How to Recruit People to Your Business?
January 26, 2012 | 
Author What do successful MLM recruiting specialists do? How do they recruit, what do they do in the field, and what do they think about? Successful MLM recruiting is about building your business, and with enough of it you will find that your income will increase quickly and exponentially. If there was a way that you could guarantee to explode your MLM recruiting, and touch people in such a way that most would follow you to the moon if you went.
Simply, there are weeks that there are not many people looking at the MLM Recruiting ads, and there isn’t a thing you can do about that. There are many channels of exposure to the business opportunity: business cards, flyers, publicity buttons, stickers, Newspapers, Internet ads, recruiting Website – to name some. That doesn’t mean that you won’t mention the product when you are recruiting business partners.
It is easier to hang onto the excuses that we have and believe that recruiting won’t work, than taking the time to GROW ourselves into the level of belief that ATTRACTS Success, vs REPELS it. It simply is a recruiting tool, CD, DVD, or Brochure, or website/webcast, or any other tool that you can use to tell the story of the MLM Network Marketing Company you enrolled in. Are you recruiting the wrong people in MLM?
Being SELECTIVE in your network marketing recruiting will eliminate a LOT of heartache and frustration and bringing in the wrong people and expecting them to explode, and they only fizzle out. Focus in on the RIGHT tactics and perspective, and you will find your recruiting will explode with the “Success STUFF” in MLM and Network Marketing. Your answer has just painted a picture of your recruiting destiny in the Network Marketing and MLM industry.
All you are doing with these recruiting tools are “sifting and sorting” as they call it, mlm prospects. But once those ‘MLM Recruiting Muscles’ are built, and THEY WILL BE.
Is the Forever Living Products Fraud Story True?
There has been some talk about Forever Living Products Scam on the internet. But for people who have been using their products, they can surely tell. Forever Living Products has been around for more than three decades now and is still a private company that has a turnover of $2B. No scammer could have pulled off his dirty tricks to such an extent.
Moreover, Forever Living Products operates around the world in every continent, with revenues coming from more than 140 countries and over 9 million distributors in its list. If the distributors were put together in one geographical region, they could very well put up their own country and Rex Maughan will be their President.
The company has offices in Mexico, Scandinavia, United Kingdom, Ireland, Paraguay, Turkey, and Japan. With all the nations, races, and cultures involved, there should be uproar about Forever Living Products by now, along with scores of angry mobs going to the streets burning their offices. But no, there are none. Which leaves the question why? Well, it’s because there is no scam and the Forever Living Products is legitimate.
Forever Living Products is the leader in supplying the world with quality Aloe Vera-based products, including Aloe Vera drinks that help with the digestion of food, Aloe Vera weight management products, Aloe Vera-based supplements, personal care products, and a full line of cosmetics. They have also expanded their line with bee hive-based products and water filtration.
If it’s not the products, it could be the system. The answer is still no. When you enter into the business, the few hundred dollars you pay (around $200-$300) is used to buy your first set of products. So, in the essence, there are no recruitment fees because the money you pay, you use to buy your first batch of goods.
There’s also the Earned Incentives for the hard-working distributors. This incentive does not directly benefit the company. If Forever Living Products is benefited from this, it will be by having more diligent distributors that aim for the Earned Incentives. These include car plans and luxury holidays in some of the company’s global resorts. No scammer would give such a generous offer.
Aside from that, the founder and CEO, Rex Maughan hands out Profit Share checks to any of his qualified distributors once every year. But it’s not just handing out. He invites you to a fully paid luxury hotel stay and a Rally Tour where he gives the actual checks. These Profit Share checks may range from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands of dollars or euros. It all depends on the turnover of the country it is earned from.
So, is the Forever Living Products scam true? No hard facts are present that would solidify the case. Consequently, that only means there is no truth to it. If the company has been scamming people all these years, a whole train of lawsuits would have made its way through its door by now. Forever Living Products is a genuine multi-level marketing company that has stood firm throughout the years. It will take more than a petty talk of a scam to bring it down to its knees.
5linx Complaints – Are They Legitimate?
If you search on the Internet for 5linx complaints there is no doubt that you will find an absolutely huge array of them all over the place. However, are valid or are they just people complaining without any particular reason?
In your search, one of the biggest five links complaints to be seen is that it is a complete fraud and or pyramid scheme. Let me first say that it is not a scam in the least bit. If you do your research the corporation behind it has been in the Inc. 500 list for several years. There is no way that a company that large could be a scam or illegal pyramid scheme.
Next, you will find several 5linx complaints from previous business builders who perhaps were misinformed about the actual business opportunity and thought that the would instantly began to make tons of money just for joining and having to do no work.
It really isn’t like that in the least. Any business for that matter does need work and hard work for to build and grow.
Finally, another typical 5linx complaint from those not associated with the company itself is at its distributors spew out worn out catchphrases like “a can’t miss opportunity”, “it is the fastest growing company”, “changed my life”.
Now, forget about all the harsh words about a possible 5linx scam, and really take a good look at the business overall.
As is typical with every other network marketing opportunity, their distributors really do not know how to market the product or business opportunity, and rely on their off-line to teach them, who in turn have never had any real business success.
Really, when you look at it, marketing allows you to pinpoint exactly who you want to sell your stuff to, and who is most likely to buy it. All without having to harass friends and family or cold call people on the phone.
Today, the Internet gives you such a tremendous ability and reach to tap into and find people very quickly who are interested in specifically in what you of the offer and the solutions that you can give them.
If you want to learn more about building your business online, and forget about all the needless 5linx complaints, read below and click on the link for more information.
Top Barriers to Becoming a Trusted HR Advisor
Today’s business leaders continue to have mixed opinions about human resources. Many see HR as true strategic business partners who add great value to their teams. Yet, many more are still just tolerant, at best, of their HR department. Unfortunately there are a number of behaviors that HR professionals’ practice that continue to hold them back from consistently being viewed as Trusted Advisors. The top five of these behaviors are highlighted below:
1. Gossiping.
Yes, the truth is that HR professionals do gossip. Often times, they are the worst offenders. Considering the level of sensitive data they have access to, gossiping and sharing data about others without a true need to share that information is a behavior that will keep HR professionals from being trusted advisors. If the employees and leaders in your company hear you sharing frivolous information about other employees, they will not trust you. In simple terms, just resist the urge to speak. Don’t ask, don’t tell, and if someone asks you a question about another person, simply say you do not know and end the conversation.
2. Saying “No” all the time.
HR professionals are usually very busy. If they are not dealing with an employee issue or working with leaders to get performance appraisals completed, they are responding to endless requests for information from the workforce. Being so busy makes saying “No” an easy response. If a request is made that seems like it will take a lot of time, it is easy to say, “No”. It eliminates additional work and gets things off your plate. Yet it also removes possibility and, if used enough as the “immediate” reply, can give HR professionals the label of “naysayers.” Instead of immediately saying, “No” to the request, just pause and think, “How can we do this? How can I fit this in and support the request?” It is when you don’t consider the possibilities and are programmed towards instantly saying “No” that you keep yourself from being viewed as a trusted advisor.
3. Not having the courage to say “No”
The opposite of #2 on this list is being someone who always says “yes” and therefore can be considered a “pleaser”. If you don’t have the courage and confidence to say “No” when it is the right answer, you won’t be viewed as a trusted HR advisor. Frequently, it is the responsibility of HR professionals to say “No”. If a leader or employee makes a request or is headed down a path of concern, it is HR’s responsibility to make them aware and say “No” to those things that will put them or the company at risk. The distinguishing factor here is that “No” is not the instant answer but instead is the correct answer. It is correct because it is based on your gathering of data and your deep expertise on what the accurate path is for this particular situation. This is very different from immediately saying “No” because you are too busy to consider other options.
4. Putting HR Agenda first.
It is always surprising to still hear about an HR department that created a program for their organization yet the program was not in support of or aligned to any specific business objective. Why did they create it? Maybe because they read about how great it was in another company or, it was the latest and greatest HR program that is being raved about in HR Magazine. However, if it does not fit with the specific business objectives of a particular company, it will not be supported by the business leaders and has little chance of being successful. The HR agenda and must always follow and support the business objectives. Putting the HR agenda first is not the behavior of a trusted HR advisor and doing this will continue to keep HR professionals from being viewed in that light.
5. Being a regulator instead of an advisor.
Regulators keep things in order and keep others in line. They enforce rules and use those rules to control others behaviors. Advisors provide guidance and counsel. They guide and steer. They lead others through their recommendations and suggestions. Many HR professionals still tend toward acting as the regulator instead of the advisor. They use rules and processes to keep the leaders and employees they support “in line” instead of providing them with guidance. The role of the trusted advisor is to set boundaries. The workforces you support are filled with adults who can make their own decisions about whether or not they will cross the boundaries. Don’t tell them what to do, as a parent would, but instead explain to them the consequences of crossing boundaries and let them make their own decisions. Don’t be the regulator; be the consultant and advisor.
HR Professionals can begin to consistently be viewed as trusted advisors if they take the time to avoid the barriers listed above. Take the time to pause and think about what you’re doing, how you’re doing it and why you’re doing it. Take the time to avoid these behaviors above so that all business leaders begin to view HR as value-added trusted partners.
Assertive Communication – 6 Tips For Effective Use
What IS assertive communication?
Assertive communication is the ability to express positive and negative ideas and feelings in an open, honest and direct way. It recognises our rights whilst still respecting the rights of others. It allows us to take responsibility for ourselves and our actions without judging or blaming other people. And it allows us to constructively confront and find a mutually satisfying solution where conflict exists.
So why use assertive communication?
All of us use assertive behaviour at times… quite often when we feel vulnerable or unsure of ourselves we may resort to submissive, manipulative or aggressive behaviour.
Yet being trained in assertive communication actually increases the appropriate use of this sort of behaviour. It enables us to swap old behaviour patterns for a more positive approach to life. I’ve found that changing my response to others (be they work colleagues, clients or even my own family) can be exciting and stimulating.
The advantages of assertive communication
There are many advantages of assertive communication, most notably these:
It helps us feel good about ourselves and others
It leads to the development of mutual respect with others
It increases our self-esteem
It helps us achieve our goals
It minimises hurting and alienating other people
It reduces anxiety
It protects us from being taken advantage of by others
It enables us to make decisions and free choices in life
It enables us to express, both verbally and non-verbally, a wide range of feelings and thoughts, both positive and negative
There are, of course, disadvantages…
Disadvantages of assertive communication
Others may not approve of this style of communication, or may not approve of the views you express. Also, having a healthy regard for another person’s rights means that you won’t always get what YOU want. You may also find out that you were wrong about a viewpoint that you held. But most importantly, as mentioned earlier, it involves the risk that others may not understand and therefore not accept this style of communication.
What assertive communication is not…
Assertive communication is definately NOT a lifestyle! It’s NOT a guarantee that you will get what you want. It’s definately NOT an acceptable style of communication with everyone, but at least it’s NOT being aggressive.
But it IS about choice
Four behavioural choices
There are, as I see it, four choices you can make about which style of communication you can employ. These types are:
direct aggression: bossy, arrogant, bulldozing, intolerant, opinionated, and overbearing
indirect aggression: sarcastic, deceiving, ambiguous, insinuating, manipulative, and guilt-inducing
submissive: wailing, moaning, helpless, passive, indecisive, and apologetic
assertive: direct, honest, accepting, responsible, and spontaneous
Characteristics of assertive communication
There are six main characteristics of assertive communication. These are:
eye contact: demonstrates interest, shows sincerity
body posture: congruent body language will improve the significance of the message
gestures: appropriate gestures help to add emphasis
voice: a level, well modulated tone is more convincing and acceptable, and is not intimidating
timing: use your judgement to maximise receptivity and impact
content: how, where and when you choose to comment is probably more important than WHAT you say
The importance of “I” statements
Part of being assertive involves the ability to appropriately express your needs and feelings. You can accomplish this by using “I” statements. These indicate ownership, do not attribute blame, focuses on behaviour, identifies the effect of behaviour, is direcdt and honest, and contributes to the growth of your relationship with each other.
Strong “I” statements have three specific elements:
Behaviour
Feeling
Tangible effect (consequence to you)
Example: “I feel frustrated when you are late for meetings. I don’t like having to repeat information.”
Six techniques for assertive communication
There are six assertive techniques – let’s look at each of them in turn.
1. Behaviour Rehearsal: which is literally practising how you want to look and sound. It is a very useful technique when you first want to use “I” statements, as it helps dissipate any emotion associated with an experience and allows you to accurately identify the behaviour you wish to confront.
2. Repeated Assertion (the ‘broken record’): this technique allows you to feel comfortable by ignoring manipulative verbal side traps, argumentative baiting and irrelevant logic while sticking to your point. To most effectively use this technique use calm repetition, and say what you want and stay focused on the issue. You’ll find that there is no need to rehearse this technique, and no need to ‘hype yourself up’ to deal with others.
Example:
“I would like to show you some of our products”
“No thank you, I’m not interested”
“I really have a great range to offer you”
“That may be true, but I’m not interested at the moment”
“Is there someone else here who would be interested?”
“I don’t want any of these products”
“Okay, would you take this brochure and think about it?”
“Yes, I will take a brochure”
“Thank you”
“You’re welcome”
3. Fogging: this technique allows you to receive criticism comfortably, without getting anxious or defensive, and without rewarding manipulative criticism. To do this you need to acknowledge the criticism, agree that there may be some truth to what they say, but remain the judge of your choice of action. An example of this could be, “I agree that there are probably times when I don’t give you answers to your questions.
4. Negative enquiry: this technique seeks out criticism about yourself in close relationships by prompting the expression of honest, negative feelings to improve communication. To use if effectively you need to listen for critical comments, clarify your understanding of those criticisms, use the information if it will be helpful or ignore the information if it is manipulative. An example of this technique would be, “So you think/believe that I am not interested?”
5. Negative assertion: this technique lets you look more comfortably at negatives in your own behaviour or personality without feeling defensive or anxious, this also reduces your critics’ hostility. You should accept your errors or faults, but not apologise. Instead, tentatively and sympathetically agree with hostile criticism of your negative qualities. An example would be, “Yes, you’re right. I don’t always listen closely to what you have to say.”
6. Workable compromise: when you feel that your self-respect is not in question, consider a workable compromise with the other person. You can always bargain for your material goals unless the compromise affects your personal feelings of self-respect. However, if the end goal involves a matter of your self-worth and self-respect, THERE CAN BE NO COMPROMISE. An example of this technique would be, “I understand that you have a need to talk and I need to finish what I’m doing. So what about meeting in half an hour?”
Conclusion
Assertiveness is a useful communication tool. It’s application is contextual and it’s not appropriate to be assertive in all situations. Remember, your sudden use of assertiveness may be perceived as an act of aggression by others.
There’s also no guarantee of success, even when you use assertive communication styles appropriately.
“Nothing on earth can stop the individual with the right mental attitude from achieving their goal; nothing on earth can help the individual with the wrong mental attitude” W.W. Ziege
Posted in Mlm Lead List Articles | 
Tags: Assertive, Communication, Effective, Empowerment | 
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Successful Organizations — Five Keys to a Successful Organization
Many companies long to learn the secret to success. While business has many critical aspects – from vision to strategic planning to customer service – the one that is often given the least attention, yet can be the most costly, is people.
Your people have the ability to drive customers to you or away from you. To make work fun and simple, or miserable and riffled with issues. They can cause problems or save time and money with their creative solutions. What’s a company to do?
Here are 5 keys to make your Organization Successful:
1. Hire the right people – when it comes to hiring, many organizations miss the mark by:
Failing to identify and agree upon the position requirements
Neglecting to plan
Asking illegal questions
Asking few follow-up or clarifying questions
Succumbing to the pressure to fill the position
Letting individual biases and stereotypes get in the way
2. Give them the tools to do a good job – Put yourself in your employees’ shoes. Would you be able to do a better job if:
You had a faster computer?
There was a file cabinet for pertinent documents?
The printer/copier was closer to your desk?
You had a database program to track customers?
There were bins to organize inventory parts?
You had some help developing a report to track tasks?
The supplies weren’t locked up and you didn’t have to requisition every paperclip?
3. Provide them with positive, constructive feedback – many companies have a formal performance review process, but rarely use it. Constructive feedback is one of the best ways to grow a company! People want to know:
Know they are doing a good job.
Understand what and how they should improve.
Understand how they affect company success.
Know how they can affect their status and pay.
Know how they can get ahead in the company.
Be heard and appreciated for their efforts.
Have open dialogue with their managers.
Have input into their goals.
4. Develop them – Keep in mind, companies do not grow; companies are not entities that can grow by themselves. A company can improve productivity, gain new customers, capture new markets, acquire new technology, increase efficiencies, develop creative approaches, increase profitability, etc., but only through one prime ingredient – it’s people. Invent in their continued learning and they will help the company grow.
5. Reward them – How do you reward your people for doing a good job? Most would say money, right? Yes, people want to make a good living and be well paid for the job they do. That’s a given. But money is only part of the equation! Different things motivate different people, learn what is important to your people and reward them appropriately.
Keep in mind – the number one reason employees leave their jobs is due to a poor boss. They stay because of good leadership that recognizes the needs of the people, and provides praise and recognition.
Remember, companies don’t change and grow. . . people do! So be sure to reward and recognize the behaviors you want to see. Catch people in the act of doing things right and reward them on the spot with a heartfelt “thank you”!
Networking – Making a Good Email Introduction
Networking can mean many things to many professionals depending on the nature of the networking. It can equate to giving and expecting nothing in return. Etiquette and manners are useful tools for networking for success. Professionals can build great business relationships, expand their networks and help their business grow by referring others rather than themselves. An effective means for offering referrals is through emails. Emails are a subtle form of communication that allows the recipient to respond during any time of the day and give the proper and accurate information and resources to their business counterparts. As the middle man, you can properly introduce friends and colleagues and build your clientele/referral base.
Listed below are some important tips to consider when making business or personal contacts.
Spell Check
When a professional has agreed to introduce two or more colleagues for business or social purposes, the business professional should draft a concise and meaningful message and proof-read. Grammar should be correct and all names of persons should be spelled properly. This can build your credibility and show that you pay attention to detail as well as respect others.
Background Info.
The person making the introduction should set the stage for how all parties know of each other. Be specific and give details about personal and professional associations so that everyone can feel comfortable with each other. Another good idea is to include educational backgrounds or professional and social interests of your business counterparts. This information can be helpful for future reference or later business and social opportunities.
Company Info.
The professional should then describe the business, company or organization of each person. They should make sure to provide the most useful information for making the right connection for business success. New initiatives, new products, training programs, latest technologies which can be of interest to their business counterpart should be highlighted in the email message. Your business counterparts should be able to identify the significance of working and collaborating together for profit or growth.
Sealing the Deal
After the introduction via email has been made, the professional should encourage both parties to connect or reach out to one another. The professional should provide the proper and appropriate contact info for all parties as well as their own information. Also encourage both parties to follow up and ask for assistance when needed.
Home Business Start Up: Grocery Shopping Home Business
Vital Information:
Start-up Investment:
Low – $2000 (advertising costs)
High – $20,000 (includes a van)
Break-even time Two weeks to one year
Estimate of Annual Revenue and Profit: Revenue $15,000 – $1 million (solo at low end, with employees at high end)
Profit (Pre-tax ) $12,000 – $500,000
Food for Thought (and Profit)
In this age of two-income families, it is a rarity to find a woman who has time to manage both her career and her home with the finesse that she would like.
As the number of frozen meals and fast food restaurants multiply, families are becoming increasingly dependent on them.
Consequently, people are consuming substantial amounts of “empty calories”. The result? … obesity. Another? Children with behavioral problems.
On the flip side, people are becoming more aware of the value of “whole foods” as opposed to prepackaged.
Not only families with busy parents use “Personal Grocery Shoppers, but executives use them also.
With technology advancing as rapidly as it is… executives are increasingly required to produce more projects given the same amount of time. They simply don’t have the time to go to the grocery store and carefully choose healthy foods.
Don’t forget about the elderly and those with physical challenges. Many Senior’s as well as others who are physically challenged require “Grocery Shopping” services.
Also, consider Adult Family Homes and Foster Homes. Often, it is difficult for care providers to schedule in time to grocery shop.
I’ve learned that with both Adult Family Homes as well as with Foster Homes, that the care provider’s are required to have a liscenced person remain with clients in the event that the care provider needs to leave the home…Obviously, a hidden cost.
Keep in mind that there are NUMEROUS Adult Family Homes and Foster Homes that are run by couples as well as singles. Contrary to popular thought, most of these homes are small operations.
You can contract with Foster Homes and Adult Family Homes and do the shopping for them.
How can you Cash in on the Grocery Shopping Business?
Grocery shopping is one of the newest and potentially lucrative services now being offered to the American consumer. Why not capitalize on this ever increasing industry?
Who, What, Where…
There are many different types of grocery-shopping services popping up all over the country. Some are attached to large supermarket chains; a division of the parent company or someone leasing space as a concession.
At the other end of the spectrum are homemakers, singles, and college students who Earn a living by doing the grocery shopping for others.
Benefits To Owning A Home Based Grocery Business
· A Home Based Grocery Business allows for a flexable work schedule. · Can be performed…even if you have young children.
· Opportunity to meet people
· Low start up
· Low overhead
· Simple
· Lucrative
No matter what form the service takes, the opportunities can be mind-boggling. Even the single enterprising shopper can make a good living for the next dozen years or so… until supermarket chains catch on…
Once more supermarkets catch on, it may be possible to present your existing service to the supermarket chain as an established service.
By contracting your services with a grocery store chain, you can cash in. Of course, at that point, it’s likely that you will have employees doing the shopping for you.
Since there are so few grocery shopping companies around, you will have to decide for yourself what the market will be when setting your prices.
You will probably want to break down your prices to reflect the dollar amount of the order, the distance for delivery and whether you can handle several orders at the same time. (For example: $10 for a $50 order within a 5 mile radius).
Keep in mind, the bottom line in this business is volume. The more orders you can fill at one time and the fewer miles you have to travel, the more lucrative your business will be.
Start-Up Costs For your Grocery Shopping Business
All you really need to start a shopping service is customers. You can use word of mouth advertising to start, if money is seriously tight.
Investing in flyers and peppering the neighborhoods you choose may be the place to start.
Note: Use card sized flyers for low cost advertising. Pay kids to deliver them.
Choosing Customers for your Grocery Shopping Business
You will want to target your potential area carefully. Look for affluent neighborhoods where both spouses are working, neighborhoods populated by executives, Computer programmers….Foster/Adult care Homes.
Note: Get your hands on a Cole’s Directory. Often, you’ll find them in your local Library. You can also lease them directly from Cole’s. Anyhow, within the Cole’s Directory, you can look up addresses within it. The Beauty is that Cole’s lists the average income for the particular neighborhood. Advertising your Home Based Grocery Business
You can either hire kids to hand deliver the flyers in the specified neighborhoods or utilize bulk mail to send your flyers to a particular zip code.
I’ve paid kids .05 cents per door. Neighborhood newspapers and pennysavers are often an economical place to advertise.
You might want to speak with the management at the supermarket you plan to utilize to see if you can post a notice in the store on the bulletin board or pass out brochures or flyers in the parking lot or at the door of the sore.
Continue to be warm and friendly but don’t confuse this with friendship development. In other words, don’t make it a habit to hang around too long after your job is done. Keep it light, warm and professional. Don’t become their psychologist.
Once you’ve developed trust, ask for referrals. You can design a referral program too.
Other than advertising costs, the only start-up cost you will really need is a vehicle (a roomy station wagon or van) that can accommodate your orders.
Other Business Considerations
If you don’t have such a vehicle and money is tight, you can explore the possibility of leasing one. If you lease an automobile under your business name, you can write the monthly payments off. Of course you don’t have to concern yourself with auto repair hassles…by leasing.
As business picks up, consider adding coolers to keep perishables on ice so that you can lengthen your delivery route.
Another thought… turn your baseme or extra bedroom into warehouse so you can stock high profit bulky items like sodas or disposable diapers.
This way you can purchase in quantity from a wholesaler or food warehouse, increasing your profits.
Designing your Grocery Shopping Business
Some shopping services ask their customers to place orders on a regimented schedule; one each week or every ten days.
It’s also common that customers are requested to check off their items on a pre-printed shopping list. You can design the list so that “Produce” is in one section, “Meats” in another, and so on.
This method guarantees a minimum number of orders per week and allows for long range scheduling.
Other services are more flexible by allowing customers to “call in” to order on as-needed basis. This method maybe harder to schedule but could pull in more business because of increased frequency or impulse buying.
Because it is not a very good idea to carry a lot of cash around with you, it may be a good idea for your company to pay for the order as you purchase them and then collect a check from your customers upon delivery.
You will probably want to choose one particular supermarket in which to do all your shopping. Not only do you become familiar with the location of all the items you need, but you can become familiar with the store’s personnel. A friendly “hello” how are you”, may be the little boost you need to be able to get the best cuts of beef from the butcher or the best produce from the produce manager.
Time Is Money
If you are only shopping for prepackaged food, you can really move through the supermarket, but if you have to inspect produce, meats, or fish, the time you spend is going to be greatly increased. So, charge accordingly.
You may also want to consider shopping in stores other than supermarkets. Customers may want you to stop by the liquor store, deli or carry-out.
You may wish to increase your fees for this additional service or charge the same as you do for groceries. It’s up to you.
Note: if you base your pricing on the dollar volume for the delivery, the more expensive price tags at those specialty stores will make it worthwhile to make the extra stops.
Organizational ability is the key to a successful grocery shopping service. It is a challenge to keep orders straight since you will probably be shopping for several accounts at once.
Bridging the Gap between Opportunity and Success,
OwnABizToday.com Shawn Price
Copyright 2005 OwnABizToday.com
Pure3x Review
Pure3x is a designer beverage club network marketing opportunity that operates in the health and wellness industry. The beverages were designed for specific health oriented needs. Here is my honest review.
The sports/energy drink market has exploded over the past decade to be a multi billion dollar industry in the US alone. Walk into any convenience store and you will find an entire cooler section dedicated to these drinks. This company manufactures and distributes the following 3 drinks through their Independent Distributors:
RENEW – The Energy drink
REVOLUTION – The Vitamin & Mineral health drink
PASSION – The Sexual enhancement drink for him & her
The company provides their ID’s with the standard replicated website, back office to track their sales and down line activity, marketing materials and down line building training.
They fall short, as most MLM companies do, in not providing a comprehensive internet marketing training program to teach their members how to properly marketing themselves and the business online. They rely on the more traditional methods, such as word of mouth and handing out samples.
The cost to join Pure3x is $45 to activate your account. A $150 monthly auto ship is required to remain active in the compensation structure. ID’s earn commissions on all retail sales along with $6 for every new ID they bring into the system. ID’s can qualify for additional bonuses by increasing sales and recruiting volumes. The residual income is calculated by their 3×13 binary matrix.
This is a legitimate network marketing opportunity. There will no doubt be a few ID’s who reach the highest level of the compensation structure and earn a substantial income. They will either have a large prospect list they will bring along with them into this business or are master marketers who have the knowledge and ability to utilize proven internet marketing methods to drive targeted traffic to their websites. To earn big in an MLM you will need to continuously recruit and increase your sales volumes.
How to Become a Life Coach
If you’ve found this article from a Google search, I assume that you are already familiar with what a life coach is. Even if you are, reading my article “What is a Life Coach” will provide you with valuable information on what exactly a life coach does, how coaching contracts work, what typical coaching formats look like and how you might want to focus your business as you consider becoming a coach.
This article is geared towards the logistics on what you can do to become a life coach and start your own business.
What Credentials do I Need?
At the risk of turning people off to life coaching in this article, I am going to give you the facts about people that are calling themselves coaches. Truth be told – there are NO job requirements to become a coach. Sounds scary huh? Put a sign up, print some business cards, call yourself a life coach and you are good to go. Pretty easy business to build eh?
Lets take a bit of a closer look here. What I am really saying is that by law, no professional certification is required for someone to call him or herself a life coach – or coach (often the word ‘life’ is either omitted or replaced with a different word such as ‘executive’, ‘wellness’, ‘lifestyle management’ or ‘business’). So unlike a psychologist, a physical therapist, registered dietician, a contractor, or a lawyer, the state and country (USA) does not recognize a life coach as a credentialed profession. Therefore, no license is required to call yourself a coach (at least as of the date this article is posted).
Lets look at some other examples of similar professions that might fall into the same category. How about that big one of ‘consultant’. There are lots of consultants out there consulting on everything you can think of – typically a consultant needs no license to be a consultant, just experience doing so. Similar to a coach, a consultant with no experience at all can draft up a business card and start doing business. Of course the big question is whether or not you’d be able to sell anyone on your services given that background. A computer consultant would probably have trouble selling themselves if they knew nothing about computers!
Before Calling Yourself a Coach…
If you are intending to call yourself a coach, please understand what it means to give yourself that title. Without government regulations, I admit you can stake your claim at coachhood with relative ease, however its a discredit to the professionals with years of experience and training if you simply use the word as an allure for clients and in any way you are misrepresenting what the coaching profession is all about. I’d suggest reading a coaches code of ethics to see if what you are offering could truly be considered coaching.
One problem that I see is that many people who are misrepresenting the profession do not even recognize what it means to be a coach. I’ve seen MLM (multi-level marketing) companies give their marketers buttons to put on their shirt stating ‘Wellness Coach’ – when all they know is a couple of herbal supplements that the company sells. I’ve seen Real Estate Agents call themselves ‘Real Estate Coaches’ because they wanted to differentiate themselves from the crowd of agents. Clearly these people are marketing themselves as coaches with little understanding of what a coach really does. If you’ve read this far it shows you’ve got a true interest in becoming an ethical coach and I’ve no doubt that you are doing your homework!
What Background do I need?
This is an interesting question. Coaches come from all backgrounds. As previously mentioned there are coaches in the health and wellness world, in the executive development world, relationship coaches, coaches for families with children that have special needs, stress management coaches – the list goes on and on. Of course there are many coaches that cross pollinate and have several areas they focus on.
If you choose to focus your coaching on a specific area – lets say ‘parenting troubled teens’, then its a good idea that you’ve got a background of working with troubled teens so that you can best understand your client. Now a pure life coach is committed to recognizing that a client has their own answers and that the coaches job is to empower the client such that they see this clearly for themselves. Therefore, a coach is a generalist – their training and skill is really in communicating with people such that they can identify and build appropriate goals and actions that fulfill their dreams. If you naturally have this skill, you’ve got the greatest asset that a life coach needs. Some people have an innate tendency to ‘be coach’. If you don’t naturally have this skill, rest assured that wish practice you can develop it.
What Education if any Should I Get?
If you are considering becoming a coach, I definitely recommend that you get training. A coach training program often has coaching and mentorship not only on how to be a better coach, but also on how to build your business. Whether or not you choose to go through a full coach training certification program is a big decision as it will typically involve a commitment of 1-3 years, up to $15,000, and will require that you obtain between one and two hundred client hours to become certified. Prices, times to certification, and program depth and intensity vary greatly dependent on the program you choose.
Typically after an introductory class, you are encouraged to begin enrolling coaching clients. Therefore, you can charge what you are comfortable charging while you are going through the certification process (remember, you don’t need a license to be a coach). I wish I knew the percentage of professional’s out there calling themselves ‘coaches’ that have gone through a certification program. I am sure that someone’s put an estimate out there but I’ve yet to find it. My suspicion is that it is less than 1/3 of all coaches. So being a ‘certified’ coach differentiates you for sure, however at the moment a typical coaching client probably would not know the difference.
If you elected not to become certified, my recommendation would be that you take some introductory courses, become familiar and comfortable with what coaching is, then try your hand on clients willing to work with you. If these classes are too expensive, read through this whole blog, read as many books as you can find on coaching and develop a toolset which you can stake claim to and comfortably use to team with clients to promote their advancement and self discovery. Make yourself an expert coach based on the knowledge of what a coach is and what they do.
I remember having a conversation with one woman that a friend referred to me. She wanted to change careers, she was very interested in life coaching and she felt she had been coaching friends and co-workers for years. She did have a good understanding of what life coaching was. Furthermore she said she new a number of people that would be willing to pay her for coaching! As I coached her, all she needed to hear was herself confirming that it was OK to get started – even if she had doubts and worries as to what a formal coaching session would look like. She had a fantastic motivation to learn regardless of whether or not that would be in the framework of a credential program (and I don’t know if she elected to enroll in one).
What is the ICF
The ICF (International Coach Federation) is the leading coach credentialing agency on the market. Many coaches have opted to become a member of the ICF (by paying an annual fee to be a member), but this is certainly not a requirement to be a coach. The ICF is strongly supportive of coaching becoming a licensed field – similar as to what you see with psychologists etc. Clearly they have incentive as they would be the leading credentialing agency and this would greatly increase their membership. Many coaches believe that this will come to fruition in the next 5-10 years. At that point in time its likely we’d see a large decrease in the number of people calling themselves coaches as well as an increase in the credibility and the stature of the industry.
I present this because if you did elect to go through a coach training program, the ICF provides a list of programs that are accredited. By training through one of these accredited programs, it is expected that your certification would be grandfathered into the status of a certified coach should a license become required. This might be one thing to consider as you contemplate what level of training and education you would like to participate in as well as who provides that training.
In Summary
To summarize, if you’ve been considering becoming a professional coach (life coach), its important to educate yourself on what a coach is and is not. There is a lot of information on the internet available (much on this site) that can provide you with a foundation for understanding coaching models and how to ‘be coach’.
Legally, at this point in time, there are no requirements to obtain a certification or license for someone to begin calling themselves a coach (in that regards, it’s similar to consulting). If you would like to begin coaching on a specific topic, its great to have a background on that topic but make sure that you know why you are differentiating what you are doing as coaching rather than consulting.
Educationally there are many coach training programs available. I suggest that you attend at least some coaching courses (or hire your own coach) such that you begin to understand how coaching works. If you do elect to go with a coach training program, a good thing to consider would be whether or not is is recognized by the International Coach Federation such that you will not to become re-certified in the future should this become an industry requirement.
I hope this answers your first set of questions on how to become a life coach – I am sure it will lead to more questions. I’ll provide more coaching tips, tools and suggestions throughout the course of the year on this website- so visit often. Till then…
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Be Well