefits there are, you will still gain weight.

When selecting your dark chocolate, look for pure chocolate.  If your chocolate has nuts, nougat, caramel or other fillings, both calories and fat are added, erasing many of the benefits chocolate can provide.  Some research has also shown that drinking a glass of milk with your chocolate may even prevent the antioxidants from being absorbed or used by your body, again negating the benefits.

For quite some time, before learning about the benefits of chocolate, I have been eating one or two bite-size dark chocolates nearly every day.  I get my chocolate “fix” and the health benefits, and I don’t gain weight.  Ah, sweet chocolate.

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Julie Klein, Chocaholic and
Leader of Xpress Healthcare's Winner's Circle Team

http://joinxpresshealthcare.com

WWII Snippets

My father was a great story teller. He didn’t begin telling stories about his war experiences until later in his life. Some of his stories really stuck in my memory. I believe he “embellished” some to make them more interesting or entertaining to his “audience.” So as I relate these stories, please excuse me if they don’t seem entirely accurate. 

While still stationed in the States at Ford Ord, my newly-married parents tried to see one another as often as possible. My dad even went AWOL to see my mother, never getting caught. One time, my mother visited him at the Fort. They sneaked into the boiler room where they made love. Although my mother verified this particular story, it is difficult to picture her, a rather conservative woman, taking such a chance. However, I am not at all surprised that my dad would have done this. They were fortunate not to have been caught.

My dad served in the 30th Infantry Division, 3rd Division, H Company. His company was under General Patton. He served in Sicily (Messina) and North Africa in Tunisia, Casablanca, and Algiers as a company runner, assistant to the captain.

At one time, the troops completely ran out of ammunition. My dad went with the captain to see General Patton to request more ammunition. In typical Patton style, he responded by saying, "The sons of bitches have bayonets, don't they?"

Once, after a long battle, the troops went to a rest area. When an air raid sounded, everyone jumped into nearby fox holes. Immediately after landing in a fox hole, another soldier jumped over my dad, losing his helmet as he jumped. The helmet hit my dad, and for a moment, he thought he'd been shot.

I wrote this down word for word when my dad told it to me… "We used our helmets for everything - to eat out of, to shave, and as a toilet." Lovely thought. The soldiers used sanitary napkins as padding to ease the burden of carrying heavy rifles.

While serving in North Africa, my father discovered a nearby Jewish community. Being Jewish himself, during “down time,” he visited the community and met people who invited him to visit their homes and celebrate holidays. The people he befriended there remained lifelong friends, exchanging letters, birthday cards, etc. throughout their lives.

While my dad was walking a donkey in Morocco, the donkey stepped on a hidden land mine, which exploded, throwing my father through the air. He sustained some permanent injuries from the incident.

In April 1943, in French Morocco, on Hill 609, the Allied Forces were pinned down battling the Germans, fighting for weeks. My dad was in a fox hole when a shell landed and exploded next to his head. He was in and out of consciousness for days and temporarily deaf in one ear. He was transferred to a hospital in Rabat, North Africa, and then to a hospital in the States where he remained for months, being treated for battle fatigue (today commonly called Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome) and amnesia. 

He was honorably discharged a short time later, returning to live in Hollywood, California. His condition lasted for months, and he was occasionally found wandering down Hollywood Boulevard, unable to find his way home.

I learned from the National Personnel Records that most of my dad’s army records were burned in a fire in the early 1970’s. Wondering why, after two serious injuries, he was never awarded the Purple Heart, I ask a friend, a retired Army Major. He told me that during WWII, superior officers were often either incompetent & lazy or simply didn't have the time to complete the required paperwork. If we had proof of the injuries, we could apply for them now, but of course, I have no way to prove the stories told to me. 

Reading history books about WWII makes it seem like ancient history. Hearing the stories from someone who lived it brings them to life.

To learn more about Julie Klein and Xpress Healthcare, visit hhttp://julie.joinxpress.com

Daily IBO Activities

IBOToolbox is among my most important marketing tools.  When I sponsor a new team member in my Xpress Healthcare business, one of the first things I do is tell them about IBO and train them to use it.

I could write pages about all that is available on the IBOToolbox platform.  Although video training is available at the site, I like to teach new team members the basics myself and how to utilize them to their advantage.

In order to understand the significance of IBOToolbox marketing, it is important to know that IBO, along with its partner sites IBOSocial.com and IBOJunction.com, receive an average of 300,000 visits per day.  When we post on IBO, our blogs, comments and ads appear on all these sites, expanding our marketing reach.

Of all those who see our posts on the various IBO sites, only 4% are actually IBOToolbox members.  Hundreds of thousands of people seeking a business opportunity can also see our comments.  Besides IBO’s distribution of our posts, all IBO members also help one another promote their businesses by sharing our posts on our myriad social networking sites.

Once my team members realize the marketing possibilities IBO offers, I show them how to use some of the amazing tools provided to us to expand our marketing exposure.  After giving them basic training, I provide them with the following list of the various activities in which I recommend they participate each time they visit IBO.  

• ·       Check your incoming messages and associate requests.
• ·       Determine whether you have any ads running.  If not, check your credits to see if you have enough to post another banner ad.  Post one if you have the credits.  If not, increase your activities to earn credits.
• ·       Write mini ads that include a website link on the wall, and share them on your own social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
• ·       Write a blog/press release on a Word or WordPad document, and then post it in the Press Release area of IBO.  Then, share your press release on your various social networking sites.
• ·       Comment on other IBO members’ wall posts, and share them on your networking sites.
• ·       Read and comment on press releases posted by other IBO members.
• ·       Welcome new IBO members who appear on the wall during your visit.
•          Congratulate the Featured Member of the Day by posting a comment on the wall if they are not your Associate, and then send them an Associate Request.  If the FMOD is your Associate, you can either post on the wall or send them a private message of congratulations.

Very active IBO members know that there are more activities than those shown here. For those new to the site, however, this is a good start to get them into the habit of participating on IBOToolbox.  Over time, they will learn how to utilize the many additional features available.

The benefits of IBOToolbox participation cannot be overstated.  Any home business owner who is using IBO is missing an opportunity to expose their business to thousands of people every single day.  If you are not yet a member, join today!  http://www.ibotoolbox.com/invited.aspx?jid=11454

Trust Starts with Truth and Ends with Truth

The title of this post is a quote from Santosh Kalwar, in Quote Me Everyday.  It is such a valid statement. 

Trust is a huge factor in network marketing.  “Hype” is too often used to promote business opportunities.  When I was seeking a home business, I didn’t even consider one that was making unrealistic promises.  I don’t trust people who are dishonest, and I consider hype dishonest.  There are a variety of definitions of hype, but I found this one that fits how I perceive it…

 

To intensify (advertising, promotion, or publicity) by ingenuous or questionable claims, methods, etc.; to trick; gull.

In order to grow a network marketing team or sell our service or product, I believe in the slogan, “Honesty is the best policy.”  I have found that by telling the truth, the whole truth, I am able to build a rapport with my prospects, and with that, I earn their trust.  

When presenting our opportunity or products, if we appear nervous, it puts people on alert, making them wary about what we are telling them.  If we know our business and products well, however, we will be confident about what we are telling them, and our confidence will help us to gain their trust.

Everyone likes to be heard.  Even the best sales “pitch” will be ineffective if we are not listening to what our prospects have to say.  When we give them the opportunity to express themselves and ask questions, we are demonstrating our interest in them and showing them respect.  People are much more likely to trust what we have to say if we are listening to what they are saying or asking about your product and what they are seeking in a business opportunity.

Telling anyone who cares to listen how John Smith earned $1000 his first week with your business, does not tell as much about your or your company as does your own story.  Our testimonials are far more effective marketing tools than explaining every feature and benefit of our business.  I personally use the Xpress Healthcare discount savings plans that I sell, so I’ll share that I save nearly two hundred dollars quarterly by using my Xpress plans to purchase my prescriptions; and on my last routine dental visit, the cost was reduced by $50 when I used my plan.

Exaggerating our company’s earning potential or the benefits of our products may even cause us to lose a sale.  When I was shopping for a business, I ended several “pitches” because of unrealistic claims.  Honesty earns us the trust and respect of our prospects.  Gaining their trust is far more likely to will help us make a sale than all the hype in the world.

Earning and maintaining someone’s trust is far easier than trying to regain it once you have lost it.

To contact Julie Klein or learn more about Xpress Healthcare, visit http://joinxpresshealthcare.com.