Bye-Bye Hotmail

I just read an article on the following website that surprised me a bit.  You may find the news interesting as well.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/2013/0503/Hotmail-officially-dead.-Microsoft-moves-millions-to-Outlook.com

More than a decade and a half after it was first introduced, Hotmail is officially no more. 

In a blog post yesterday, Microsoft announced it had completed the upgrade of hundreds of millions of users from the old Hotmail platform to the new Outlook.com – a process, according to Microsoft, that involved transferring 150 million gigabytes of data. Hotmail account holders will be able to keep their old Hotmail address, and all settings on Hotmail mobile and Web apps will automatically be updated. 

The jettisoning of Hotmail – and the introduction of the sleek, shiny Outlook.com – is an effort to bring Microsoft's mail service up to date with the Windows 8 operating system. 

Naturally, though, the move hasn't made everyone happy. Some users have circulated petitions asking Microsoft to preserve Hotmail; others have createdFacebook pages or taken to Microsoft forums to express their frustrations. ("The forced 'upgrades' have begun," one forum-goer recently wrote. "But I simply will not lie down and say, 'Yes, Microsoft, I like this because you tell me I should.' ") 

In a blog post yesterday, Microsoft's Dick Craddock acknowledged that when any "widely-us

ed consumer service makes any substantial change," people are going to kick up a fuss. But Craddock urged users to give the new Outlook a chance. 

"It's gratifying in a sense because it means those customers loved the previous set of changes we made," he wrote. "With a communication service that is constantly evolving, we try to strike the right balance between bringing out major improvements and keeping true to what our customers love. Our belief is that as people start using the new experience, they will come to love it even more than they loved Hotmail." 

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Learn how to reduce your Health and Dental expenses AND reduce costs on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, Lifelock™ and even more at http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings (NOT insurance).

To learn about Julie Klein and how you can be successful in network marketing, look at the Xpress Healthcare Business Opportunity at http://joinxpresshealthcare.com.  

Your Greatest Accomplishment

Everyone likes a pat on the back every once in a while. And there’s no better time to get one than when you are challenging yourself, maybe nervous about whether you can succeed or just doing something that is normally out of your comfort zone.

Most people join a company to start their home business very excited.  When they don’t see results right away, some begin to question themselves or consider quitting, thinking they may have made a mistake joining to begin with. 

Instead of this negative approach, look at your goals from a position of "possibilities" instead.  Find ways to praise yourself for little things you do in your business.  Give yourself words of encouragement.  Instead of focusing on what is NOT yet happening, try paying more attention to what IS happening. 

To sustain your excitement toward your business and continue to be motivated, the positive approach will keep you going forward.  Self-praise creates a feeling of doing something you want to do, not what you’re forcing yourself to do. Even your smallest accomplishments should make you proud!

Set lots of little goals.  Sure, you have your dream, your “why,” your major goal, but that will likely take some time to reach.  The excitement of reaching each of your little goals will motivate you to try even more new and different things.

·        You wrote your first blog?  Great, that deserves a cheer! 

·        Did you speak to your first prospect?  Good job! 

·        How about posting your first ad?  That’s a step toward your first sale! 

·        Did you participate in company training calls or webinars?  Many people do not, so praise yourself for it.

·        Did you have people visit your website or profile today?  Woohoo!  You did something right to drive them there.

Compliment yourself.  Write down what you would say to anyone else who accomplished what you just did.  You can even keep a journal of your accomplishments.  It is a great feeling to look back months later and see how far you have come.

Be sure to tell your sponsor what you have done.  He or she will want to share your excitement!  I am so proud of my team members when they do something new, challenge themselves or make a sale.

Decide from the start that “quitting is NOT an option,” and begin recognizing your growth and accomplishments.  With a positive outlook, your business will grow, and you’ll be able to look back and be amazed!

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Learn how to reduce your Health and Dental expenses AND reduce costs on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, Lifelock™ and even more at http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings (NOT insurance).

To learn about Julie Klein and how you can be successful in network marketing, look at the Xpress Healthcare Business Opportunity at http://joinxpresshealthcare.com.  

The Vision, the Big Picture

Merriam-Webster dictionary’s definition of the “Big Picture" is: "The entire perspective on a situation or issue.”  Another definition I found online is, “an experience in which a personage, thing, or event appears vividly or credibly to the mind, although not actually present.

When it comes to network marketing, there are many great companies, even more good companies and there are companies that likely won’t be around next year.  For the distributors/representatives who join even a great network marketing company, only those who have “the vision” of where the company is headed will succeed. 

Many network marketing companies pay residual commission, paying their reps each month for sales they make on all active accounts.  Those who can see “the big picture” realize that in the future, they will be earning huge sums of money, that six or seven-figure income for which most are striving. 

Let’s say a company pays their affiliates $10 residual income for each active sale.  Sadly, the majority of them will not remain with the company long enough for those $10 payments to accumulate, to multiply into $10,000, $20,000, or $100,000.  It takes patience, persistence and perseverance to continue working while growing a business.

The big picture, unfortunately, is invisible and abstract.  We cannot see it, touch it or smell it.  It can only be comprehended with our minds.  We must be able to visualize the big picture, imagine the company in five, ten, or twenty years.

Steve Jobs, who I believe everyone agrees was an amazing visionary, once said, "Do something that contributes greatly to society… When that is achieved, material benefits will follow by itself. "

If a network marketer truly believes they are working with a company whose product or service can make a difference in people’s lives, they likely will be able to make sales.  But unless they have “the vision” of where their company is going, they likely will not be with that same company in five years.

Do you have the vision for your company?  Does the big picture in your mind reflect a prosperous future for you and the company? If not, you may need an “attitude adjustment” or a new company.

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Learn how to reduce your Health and Dental expenses AND reduce costs on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, Lifelock™ and even more at http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings (NOT insurance).

To learn about Julie Klein and how you can be successful in network marketing, look at the Xpress Healthcare Business Opportunity at http://joinxpresshealthcare.com. 

I Found a Biz that Feels Like Home

Most of my blog posts are about network marketing in general, other business-related topics, my family and personal life, and news events or informational.  I have written only a few about my home business and why I love what I do, so I’m about due.

I have worked with Xpress Healthcare as an Affiliate Business Owner (ABO) since February 2011.  For six years prior to joining Xpress, I was with a competitor.  The way my former company was managed, performed their training and operated their business was not a good fit for me.  There are people who were successful with them, so the business model works for some. 

The founders of Xpress Healthcare, Ed Pettola and Dan Gambardello, founded Xpress in 2009.  They spent a year or so building the business, putting the programs in place and creating a great foundation.  In 2010, they launched their network marketing platform.

• The discount healthcare plan was their first product.  It is NOT insurance.  The plan does not make payments directly to the providers of medical services.  Our plan members pay for all their own healthcare services, but they pay discounted rates, saving between 10% - 85% on virtually all their medical expenses.  Their physician and hospital bills are reduced, and they can receive discounts on lab tests and imaging (X-rays, MRI’s), diabetic and medical supplies, chiropractic and even a nurse line. 

• After a short time, Xpress Healthcare added another product, a discount dental plan, which also includes discounts on vision, prescriptions, hearing, medical supplies, diabetic supplies and vitamins.

• More plans were added at the beginning of 2012.  Xpress now also offers discounts on Pet Care, Roadside Assistance, Legal, LifeLock® and a Cash Back Rewards program.

• Xpress recently added a Telahealth program, the first and largest doctors-by-phone service in the US.

• Xpress Healthcare plans start at only $19.95/month (per immediate family).  Our plans can save our members hundreds, even thousands of dollars, and in many cases, they are able to gain access to care that, without our plans, they may never have had.  But please remember, we are NOT insurance.  We are a DISCOUNT benefit company.

Now, back to my career with Xpress.  Within a few weeks after joining Xpress, my income covered my monthly affiliate fee.  After a few months with Xpress, I was asked to host some of our nationwide corporate training calls.  It was both an honor to be chosen and a responsibility about which I was nervous, but I accepted the challenge. 

I grew my business, each month increasing my residual income and growing my team a little larger.  My team, “The Winner’s Circle,” is now one of the largest teams in the company.  My team is pretty typical for the network marketing industry. I have team members who are serious about their business and are doing as I did, working hard and consistently increasing their income.  I have team members who are slowly working their business and growing their income little by little.  And I have team members who have done absolutely nothing!

I am now seeking more leaders, people who are coachable, able to work both as part of a team and independently, who do not need their hand held every step of the way, and who are self-motivated.  I’ll will train them, guide them and help grow them grow their businesses.

If you think you qualify to become an Xpress Healthcare leader, visit my website to learn more about Xpress Healthcare. 

Are you ready to join my team? If so, go to http://joinxpresshealthcare.com.  Click on “join,” and select “Become an ABO.”

I’m looking forward to working with you soon.

Follow the Leader

I really don’t understand it.  I am pretty successful with my Xpress Healthcare business, not a six-figure earner (yet), but I’m making a living.  Why then, when team members ask for help and I direct them to particular sites to promote their business, do they either totally ignore me or only partially follow my suggestion.

I operate nearly my entire business online.  I don’t advertise on sites specifically meant for placing ads.  I have had little success with them. 

I have built my business using relationship marketing.  Among other networking sites, I participate on IBOToolbox.  I use a few sites, but I have had the best results from using IBOToolbox and a forum site where work-at-home business owners share ideas, ask questions and discuss myriad subjects, some having nothing to do with business.  Both IBOToolbox and the other forum I use a great deal offer ways to post ads at no cost, and I always have ads running on those sites.

I train my team members through twice-a-week team calls and using one-on-one training.  Once again, a new team member joined my team yesterday who found me on one of these forums.  I have signed more new team members from that one site than from anywhere else.  I use IBO as much for the relationships I have built as I do for promoting my business.  I have no one of knowing how many people see my posts, or those of my posts that other IBO members share elsewhere, and eventually end up joining.  I do know, however, that I get lots of traffic, because of IBOToolbox.

So, with that said, I’ll return to my original question.  I consistently advice my team members to join and participate on those two sites in particular.  I use others too, but not nearly as much, and team members sometimes find forums they enjoy.  I tell the team straight out, “I have signed more team members from that one site than from anywhere else or any other type of advertising.” 

IBOToolbox is great as well, and I remind team members about using it all the time.  One of my new team members actually listened, following my directions on how to use it, and she signed her first team member yesterday – someone who found her on IBO!

That old slogan comes up again here, “You can lead a horse to water…”  I simply want the best for my team.  I want them to grow strong, successful Xpress Healthcare businesses.  And yet only a fraction of my team participates in either of these two amazing business promoting forums.  Oh well, all I can do is show them the way, and I will continue to do so.

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

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

Be Thankful

I read the following article and poem in a TOPS News Magazine (November 2012 issue).  The magazine said the author is unknown.  It is inspiring, and I’d like to share it with you.

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Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire.

If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don’t know everything, for it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.

During those times, you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations, because the give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge, because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes.  They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you’re tired and weary, because it means you’ve made a difference,

I would like to challenge for all who read this to think about why you are thankful.  Make five categories – physical, emotional, spiritual, financial and social – and see how many reasons you can come up in each category with for being thankful.

I’m sure we all have many reasons why we are thankful.  Now, it’s time to discover yours!

If anyone would like to do so, once you’ve written out why you are thankful, share them, one-by-one on the IBOToolbox wall.

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

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

Genealogy Trip to BC

I have written about some of my genealogy research in the past.  I wanted to share one of the interesting “finds” my husband and I found yesterday.

We began exploring a particular branch of my husband’s family a few weeks ago.  They live in the South.  We’ve seen pictures of his great grandparents.  They could have posed for the painting “American Gothic.”  In the last hundred years or so, his ancestors have definitely been “hicks.”

We logged onto ancestry.com and began our search of the name Morgan. Over the past month or so, we discovered that, through his Morgan branch, my husband is related to Princess Diana and her sons, Humphrey Bogart, Daniel Boone and Sir Henry Morgan.  Henry Morgan reportedly was a pirate, and you’ll see his picture on bottles of Morgan’s Rum.  Springfield, Massachusetts has a statue erected of Miles Morgan, one of my husband’s ancestors.

We began yesterday’s journey through history where Martha Morgan married Joseph Perkins (both of whom are my husband’s 5^th cousin, 9 times removed).  We found that many others have researched the Morgan family, and there are dozens of trees completed and shared on ancestry.com.  Some had conflicting information, and they cited no sources for their information.

We looked at several trees until we found one that had written out phenomenal sources.  His search, apparently, was done in libraries, churches and government records.  The majority of my research is done online, because I don’t have the time or money to travel the world seeking records.  His records are public, so I used them, stating that he was the source.

So, we began using this one particular tree to see how his information matched ours and whether it went any further back in history than ours.  We began by selecting Martha Morgan’s father, and then we chose her grandfather.  We continued clicking on the father of each person we brought up.  We were excited when it kept going back further and further and the family members were from Wales.

After about 10 generations back, their last names disappeared.  They were not missing.  Last names are a relatively new thing.  In ancient times, for instance, my name would have been Julie daughter of Saul.  Everyone’s name ended with son of or daughter of ________.

We continued our travels back in time, and the names became so strange, that I really had to concentrate to spell them correctly in my records.  How about Lughaidh Sriabhn Dearg mac Fineamhas?  Or, Pedur ap Cyngar.  (Ap means son of; verch means daughter of.) Pedur’s father was Cyngar ap Gwrthefyr. 

Well, little by little, we went further and further back in history. The family went from Wales to Ireland.  We were soon at double-digit years of birth, and then single-digit years.  Can you imagine being born in the year 7?

It took several hours, but the tree finally did come to an end.  The earliest person we found was born before 142 BC in Ireland, and he died in 130 BC.  BC!  Can you imagine how long it took for this guy to trace the history for this family tree?  His sources were volume upon volume of books, many history books, bibles, church records, and government records.  It must have taken him many years to complete.

We did find a few, but very few errors in his records.  For instance, one person died at the age of nine, leaving behind a wife and two children.  Or individuals who were born years after their father died.  One woman had children starting when she was six years old. I’ll have to contact the author to notify him.

My husband’s Morgan line includes many Kings, Lords and Knights.  It was a very exciting journey through history.  And my husband’s descendants are recorded back to the year 142 BC!

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

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