Team Work Makes the Dream Work

To succeed in network marketing, a strong sponsor is vital.  When anyone is ready to join a program, I highly recommend that they do lots of research to learn what team they want to join. Many people in the industry quit due to lack of support and training from their sponsor. More often than not, I believe it is the team member, not the sponsor’s fault. However, there are poor sponsors. I’ve worked with them myself. For those seeking a new business opportunity, before joining any organization, perform research on the company itself, their product or service, the management team and potential sponsors.  If there is any doubt about any of them after completing a thorough search, seek another company.  It is important that a rep has good “chemistry” with their sponsor or they will not work well together. When talking to a prospective sponsor, asking them a few questions may help to determine which team is the best fit. 1. What kind of support do you offer new team members? 2. Do you have successful team members now, or did you with other companies? 3. How is your team different from others in your company? 4. Do you host team training calls and/or offer one-on-one training? Some companies place emphasis on the team leaders and ignore those who are not top producers. I worked with a company like that myself. The team leaders paid attention to those who were doing really well, not those who actually needed guidance and training. The people who join strong teams within a company are generally the most successful. Without a sponsor with good leadership skills, reps may not receive the training and support necessary to reach their goals. No team leader wants someone to join their team who needs their hand held every step of the way. However, there is a difference between a free loader who is dragging the whole team down and someone who needs guidance and a couple one-on-one training sessions to get their business up and running. As a team leader myself, I know that “you can lead a horse to water…”  At the same time, I know that I must also provide my team with all the tools they need to succeed; I must spend some one-on-one time with them at the beginning and when changes take place within the company; and then I can leave it up to them to apply and put these tools and methods to good use. It is the nature of the business that not all team members will do well, and many will quit before ever putting in any effort.  Methods that work with one company may not necessarily work with another.  I use methods that actually work with our program, and I teach my downline how to replicate them. If I perform my job well, those team members who are dedicated to their business and determined to succeed will then teach their own teams to achieve even greater success for the team as a whole. ******************************* To learn about Julie Klein and the Xpress Healthcare Business Opportunity, please visit http://joinxpresshealthcare.com.  You can work from home and earn residual income. For information about how you can Save Money on Your Health and Dental Costs AND Save on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, Lifelock™ and much more, please visit http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings(NOT insurance)

Network Marketing vs. a J-O-B

In today’s economy, people are looking for a way to supplement their income. Most people look for a part-time or second job.  For most, it is the only way they know how to bring in the additional income. Those who have never done so often believe that setting a home business is difficult, and they don’t know where to begin. The beauty of the network marketing industry is that the “setting up” the business has already been done for us. The company provides the websites, marketing tools and training.  Network Marketers definitely must work to earn money, but the “set-up” has been taken care of for us. People search for a job, apply, and hope they are selected for the position. With network marketing, people research and select a company they like; they join and pay whatever fee is required.  With my company, Xpress Healthcare, we have no initial registration fee or start-up fee. Companies have different fees, perhaps training costs, and some have start-up or registration fees.  From my own experience, at some point, every company will charge their reps for something, even those that advertise as “free.”  Of course, I haven’t tried all of them, so I could be mistaken about some of them. Virtually all network marketing companies will provide at least a website to their reps, sometimes more. With Xpress we receive several websites, family benefits and more. Network marketers are investing in themselves.  They are business owners. They are not paying for a job or the opportunity to work for someone else.  Those who work a job earn money for someone else. They receive an income, a salary or commission.  The likelihood of their income increasing within the first few months is slight.  The employer tells their employees what days and hours they must work. Network Marketers set their own hours, and if they work their business properly, they will be in control of their income. For those working a job, taxes are taken out of their paychecks, with little or no control over what is deducted. Network marketers have no taxes taken out of their checks. They keep all the money they’re paid, and pay their taxes at the end of the year. Because they work at home, however, their tax deductions are HUGE, and until they are earning a large income, they may be able to write off more than they pay in taxes! Employees can be fired or laid off a job. Network marketers have the opportunity to work hard and become one of the leaders of their company. The last point in this comparison is the best of all!  You can never leave a job and continue to receive pay checks.  With companies that pay residual commission, once reps build their income, they can continue receiving residuals whether or not they continue working their business.  Many network marketers start out slowly, making few or no sales.  They often become discouraged. But think of it this way… Could you buy a restaurant, a retail store or a nail salon for what we pay to own our own our network marketing business?  With any “storefront” business, it will likely take a year or more to get into profit mode. In network marketing, an affiliate can be in profit mode in weeks, or at least within a few months. We own our business. It is ours! If a network marketer sticks with it, works their business and attends training, they WILL be successful and meet their goals!  Can you say that about any j-o-b?  ******************************* To learn about Julie Klein and the Xpress Healthcare Business Opportunity, please visit http://joinxpresshealthcare.com.  You can work from home and earn residual income. For information about how you can Save Money on Your Health and Dental Costs AND Save on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, Lifelock™ and much more, please visit http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings   (NOT insurance

Is Your Team Motivated?

There are many ways to keep your team motivated. Here are a few that I think can work effectively.

· It is important to keep your team members informed.
Be sure they are aware of everything that happens in the company that will affect them, directly or indirectly. Hold regular meetings and/or conference calls. We all feel more important if we feel like “insiders,” when we know about changes, improvements and news going on in the company. If they feel as though they are not “in the loop,” their performance may suffer.

· Acknowledge Accomplishments and Give Regular Feedback
Positive feedback is what keeps everyone moving forward. It’s essential to improve your team’s work. It’s not all about praises, but about objective and concrete information that helps them improve the performance of the team. Don’t criticize if someone makes a mistake. Instead, discuss ways they can improve their activities next time, asking for their input.

· Praise Generously
Acknowledge and recognize a job well done, or even a great effort that perhaps didn’t provide the results they’d hoped for. Don’t pass up an opportunity to make each person feel better about themselves and their work.

· Help Each Team Member to Build on their Leadership Skills

Leadership means learning to see the best in the others to empower their potential, which subsequently will help to fulfill the team’s goals. When we treat everyone with respect and show our approval, we’re creating a climate where the team’s assets will actually appreciate in value.

· Share the Vision
Create an exciting future by shaping a vision that it will compel your team to move toward it, to reach out and grab the prize. Visions are powerful, and when they are shared and understood by your team, it helps to overcome obstacles that may stand in the way. 

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To learn about Julie Klein and the Xpress Healthcare Business Opportunity, please visit http://joinxpresshealthcare.com.  You can work from home and earn residual income.

For information about how you can Save Money on Your Health and Dental Costs AND Save on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, LifeLock™ and much more, please visit http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings   (NOT insurance)

I'd Like to Get to Know You

In order to get to know one another better, I created a new game to play on my team call last night.  Although each of us owns our own business, we also work as a team.  I believe that knowing one another makes for a more cohesive group.

So, prior to our team call, I sent an email to everyone asking them to send me one thing about themselves that no one on the team was likely to know.  Several people sent me their “secret,” and I presented them on our team call, without saying which belonged to whom.  I read them and asked the team who they thought each one belonged to.

The “secret” statements were really varied.  Here is a sampling of those submitted.

I have lived, worked or traveled in 14 countries with three mission agencies.

I am a certified Stock Broker and Commodity Analyst.

I love “beading.”

I am a HUGE Bugs Bunny fan.

I am Portuguese and was born in the Azores.

I love riding motorcycles.

I love gardening.

I have a 10 year old dog named Lola.

No one could positively identify which statement matched which team member.  I suggested that they take guesses.  By taking guesses, only three people were linked to their own statement. We laughed and chatted a bit about each person’s statement and were really surprised by a couple of them.  (A stay-at-home mom is the one who loves to ride motorcycles.)

This game only took about ten minutes, leaving plenty of time for our topic presentation for the night.  Everyone enjoyed it, and we now know one another just a little better.

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To learn about Julie Klein and the Xpress Healthcare Business Opportunity, please visit http://joinxpresshealthcare.com.  You can work from home and earn residual income.

For information about how you can Save Money on Your Health and Dental Costs AND Save on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, Lifelock™ and much more, please visit http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings   (NOT insurance)

What Happened to Commitment?

Why do so many people today struggle with commitment? Maybe you are having difficulties yourself. This is happening with our personal and business relationships, careers, large and business small businesses and network marketing. It seems to span all age groups. For example, young children who don’t want to be bothered going to soccer practice after the novelty wears off. Another example is Baby Boomers who suddenly tire of and dump their spouses after 40 or more years. Why do so many people launch with great enthusiasm into new ventures, but then lose interest with the first obstacle? Why do so many people so easily abandon their goals. Many justify giving up by blaming the economy, the recession, the company with whom they are working, whatever excuse sounds good – even the weather. In most cases, in reality, the real reason is lack of commitment. Why are so many people lacking commitment? Some reasons are based on our background, our upbringing or lack of self-discipline. Some of the reasons related to a specific goal could be: The goal is too big and feels impossible to achieve. The goal is too small, so the reward is not worth the effort. The wrong goal … setting goals on others’ expectations, not your own. Is it too late to hope for improvement? No, the poor economy has brought many people face-to-face with a new reality. A new generation is learning that a college education is no longer a ticket to a job for life and a pension. Today financial security often depends more than ever on developing our own income. So what is your level of commitment?  ******************************* To learn about Julie Klein and the Xpress Healthcare Business Opportunity, please visit http://joinxpresshealthcare.com.  You can work from home and earn residual income. For information about how you can Save Money on Your Health and Dental Costs AND Save on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, Lifelock™ and much more, please visit http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings   (NOT insurance)

You Are Related to Whom?

I have written before about my husband and my interest in genealogy.  We only research our own history as a hobby, not as a business.

Being of Eastern European Jewish descent, although I love finding new family links, there are no well-known, famous or infamous people in my family tree.

My husband’s family, on the other hand, is amazing.  We have known for a long time that he was distantly related to the actor James Dean, Daniel Boone, one of the “Manson” girls (if you are unfamiliar with the name, you are fortunate), Abraham Lincoln, American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman and Robert E. Lee.  It is exciting to make these discoveries.

Over this past week or so, we began tracing another of my husband’s family branches and found that he is related to far more prominent and legendary people.  It has been such fun!

Among the kin to my husband are the American actor Humphrey Bogart who was his 13^th cousin, once removed, privateer and pirate Sir Henry Morgan (his picture is on bottles of Morgan’s Rum), and the late Princess Diana Spencer and her sons Harry and William.  Diana was my husband’s 14^th cousin, once removed.  Other historic figures who are related are U.S. President Millard Fillmore, and Miles Morgan, a Pilgrim whose statue was erected (and still stands today) in Springfield, Massachusetts to honor his services in settling the town, governing the colony, and fighting the Native Americans during the King Phillip's War. 

On the subject of wars, John Hunt Morgan, a Confederate general and cavalry officer in the American Civil War.

Also related is J.P. Morgan, a powerful American banker who financed railroads and helped organize U.S. Steel and other major corporations.

Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III, the playwright who wrote “The Glass Menagerie,” “The Night of the Iguana” and many others, was a distant cousin as well.  “Speaking” of writers, the poets John Robbinson Jeffers and Archibald MacLeish were also cousins of some sort.

Genealogy is a fascinating, frustrating and amazing hobby.  Going back another generation is always exciting to me, and when we discover names we know from history, it adds to the excitement.

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To learn about Julie Klein and the Xpress Healthcare Business Opportunity, please visit http://joinxpresshealthcare.com.  You can work from home and earn residual income.

For information about how you can Save Money on Your Health and Dental Costs AND Save on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, Lifelock™ and much more, please visit http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings   (NOT insurance)

It is so cold… How cold is it?

When most people think of Arizona, they think about the hot desert.  While Phoenix and Tucson and a few other cities have extreme heat, such is not the case where I live.  My town is at 4900 feet elevation. The next town is a mile high.

This past Thursday, we woke up to lots of snow.  We only get snow here two or three times a year, and it is never so deep we have to shovel a drive way.  Even so, we got six inches of snow on Thursday, and it was beautiful to see – from inside my house!

My husband and I woke up this morning to find our house really cold!  We played with the heater, and it simply would not go on.  It was 26 degrees outside.  It was very early, so we planned to wait a couple hours before we called a plumber.

When we started to make oatmeal for breakfast , we discovered that the stove wouldn’t go on.  Light bulb moment!  There was nothing wrong with our stove or heater.  We were out of gas!

We must use propane gas where we live.  For convenience and financial purposes, we are on auto payment and a level pay plan all year.  We also are on auto fill, which means that the propane company tracks the level and fills the tank when necessary.  When we checked the tank, it was at ZERO!

Still very early in the morning, we called the propane company’s “emergency” line. We tried repeatedly and tried a couple other numbers for the company, but no one answered.  Great!

Finally at 8 AM, we made contact with our local propane office. A receptionist answered, but she was alone in the office and could do nothing.  She called their regional office and the General Manager called me. 

Apparently they use a formula of sorts to determine when we will need gas.  It is based on the size of the home (ours is 2250 square feet) and the number of gas appliances in the home.  Although we’ve been with the company for years, for some reason those numbers were not in their computer.  She informed me that we had no delivery since APRIL!

Within an hour, the manager had arranged for someone to deliver propane to our home and relight all the appliances.  She said we would get 50 gallons free due to the inconvenience.  Our tank took 212 gallons to fill. If we weren’t on the level pay plan, it would have cost $742.57!

So, here I sit in my home office wearing a jacket, a wool scarf around my neck with a blanket covering my legs.  I am drinking hot tea and holding the cup to warm my hands.  It will take a couple hours to warm the house up.  I realize that am fortunate compared to all the people who lived in much colder weather for a long time after Hurricane Sandy and other storms.

The moral of this story, we are looking for a new propane company.

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To learn about Julie Klein and the Xpress Healthcare Business Opportunity, please visit http://joinxpresshealthcare.com.  You can work from home and earn residual income.

For information about how you can Save Money on Your Health and Dental Costs AND Save on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, Lifelock™ and much more, please visit http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings   (NOT insurance)