Have You Heard the News?

IBOToolbox members received an email this morning informing us that a deal is in the works sell IBOToolbox by the end of 2012. 

Paul Williams created this amazing free marketing platform, and it grew faster and larger than I believe anyone ever expected.  Paul implemented one new feature after another, providing IBO members with marketing tools never before offered free anywhere.

Through IBOToolbox, members became acquainted with people throughout the world, many becoming friends with one another and others becoming business partners through their association on IBO.   IBO members learned that the phrase “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” was taken very seriously on the site.  The vast majority of active members generously help others to promote their businesses, resulting in increased website traffic for virtually everyone.

I joined IBOToolbox well over a year ago, and it has been exciting to watch the many additions and changes as they have taken place.  There will be changes with the new ownership, and I must admit I’m a bit nervous about what they may be.  Hopefully the new owner will care as much about IBOToolbox members as Paul has.

Paul put incredible effort and time into building IBOToolbox to what it is today.  He has earned whatever amount of money he will be paid in the sale of the site and whatever leisure time he will now be able to enjoy.

Paul, I wish you great success with your future ventures and thank you for creating such a wonderful marketing platform for entrepreneurs. 

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To learn about Julie Klein and the Xpress Healthcare Business Opportunity, please visit http://joinxpresshealthcare.com

To learn how to Reduce Your Health and Dental Costs AND save on Hearing, Vision, Roadside Assistance and much more, please visit http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings   (NOT insurance)

I Have Lost My - Mind?

Throughout my adult life, I have heard people say that they lost their keys.  I have never understood how they do that.  Do they place them in a different place each day?  Being a woman, I keep mine in my purse, always in the same pocket in my purse, so I would have to lose my entire purse to lose my keys.

I have always heard people talk about locking themselves out of their cars, leaving the keys inside.  For the first time ever, I did it – not once, but twice this year!  Both times, I had my hands full, holding my purse and other things, so much “stuff” that I didn’t notice that I had not picked up my keys I had placed on the seat next to me.  My husband had to rescue me both times, and I felt very foolish.

Another thing I have heard about people doing frequently is losing their sunglasses.  I have heard of people losing pair after pair.  My eyes are very sensitive to the sun and bright lights.  So, when I am outdoors, I always wear sunglasses.  For most of my life, I wore prescription sunglasses that I had to trade off and on with my regular eyeglasses when I went from inside to outside or vice versa.  Inconvenient, but I never lost a pair.  Last year, I discovered a new kind of sunglasses (at least new to me) that fit over my regular glasses.  Not the clip on kind, a full pair of glasses.  I still I have to remove them when I go indoors, I do not have to take off my eyeglasses.  They are very stylish and comfortable.  I love them!

My usual routine is to keep my sunglasses in my car so I’ll have them whenever I go out.  Occasionally, I’ll forget and wear them into my house. When I do, I place them next to my purse, which I always keep in the same place, so I’ll remember to take them when I go out again.  When I’m wearing them to a store, for instance, I simply lift the sunglasses up and wear them on top of my head until I go back outside.

At some time in the last couple days, I didn’t follow my usual routine.  When I was ready to drive off to town this morning, I noticed my sunglasses were not in the usual place in my car.  The spot I normally keep my purse in the house was a bit cluttered today, so I was sure that my sunglasses were sitting by the stack of Christmas cards and gifts I have ready to mail.  I went back into the house, but my glasses were not there!

I searched everywhere in the car, under seats and all the gaps between seats and the center console.  No luck.  I went back into the house and searched everywhere I could imagine, but I did not find them.   These sunglasses are “special,” not the kind you buy at a local store.  To replace them, I have to go to an optometrist and only a few carry this type of sunglasses.

I follow routines in a few areas of my life, which actually can be worse than not following any routine.  When I do break my routine, as I have with my sunglasses, it is difficult for me to imagine what happened when I failed to follow my usual steps.  I cannot think why I didn’t put my glasses in the normal place, and where that out-of-normal place could be.  How do people who do not have a “normal” place for things find what they have lost?

Tomorrow I will buy new sunglasses (after which I likely will find the old ones).  For today, I must now focus on something over which I have control and start working for the day. I will never again judge people about losing their keys, locking themselves out of their cars or losing sunglasses since I am now one of “them.”

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To learn about Julie Klein and the Xpress Healthcare Business Opportunity, please visit http://joinxpresshealthcare.com

To learn how to Reduce Your Health and Dental Costs AND save on Hearing, Vision, Roadside Assistance and much more, please visit http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings   (NOT insurance)

3 Cheers to Nordstrom!

For a couple weeks now, I’ve been seeing Christmas decorations and commercials.  When I went to our local mall this morning, I saw that Santa’s “throne” was all set up so Santa can accept children’s wish lists.

Have you seen this online? 

“At Nordstrom, we won’t be decking our halls until Friday, November 23^rd.  Why?  Well, we just like the idea of celebrating one holiday at a time. 

From our family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving. 

Nordstrom will be closed Thanksgiving Day. 

On Friday, our doors will open to welcome the new season.”

Hooray for Nordstrom!  I’ll bet they will get more business than the other stores, because people will appreciate this!  I am certain I’m not alone when I say I dislike that here in the USA, businesses go straight from Halloween to Christmas, pretty much skipping Thanksgiving. I realize the economy has hit businesses hard, but trying to get us to buy holiday gifts for two whole months is ridiculous!

I am Jewish, so Christmas is not a religious holiday for me.  I imagine that Christians are more bothered by the commercialization of the holiday than I am.  It appears to me that outside of churches Christmas is no longer looked upon as the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. 

The association of Santa Claus, Christmas trees and gift giving with Christmas is far from new, of course.  It seems to me though that the commercialization and lengthy extension of the holiday season has gotten much worse over the last decade.

I always enjoyed Thanksgiving, which until a few years ago was a big family event.  My husband and I no longer have local family, so Thanksgiving will be just the two of us.  I am so very grateful however, to have my wonderful husband with whom I will spend the holiday.

I hope that those of you in the United States do not skip over the important holiday of Thanksgiving.  It is a time to be with those you love, a time to give gratitude for the people in our lives and the amazing country in which we live.

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To learn about Julie Klein and the Xpress Healthcare Business Opportunity, please visit http://joinxpresshealthcare.com

To learn how to Reduce Your Health and Dental Costs and save on hearing, vision, roadside assistance and much more, please visit http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings   (NOT insurance)

2012 - The Year of the Breach

A recent study conducted by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and McAfee Inc. revealed that 400,000 Yahoo! accounts and 6.5 million LinkedIn passwords and millions more at other major sites suffered Identity Theft breaches in the first half of 2012. 

Too many people believe that unless they have credit cards, they do not need ID Theft Protection.  More than 25% of Americans received alerts advising them that their personal information was lost, stolen or compromised.  These breaches included online passwords, email addresses, credit card numbers and more.  And, since many ID thefts are never reported, it is likely that far more actually suffered a breach.

There are numerous companies now offering identity theft protection products, and all of them provide a measure of security.  Xpress Healthcare offers LifeLock® ID Theft Protection.  Everyone who has ever seen a LifeLock commercial on TV knows that they are the biggest and the best proactive program available. 

With Xpress Healthcare, we actually offer LifeLock® at only $19.95/month/family. That’s right, per family!  You’ll pay more at LifeLock’s® own website!  To make this offer even more inviting, this ID Theft Protection is offered as only one of several benefits included in this particular plan.  At the same price, in addition to LifeLock, members receive discounts on pet care products and services, roadside assistance, legal services and cash back rewards mall. 

Whether you purchase your ID Theft Protection through Xpress or not, do not wait!  Get yourself protected before you become a victim!

Meanwhile, here are some steps you can take to avoid becoming an identity theft victim.

Change online passwords regularly.  The above-referenced study found that 28% of people never change their online bank account passwords. This is a major mistake.  Do not make your passwords your birthday or anniversary or other dates or words that are easy to figure out.  Mix lower case and upper case letters, and use numbers in your password.  Longer passwords are easier to hack than short ones.

Keep a close eye on your computer.  About ¼ of Americans store sensitive information on their computers.  Whether laptop or desktop, this is not a good idea.

Only access private sites while connected to a secure wireless network. The chances of someone hacking into your personal online accounts are reduced if you only access private sites when you are connected to a secure wireless network.

Be sure you have security software on your smartphone. With so many of us accessing the Internet using our smartphones, the NCSA study found that 64% have never protected their mobile devices from viruses. The bottom line is that whether or not you have credit cards, you should have identity theft protection. PERIOD.  And I highly recommend that you get the program everyone knows, LifeLock®, through Xpress Healthcare to protect yourself at the lowest cost. To learn more about LifeLock, visit http://julie.joinxpress.com/lifestyle-select.html

I Never Did Like Roller Coasters

I Never Did Like Roller Coasters

When I was a child, I may have liked roller coasters.  But I don’t remember it if I did.  I know I do not like them now.  That terrible feeling of my stomach seeming to drop is not what I call fun.

Now that I’ve been in network marketing for several years, I have discovered an entirely different kind of roller coaster.  I’ve discovered that our excitement level, our motivation, and our businesses can reach the same kind of highs and fall to the lowest of lows.

I have experienced it, and still do on occasion.  I don’t believe that anyone who is really honest with themselves can say they never lose their motivation or that they never have a bad week or month with their business.  Early on in the industry, I rode some of the worst roller coasters I could imagine.  As time went on and my skills and experience grew, the ups and downs leveled off a great deal. 

Today, after about eight years in network marketing and two of them with my Xpress Healthcare business, once in a while I feel unmotivated.  I lose my focus.  Although I write business fairly consistently, occasionally I don’t get new business for few days.  However, I bounce back quickly now when I feel unmotivated.  It will last a few hours at most.  Usually, I just take a break from my desk, and my focus returns when I get back to work.

In this industry, there are many people who simply do not stay around long enough for those high-highs and low-lows to level off.  They never reach the point where their lack of motivation is brief and infrequent.  It is a shame, because if they were more patient, they may turn out to be a great leader in their company.

I try my best to “ride in the car” with my new team members on that roller coaster.  I will help them in any way I can and offer training and mentoring.   When it comes right down to it though, everyone must learn to ride themselves and allow those huge climbs to the top and steep falls to the bottom smooth out over time.  Those who are successful do.hose huge climbs to the top and steep falls to the bottom smooth out over time.  Those who are successful do.

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To learn about Xpress Healthcare, visit http://joinxpresshealthcare.com

What's Up Doc?

I live in a fairly small city with a population of about 40,000.  The nearest large city is 90 miles away, a 90 minute drive.  Between my city and that large city, it is mostly wide open spaces. 

We have many doctors, but not many specialists.  We have one hospital – or as they call it, a Regional Medical Center.  As I and thousands of others in the “baby boomer” generation grow older, we will likely have more need for Cardiologists, Gastroenterologists, Orthopedic Surgeons, and more.

I just learned that my Pulmonologist, the only one in the city, is leaving the state next month.  My OB/GYN left the city a couple years ago.  Now we have only one remaining.  We have two gastroenterologists, one of whom is near retirement age.       

Many physicians do not want to practice in cities with a poor economy.  While many rural areas are in economic decline, because we have a large military base, our city has not suffered quite as much as most small cities or the rest of the nation.  So the economy is not really a factor here.

A survey conducted a few years ago revealed that only 4 percent of medical residents ranked communities with fewer than 25,000 residents as their top choice of where to practice. More than half chose to practice in areas less than 10 miles from their residency programs, which are overwhelmingly located in big cities.  While our population is higher than 25,000, it certainly cannot be called a big city.

I recently learned that in many specialties, the highest earners are found in towns of 50,000 to 250,000 in size, not in the largest metropolitan areas.  There is less competition; insurance company reimbursements are actually higher in small to mid-sized cities; and the cost of practicing is lower in these cities.  Fewer malpractice law suits are generally filed in smaller cities, making the cost of malpractice insurance lower as well.

Sub-specialized physicians – those who need to be part of a major medical center with advanced equipment and every specialty at their fingertips – do not fit into this higher-income category.  With those specialists, their patients travel to them, and income and competition are not affected the same as most primary specialties.

I have taken that 90-mile drive to the “big city” to see various specialists over the years I have lived here.  As I get older, I have become more concerned about this lack of specialists.   Since they could actually earn more, or at least spend less to practice here, why do we have fewer physician specialists?  From everything I have read, it may be less about money, and more about proximity to family, fine dining, cultural availability (the arts) and various other reasons unrelated to the economy.

So for those of us living in my city and many other rural communities, we have a choice of moving to a bigger city or continuing to drive great distances for medical care.  For many, neither option is possible, making it a frightening situation for many poor and elderly residents.

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

Join the Party!

It seems all we see on television and on the Internet these days are political ads and posts.  I have seen way too many “discussions” about politics online.

Like most people, I have my opinion about politics and my preference about who I hope will win the Presidential, Congressional and Senatorial races, but I keep it mostly to myself.  Most people I know belong to the opposing party.  What possible reason would there be for me to discuss politics with them?  I will never change their opinion nor will they change mine.

Working in Internet marketing as I do, discussing politics publicly could be detrimental to my business.  Some people feel so strongly about their political beliefs, they may not want to do business with me if I do not agree with them.

I am even a member of a group that represents my party.  So, yes, I have strong political beliefs.  I share them with other group members, but not with those who disagree.  I believe that it simply serves no purpose.

With my Xpress Healthcare business, I have a large team.  I believe only one person on my team knows to which party I belong, and that person is a member of the other party.  We simply do not discuss politics.  We have a great deal in common, and we are close friends.  Why ruin our relationship by arguing about politics.   

Many people in business feel very differently about the matter.  Brick and mortar business often have signs announcing their endorsement for a particular person or bumper stickers all over their cars.  (I would never put any bumper stickers on my car – political or otherwise, because they can be very difficult to remove.)

I see people that I know are Internet marketers post about their favorite candidate all the time, often saying rather ugly things about their opponent. It is their right to do so, just as it is my right not to advertise my political affiliation.

Every Presidential election has negative ads.  This year I am seeing far more negative, obnoxious posts made by individuals.  Of course, with each passing year, the Internet becomes more widespread and more people participate on it.  So, I guess that is to be expected.

I will continue to keep my political views mostly to myself.  Others can do as I do or publicize to the world what they believe.  That is one of the many benefits, privileges and rights of living in the United States of America.    

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To learn about Julie Klein and Xpress Healthcare

visit http://joinxpresshealthcare.com