The 21st Century Network Marketer

ByLiz Monte

Recently, I participated in a conference call about goal setting.

Before I say anything else about it, I have a confession to make – I would rather stick my hand in a blender than commit to a set of formal goals, so I approached this call with a good deal of skepticism. Why, you may wonder, am I so reluctant in this area?

Over the years, I have discovered two things about me and goals. First, goals are like New Year's resolutions. Very easy to make – very easy to break. The national average for keeping resolutions is two weeks, which sounds surprisingly long to me. I don't even bother making them in the first place.

The second problem I have with goals is that they become just another excuse for feeling guilty. I don't need any more guilt. Unfortunately, my resistance to setting goals makes me feel guilty, too, since the goal-setters among us all agree that goals are critically important to everyone's long-term success.

Sigh! What are we goal-averse folks going to do? Are we doomed to a life of failure? A life of constant guilt? Is there no hope for us?

So that was what I was feeling when I dialed into the call, oddly titled "The Champaign Bistro." The promo had said something about "goals without the guilt," which sounded too good to be true. I was going to wait and see.

Well, I'm happy to report that I had a great time. The Champaign Bistro goes way beyond all the traditional goal-setting strategies you may have used in the past, such as SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Reasonable, Time-specific).

Instead, it works on a higher, emotional level, incorporating NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) to help you anchor your Top Five Accomplishments for the next twelve months, and allowing you to connect on a deep level with your vision and purpose.

The Champaign Bistro is not limited to business. Participants on the call chose goals from all areas of their lives, including volunteer work, hobbies, and personal growth.

So how does it work?

During the call we were guided to imagine ourselves one year from now, sitting with a friend in our favorite restaurant and celebrating our accomplishments of the past year. We were asked specific questions about what we were drinking (for me it was Perrier with a twist of lime), the view from the window (the beach at Wildwood Crest, New Jersey),and what we were hearing (Joshua Bell playing the violin), smelling (lilacs), and tasting (chocolate mousse). For each of these sensory impressions, we connected an accomplishment and imagined exactly how it made us feel – joyful, proud, tingling with excitement, etc.

Our guide, Pat Schuler from the Gemini Resources Group, continually stressed that all our imaginings needed to be in the past tense – in other words, as if they had already happened. She also encouraged us to review our Champaign Bistro scenario every day for a minute or two, a task I find myself actually looking forward to.

As you might guess, fantasizing about sipping Perrier and eating chocolate mousse while envisioning that all my deepest desires have come true can be lot of fun. Will it work?

I'll let you know in a year.

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Liz Monte is the publisher and editor of "The 21st Century Network Marketer."

EDITOR'S VIEWPOINT

by Liz Monte

Like most network marketers, earning money is definitely somewhere on my priority list. It's never been completely clear to me where exactly on the list, though.

Don't get me wrong. I can think of a kazillion things I'm going to enjoy doing with it when the money starts rolling in – taking care of my family, supporting my favorite charities, and the usual stuff like fixing up the house and taking vacations to spots further away than a day's drive.

But a part of me still holds back. I see other home-based entrepreneurs who've gotten rich from their businesses, and in many cases it seems to be about the bling for them – the cars, the mansions, the furs and jewels, and the lavish lifestyles.

Which is fine. Everyone has their own unique path in this life, and I do not want to judge which direction another person chooses.

But to me, the idea of money for the sake of money rings a little, well… hollow. Consequently, on a certain level I've always had a problem throwing myself completely into earning it. Even though on another level I really do want it.

I believe the word for this is "ambivalence."

So I was delighted when another participant on the Champaign Bistro call (see the previous article) shared his main business goal – to help a lot of other people become financially free.

Suddenly, something clicked and my own business goals became crystal clear for me. All I have to do is focus on helping other people (which I can totally get behind), and in the process, my needs will all be met – handsomely.

I've known this all along, I've even written articles about it, but somehow I hadn't connected with it on a really deep level until that call.

So here's my new elevator speech: My goal over the next twelve months is to hand-pick twelve new business partners and assist them in creating their own monthly residual income of $4,000 to $8,000 by the end of their first year.

I sure like the sound of that.

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Liz Monte is the publisher and editor of "The 21st Century Network Marketer."

GUEST ARTICLE

Our guest author this month is Sheree Motiska – the creator of the Social Media Marketing Academyand a good friend of mine. I asked her to write an article that shares her unique perspective on this latest online trend.

by Sheree Motiska

Most of us who have given network marketing a go have tried all of the traditional strategies that have been taught for ages. Things like:

• The "three foot rule"
• The friends and family list
• The buttons that say "Ask Me About My Business"
• The fliers and business cards, like a trail of breadcrumbs, littering everywhere you go
• Opening the phone book and randomly calling people you've never met

I know, it all sounds very strange to some of you (myself included), but these are things that are actually still being taught by some "upline leaders." Not only that, but some of these strange practices are being slightly tweaked and translated to network marketing online.

Perhaps you've tried traditional online advertising strategies such as PPC advertising or calling leads you've procured from an MLM leads service. If you're like me and many other network marketers doing business online, you've been disappointed with the results of all of these so-called "systems" out there that promise you'll make huge money.

A little over a year ago, my insatiable thirst for knowledge led me to stumble upon a concept that would change the way I build my business.

Web 2.0 Marketing a.k.a. Social Media Marketing.

Back then, some thought of this concept, which is now the "topic of the day," as nothing more than a "buzz term" that the savvy marketers would use as just something more to capitalize on. I won't pretend that I knew this "social media marketing thing" would blow up like this, I just found myself out of any other reasonable options.

I couldn't afford PPC advertising and never found the whole "buying leads" thing something that made any sense to me. Furthermore, I'm simply not a "slick salesperson." Traditional marketing strategies may work just fine for all those people out there claiming they just joined "the right opportunity" and have had instant success beyond their wildest dreams. In my experience, it takes much more than that.

In my experience, and in talking to people in many different companies, promoting many different products, it's just not as simple as joining the "best opportunity." The best opportunity for you may not be the best opportunity for me. It's all about finding something you can believe in and really be passionate about that makes all the difference. Furthermore, all of those "automated systems" and expensive "quality leads" out there haven't even come close to bringing the results that I have seen simply by...

Doing Something Different.

"Social media marketing," in my opinion, is somewhat of a misnomer. That one little word, "marketing," gives birth to ideas of advertising on your My Space profile and sending out promos to your social networking friends lists like they're your opt-in list. These are all just examples of traditional strategies being injected in a web 2.0 world and this isn't going to be your "silver bullet."

Truth be told, there are no real "magic pills" when it comes to building your MLM business. So, if you're ready to stop chasing "instant success systems" and the idea that you can have it all without working hard, then let's get down to business.

You may be wondering, if web 2.0 marketing isn't about "marketing" your business and advertising your opportunity, what is the point?

So many of us have been conditioned to believe that the more people we "pitch" to, the more successful we'll be in our MLM endeavors. It's hard to imagine another, much less a better way to succeed in network marketing. Especially something as subtle as social media marketing.

What you need to do is sort of re-program your thinking.

No matter what company you're involved in, what product(s) you promote, or what your compensation plan is like, it's simply not important. The truth is, your prospects are seeking much more than all of that. They seek leadership and support that only YOU can provide.

We all have something unique to bring to the table. We all have useful knowledge and experience that can help others, especially the next "budding leaders" out there who are serious about building a real business.

Those who you want to attract to your team aren't looking for "the easy way out" or some "get rich quick scheme." They just want you to show them how to take their hard-working attitudes and dreams of success and freedom and turn them into something they can really be proud of.

"Social media marketing" and "attraction marketing" go hand in hand. Before you promote some "automated system" that sounds good in theory but that you have yet to see proven results from, think about what you're putting your own name behind.

Do something different.

Tell your audience that it's NOT easy and that you work hard. Tell them that there are NO GUARANTEES and that it's up to THEM to achieve the success they're seeking. Tell them about both your triumphs and failures, what has worked and what has not.. Tell them what you know and don't be afraid to admit "I don't have ALL the answers" and lead them to others who can teach them as well.

Simply share your knowledge and expertise, whatever subjects you feel confident in and have real experience in, without asking anything in return.

If you use web 2.0 style platforms to share what you KNOW (not what you've heard) and talk about your brilliant ideas (no matter how crazy they may seem), you'll be branding yourself, not your opportunity or products. That will bring you more leads and open more doors than you have ever thought possible.

Just remember one thing...

Your most valuable asset is your reputation. It cannot be bought, it must be earned. Always treat your reputation with respect and remember that once you tarnish it, you can never get it back completely. So be careful what you say, what you promote, and who you claim to be. If you never try to be someone you're not or know something you don't, you'll go far.

True leaders never "know it all" and social media is the perfect place to share your knowledge as well as meet other brilliant people who you can learn even more from.

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Sheree Motiska, aka "The Social Media Butterfly," is just a regular single mom, building her business using the principles of social media marketing that she teaches others. She simply had to find a "better way" or fail. Now she likes to share what she has learned and what works for her
at her sites like http://Web-Social-Marketing.com,
blogs like http://Web20Empire.info,
and social networks like http://www.MySpace.com/shereem75.

TECH TIPS

Adventures in Blogging

by Liz Monte

As many of my readers know, I started a blog a few weeks ago (www.wisenetworkmarketerblog.com).I haven't done a whole lot with it yet, but I see it as the future foundation of my own social media marketing network.

If you've been thinking of jumping into the social media phenomenon, a blog is a good starting point. It's something almost anyone with a smidgeon of computer skills can put together themselves, and it usually only costs a few dollars. If you can type, you can blog.

The first thing you need is a hosting service. There are dozens of them out there. I'm using GoDaddy. I have friends who swear by HostGator. I'm sure there are lots of other good ones, too. The hosting fees are usually less than $10 per month, and the host will often provide you with your own domain name for only a couple dollars more.

The next thing you need is Wordpress. This is a free program that makes it easy to build your blog – a "blogging platform," if you will. It's free because a whole bunch of volunteers have been contributing to it. It's sort of a cyber-community group project.

Wordpress is without a doubt the most popular blogging platform in the world. Hundreds of users have designed template themes for it and donated them to the public domain. In other words, you'll have a ton of professional-looking options when it comes time to pick the look and feel for your site.

There are also dozens of free "plug-ins" – software programs that will allow your site to perform various functions such as handling comments from your readers and plugging into the RSS network. (Don't worry if you don't know what an "RSS" network is yet.)

Of course, there are always little details you need to know to put it all together and get it running – details that are beyond the scope of this newsletter. But there's a great free resource that will teach you everything you need to know – step-by-step. Sheree Motiska, our Guest Author this month and the creator of the SocialMedia Marketing Academy, has created a set of videos that take you by the hand and show you exactly how to build a blog. You can watch them on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/Web20Empire.

So what are you waiting for?

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Liz Monte is still the publisher and editor of "The 21st Century Network Marketer."