Boom!

I am part of the “Baby Boomer” generation.  My generation helped to destroy the once very common long-lasting marriage. We were the first generation where divorce became very common.  My own parents were married 63 years and my grandparents, 55.  Yet all my parents’ children, 4 in all, have been married more than once.

In earlier times when people married, they entered the relationship knowing that it would be permanent.  They had no more or fewer disagreements than people have today, but for most, escaping the marriage was never considered.

Today, way too many people get married with, “If it doesn’t work out, we can always get a divorce” in the back of their minds.  They don’t consciously think that way of course, but it is a seed germinating, ready to bloom when challenges in their marriage arise.  I think fewer people with each generation are willing to make a lifetime commitment.

My husband and I will celebrate our 20^th wedding anniversary on January 1, 2013. We were both married previously, neither of us for as long as 20 years.  We are both certain we will be together forever.  We have disagreements.  We are two very different people after all.  However, we never raise our voices in anger, never call one another names and never cuss at one another.  At all times, we show respect for one another.

My sister brags that she and her husband have been married 35 years, but she has also told me that they scream and yell at one another and use filthy language when they “fight.”  Hmm.  Is this a “good” marriage because of its longevity?

Today my husband and I were discussing the poor marriage record of Baby Boomers, and we realized that although divorce is common for those our age, we actually know several people who have been married for a very long time.

We have several couple-friends who have been married more than 30 years, the first marriage for two of those couples.  In fact, we were surprised to realize that most people we know have been married for 20+ years.  Since so many people divorce these days, how is it that we have so many friends in long-lasting marriages?  Do people in good marriages attract or seek out others in good marriages? 

I have found a similar attitude in network marketing team members.  Most are unwilling to commit to their business, while a small percentage commit fully, whatever it takes.  I have developed a few close friendships among my co-workers.  Like the long-married couples we know, those close friendships only seem to be with those who have a similar passion for their business that I have.    

Will the next generation and the next one after that commit to relationships and to their work, or will commitment become less and less common as time goes on?  Of course, I do not know, but I pray it is the former.

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I Don't Believe It!

I Don’t Believe It!

If you believe in yourself, you can achieve whatever goal for which you are striving.

It is rare to find an adult doesn’t know how to drive a car.  Virtually everyone you know drives.  Although I know a couple people who do not drive, they never wanted to learn.  I don’t know anyone who tried to learn, but failed.  No one who tried a few times to learn but then gave up.

If you think about it, driving a car is a bit complex.  You need to operate the gas pedal, the brakes and a steering wheel – the gear shift as well if you’re driving a standard transmission vehicle.  On top of that, you have to watch the road, anticipate what other drivers may do, read signs and obey traffic lights.

Why is it that the overwhelming majority of people who choose to learn to drive are successful?  The answer is pretty clear.  Before anyone even begins to learn to drive, they know they will be successful.  They know that others have done so, and they too will learn, even though it really is a somewhat complicated skill.

No matter how you measure success, it begins with your own thought processes.  Without a clear picture of the results you are seeking, your subconscious mind may prevent you from achieving those results.

When they begin to listen to the words they use regularly, most people are surprised to learn that they are often sending negative messages to their subconscious mind. 

Have you ever told yourself, for example, that because you’ve never participated in forums or written blogs, you’ll never be any good at it?  Or, because you’ve been participating in forums for a few weeks and not received any prospects from them that you will never succeed with your business?

When your subconscious mind receives these messages, you may be setting those challenges in concrete, convincing yourself that you will never reach your goals.  It is important to remind yourself of your goals, and create an image in your mind of the successful you.  See yourself as successful.

Focus on the positive picture you create, and your subconscious mind will help you achieve this picture in reality.

When speaking to yourself or someone else, instead of saying that learning about your business is really difficult, instead tell yourself that you are working hard to build your business, meeting each challenge that comes along.  Or in your personal life, instead of telling yourself “I won't be overweight anymore,” think “I am getting thinner every day.”

Even if others do not believe in you – which is common in network marketing – focus on the many who have succeeded, not those who quit…  Remember that those who quit did not fail, they simply gave up before putting in the time and effort to reach their goals. 

The people who believe in themselves and keep working toward their own success are the ones who do succeed.

During the Dot Com boom, people were buying internet stocks like crazy. Warren Buffet chose not to do so, and he received lots of criticism.  He believed in his actions and ignored the criticism.  When the dot com bust happened, millions of people lost lots of money, but Buffet became one of the richest people man in the world!

Before “Roots” was published, Alex Haley received 200 rejections from publishers.  He didn’t quit trying.  He finally got his book published and won a Pulitzer Prize for it.

Buffet and Alex Haley were normal people like you and me. Their success came because they believed in themselves.

No one succeeds without coming across challenges along the way.  If it takes time to build up your lead lists and get prospects, remind yourself that you will get them with consistent effort. 

Most of us had doubts about certain aspects of our business along the way, but we did not give up.  Instead, we convinced ourselves that if others could do it, we can too.  Believe in yourself.  Continue moving forward, persevere, be persistent and patient.

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Heading Home

Here we are on I-10 heading home to Arizona after a great trip to visit family and friends in California.

It is sad to be leaving, because we want to stay and live in California, but until our house in Arizona sells, we cannot do so.

We started our week with our younger son, staying at his apartment the entire week.  We had dinner at my brother's restaurant the first night. We had a great meal with wonderful company.

The following evening, we met one of my team members and her husband for dinner.  It was our first in-person meeting, and we had such fun with them!  What a great couple.

On Saturday, we had a nice visit with an elderly cousin, the last of her generation still alive.  At 91 years of age, she is still sharp and living alone.  From her home, we drove to the coast, Pacific Coast Highway, driving south stopping to enjoy the ocean view, smell and sounds. Living in Arizona, we don't have much opportunity to see the ocean.

On Sunday, we met with my husband's daughter and friends for a really nice visit.  The following day, my brother joined us as we drove to a few cities in Southern California trying to decide exactly where in Southern California we want to live when our house does sell.

The next day we drove to another beach town to see our niece and grand niece.  We hadn't seen them for a couple years, so we had lots to catch up on.  That evening, we saw our older son and our 4-year-old granddaughter.  She is an adorable little girl who we barely know, because we live so far away.

Our last full day was mostly relaxing and visiting with our younger son.  That evening, because it was the 4^th of the July, Independence Day in the USA, my brother and darling sister-in-law joined us, along with our son, and we went to The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, for a phenomenal fireworks display.  We saw some unique fireworks that none of us had ever seen before.  The Rose Bowl show was reported to be the largest display in Southern California.  We picnicked in a park area surrounding the Rose Bowl in what was a real party atmosphere, with about 200,000 other people.  Our final night in California was special mostly because we spent it with family.

As anticipated, driving in California was terrible, and we drove a great deal during our visit – 1845 miles to be exact.  However, as we also expected, we had a wonderful time seeing everyone.  We are now in the first of what will be about a 10-hour drive home... although Arizona is feeling less like home each time we leave our family. 

Having a home business is such a pleasure.  I can work anywhere, and I can take vacations whenever I please.  During the week I was in California, two people joined my team, and I spoke with three other really good prospects that I’ll be contacting again.

I am also so fortunate to have a dear friend and co-worker on my team who covered my training calls and even helped a few of my team members during my absence.

My team, The Winner’s Circle, is one of the top teams in Xpress Healthcare.  If you’re looking for a home business with phenomenal people, please check out my website

California Here I Come

My husband and I are going to California for a visit at the end of this week.  We’ll be staying for about a week.  Both our families and friends live in Southern California, so we have quite a few people we want to see.

I’m pretty good about preparing a work schedule, but planning who we are going to see on what day and time and where we will see them has turned into quite a challenge.  We will be there for only one weekend, and some of the people we want to see work during the week and are only available on weekends. 

While we are in California, we’ll be celebrating Independence Day – with whom and where, we do not yet know.

We will be staying with one of our sons in Pasadena.  If you know Southern California at all, you know that it is really spread out, and the traffic is horrible.  Of course, it is worse during “rush hour,” but there is rarely a time when the freeways do not have a great deal of traffic.  Whoever coined the term “rush hour” anyway?  No one is rushing anywhere.  The freeways in Los Angeles become a parking lot, not a racetrack.

We have family and friends in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys, both of which are over thirty miles from where we are staying in Pasadena.  Driving 30 miles where I live in Southeast Arizona would be a quick trip, but in Southern California, depending upon the time of day, it will likely take 45 to 90 minutes.

People in California love their cars.  There is decent public transportation – trains and busses - but the vast majority of people choose to drive their own cars to and from work.  When we are sitting still on an L.A. freeway, I always, wonder “What is wrong with these people?  How can they do this day after day?”  At least car pool for goodness sake!

It is very fortunate that my husband is retired and I have my Xpress Healthcare home business and can work it anywhere I go.  Have laptop, will travel.  So, if this coordination of visits becomes too crazy, there is nothing stopping us from extending our trip to be sure we see everyone.  We can stay an extra day or two – or more.

Those of you who read my blogs regularly may notice that I will not be posting any while I am gone.  We will be leaving either Thursday or Friday, so I’ll get one or two more written this week.  After the trip, I imagine I’ll have a lot to write about. 

Wish us luck in the insanity of Southern California.

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Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Successfully marketing a home business can be challenging.  I would like to share a few of my own marketing tips, and I invite comments with your own suggestions.

It is important to target your market.  If you try to target everyone, it actually will undermine your marketing efforts and will produce fewer responses.  For those of us who are IBOToolbox members, our emphasis should be on recruiting, because most people who read our posts and blogs either are business owners themselves or they are seeking a home business.

Be sure that your marketing message is clear, not too complex, too clever or too long.  If no one “gets” your ad, you are wasting time and effort.  I have found that when placing ads on Craigslist.org or Backpage, brief ads produce the best results. Be sure to include your website.  Other contact information is optional, because they should be able to find it on your website.

Do not rely on only one form of marketing.  Social networking is definitely among our most effective marketing tools, but it should not be your only method.  Online ads, distributing flyers locally, handing out business cards, word-of-mouth, mini ads for your email signature are all still good methods. 

One shot marketing to reach out to your prospects does not work.  You must expose yourself repeatedly in various mediums. Some psychologists suggest that it takes 15 or more exposures of an idea or concept before we really accept and understand it.  If you want people to remember you and your business, keep yourself and business in front of them as often as possible and in as many places as possible.

I have people get tired of a certain ad or message they are using, thinking they must change it because it is getting. If you are getting responses from certain ads or wording on a network marketing site, continue using them.  You can add new and different ones, but don’t eliminate an effective one.

It seems obvious, but I occasionally see ads with no easy way to contact the person placing the ad.  I have seen a few posts on IBOToolbox saying, “Contact me for more information,” with no link to do so.

Your marketing message will be competing with many others, so seek ways to make

your stand out.  Be creative and try to pique your prospects’ curiosity.  You can do 

this with a powerful, attention-grabbing headline to attract your reader’s attention.  It can be a question to challenge the reader or provoke a response. 

Be sure to track & measure the results of your marketing efforts.  Nearly all network marketing companies have a “back office” where they can check site stats to see which of your ads or forum posts are working best for you

When placing recruiting ads or posts, let your prospects know how joining your team will benefit them. Besides just earning money, you may want to remind them that they will have home business tax deductions, spend more time with their children and avoid fighting traffic.

Your ads and marketing should always include a call to action.  “Join now!” “Visit our website for additional information.”

Ads should include an attention-grabbing headline, short sentences of two to three lines per paragraph, and on certain sites (where appropriate) bullet points indicating the benefits of your offer, bold, italicized or colored text.  Always remember your call to action telling the reader what you want them to do.  You may even want to add a P.S. (postscript) to reiterate the main benefit for taking your call to action.

These are things I have learned over my years in network marketing.  I would love to see what marketing tips others recommend.

Oh yes, if you’d like more information about the business opportunity I am offering, please visit my website.  http://julie.joinxpress.com/overview-2.html.

Let's See... Food or My Prescription?

This article is not intended to give either a negative or positive opinion about the new health care laws in the United States nor is it meant to begin a debate as to whether the laws will help or hurt Americans.   

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Many people in the United States are struggling to pay for health care and prescription drugs according to a study released earlier this year. 

The number of doctor visits and medications prescribed declined slightly in 2010, and in 2011, there was a 7% increase in emergency room visits, which is attributed to loss of health insurance and long-term unemployment.

Senior Citizens, in particular, used fewer medicines.  Patients 65 and older appear to be rationing their drugs, filling fewer physician-prescribed medications as they struggle to pay their bills.  For older Americans, the biggest decline in prescriptions was for those used to treat high blood pressure, high cholesterol and osteoporosis.  These are drugs where the patient won’t necessarily develop symptoms when they stop taking them.  So, some patients see these drugs as expendable.

The prices for brand-name drugs increased in recent years, so people with medical conditions that require them to take drugs with no generic equivalent have higher prescription costs.  For those who take only generic drugs, the cost may have gone down for some since more generic drugs have become available.

"The percentage of the population taking at least one prescription drug during the previous month increased from 38 percent in 1988-1994 to 47 percent in 2003-2006, and the percentage taking three or more prescription drugs increased from 11 percent to 21 percent."  CDC/National Center for Health Statistics, February 17, 2010.

"In 2005, nearly one in 10 people between the ages of 18 and 64 said they were unable to get necessary prescription drugs during the past 12 months due to cost."  CDC/National Center for Health Statistics, June 11, 2005

Since I will be on Medicare myself soon, I am hoping that my healthcare and prescription costs do not increase over the costs I currently pay with private health insurance.

Even with health insurance, over the past year or so, I have found that the co-payment for prescriptions using my insurance was actually higher than when I use a discount healthcare card.

I am fortunate to have Xpress Healthcare’s prescription discounts.  I have saved hundreds of dollars this year alone using my Xpress prescription card instead of my health insurance, which was very surprising to me when I first realized it.  I had always assumed insurance would be the better option.  I have learned that is not necessarily true.

Using Xpress Healthcare’s neighborhood pharmacy program, I save 10% to 85% on most prescriptions.  All the major national chains participate in the program, as do many independent pharmacies.  All I do is present my membership card to the pharmacist with the prescription. The pharmacist calculates the discount, and I pay the discounted price. No forms are required.

My Xpress membership also includes a mail order program where I can optimize my savings by purchasing maintenance prescriptions in 90 day supplies to treat ongoing ailments.

The statistics above demonstrate the dire need for relief to those who cannot afford their prescriptions.  We are fortunate to live in a time when medications are available to extend and improve the quality of our lives – but only if we can afford to buy them.

(Xpress Healthcare’s Pharmacy Discounts are NOT insurance and are not intended as a substitute for insurance.  The membership card can only be used at one of Xpress’ 60,000 providers nationwide.)

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The Disappearance of the Shopping Mall

As my husband and I were taking our regular walk through our local mall, we discovered that overnight, another store had closed.  We “walk the mall” five days a week.  You never need to worry about weather, the walking surface is level, and there is no traffic nearby about which we need to be concerned.

We live in a city of only about 40,000 people, so our mall is pretty small, but vacancies are high.  There are two anchor stores and about 25 other businesses.  Of those, six are now vacant.  This is not unique to our local mall, and malls nationwide are struggling to fill their spaces and increase the number of shoppers.

When thinking about why there are so many vacancies, of course, the poor economy and high unemployment are the first reasons that come to mind.  However, there are other reasons that likely will not change as the economy improves.  There are far more “big box” stores, with stores like Walmart and Target becoming one-stop-shopping stores.  Consumers can buy nearly everything they need from clothing to electronics to groceries without going from store to store.

Online shopping has increased dramatically, taking a big slice of business from shopping malls.  The majority of big chains have now opened their own online stores to regain some of the business they lost at their retail stores.

I’ve noticed a large increase in vacancies in strip malls as well.  Just yesterday, I was going to purchase something from a local flooring store, only to discover the store is no longer there.  That strip mall had one open store out of six that were available.  We noticed two other strip malls in town with only a couple stores occupied, with the remainder empty.

At the beginning of 2012, for the first time in four years, there was a slight decrease in the number of mall vacancies.  That small improvement may be due to the fact that new mall construction has decreased because of the economy.  In fact fewer new malls were built in 2011 than at any time in the past 30 years.  Each time a newer, nicer mall opened, it hurt the existing malls. 

A lot of the major department stores, like Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom, J.C. Penney's, did major renovations and held very attractive sales, which likely contributed to the slight improvement.  

As we became more observant about strip malls and our local mall vacancies, we realized that we had previously given no thought to this part of the economy and how it has suffered over the past several years.

I am not a “shopper” and won’t particularly miss shopping at malls.  However, Sears and J.C. Penney’s have always “been there,” and it is just a bit sad to think that sometime in the near future, they may exist only online - or not at all.

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