Do You Invest In You?

February 16, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Yesterday while my step-dad was in the Dr’s Office I sat in my van and listened to a CD I recently received.

My van is my mobile University. Let me share with you my thoughts…

Leadership Is All About Replacing Yourself

There is a huge shortage of leaders in the world…

both in the private sector
http://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/stories/2008/02/18/daily13.html

and the non-profit sector
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/buggs/4714442.html

In light of that you can make a difference; by setting yourself up as
a leader now. Today!

If you have not yet put one person on your team you’re still a leader. How can I say that? You decided to take charge of your life
and do something about it by starting your home-based business.

Leadership is a journey and a journey worth taking!

What can you do today to begin your journey?

Find a running buddy. One who you feel comfortable with but will also challenge you. The feelings should be mutual. Do you have a team-mate you connect with? Begin a dialog together and make plans together.

For example, you’re going to make 20 phones call a night and be accountable to your running buddy.

You’re going to post 3 video’s a week and be accountable to your running buddy.

You’re going to take 30 minutes a week and visit the social networking sites and make 10 new friends; comment on their video’s or their blogs and be accountable to your running buddy.

Now you can’t be a softy with your running buddy…this is a no excuses relationship. Share your plans with them for the week and vice versa…if they come up with excuses…don’t say it’s o.k. we’ll start again next week. There is an accountability here and that brings results.

A leader does what needs to be done with you telling them that it needs to be done!

Are you afraid of failure? Get over it.

Do you know a baby will fall an average of 999 times before they learn to walk?

Imagine if they never got back up again! We’d have a world of adults still crawling around on their knees…

But wait…do you still crawl on your knees when it comes to your business? Or have you taken charge and become accountable and are you running the marathon?

Or are you still taking baby steps after weeks or months?

Do you have to ask:

What is the team site?
What night’s are the trainings?
How do I log in to my site?
What is the phone # to the home office?

Do you have the same tools that your team leader has?

A team site? A team co-op?

What do you have to do to qualify? Ask them.

Team Trainings? In most cases the answer to the above would be a YES!

The reason some are still taking baby steps is not that they haven’t been given the tools.

It’s because they are afraid to fail…and we all know what FEAR is!

False Evidence Appearing Real

So you make a mistake…it’s O.K. So get up and make your first mistake today and move on. If you make another one as long as it’s not the same as the first you’re learning.

I am on a constant journey to find what works in my business. Does it mean that I flit from one thing to another?

No, it means that I am willing to do whatever it takes to find what works. And most of the time what works is NOT any one process it’s a series of processes worked together.

There are leaders that swear by:

cold calling
buying leads
Web 2.0 social networking
article marketing
blogs
opportunity meetings
passing out fliers
offline social events
offline advertising
online advertising
warm market contacts

I say do a combination of the above and don’t just try it ONE or TWO times and say o.k. that didn’t work!

I incorporate a number of the above in my weekly (NOT weakly) activities.

If you get anything from this I hope you’re hearing this:

Stop taking baby steps! Run the marathon!

The journey is well worth it.

We all need help to build our leadership skills!

Holly Powell


Filed Under: Holly's Rants Tagged With: Leadership, team building

Get Over Yourself Already!

February 15, 2009 By 1 Comment

O.K. not what you really want to hear from your sponsor right? Well, I can probably get away with it because I’m not your sponsor; oh and if you’re one of my team mates…sorry…just a little bit “kick ass” talk here.

Someone told me recently and I paraphrase…”Holly, you gotta take the n$%^$ple” out of your team’s…” well you get the picture. Did I get mad? Nope, because he’s was right… I have a tendency to babysit my team…

Well, I USED to anyway. See, we have a team website, a team social network, team training both for beginners and advanced, a team chat room open 24/7 and yet I would still find myself answering ”baby questions”. Questions where the answers are found on any one of the above resources…so I’ve weaned my team :-)

In other words I had to get over myself already and I’m encouraging you to do the same…

So where am I headed with this? I can assure you this post is not random ramblings…at least I don’t think so YET!

If you have a thin skin you may want to stop reading…I’m on a role.

O.K. here goes! Unless you approach your warm market and at least tell them about your opportunity you are NOT going to make money your first week in any business! This may seem like a contradiction to what I teach…don’t bug your family and friends…but it’s NOT really.

See, you have to let the one’s you know what you’re doing or else somebody else will. But just tell them ONCE! Don’t bug them everyday or weekly to join your business. Let them see your success and trust me they will approach you.

And if you haven’t at least told your close associates what you’re doing don’t be mad when they call you and say, “Hey buddy, I have something I want you to look at…” How sad that would be for you.

So now, you’ve decided that you’re going to make the list and at least tell your associates at least once! I’m proud of you…BUT you still need to get over yourself already!

Here’s what else I teach…I teach my team how to market online so they can generate their own leads…BUT generating quality leads through online methods takes time…yup it took me at least 12 weeks to generate my first lead…through consistent DAILY activity…

I had someone email me and say I’m on day 3 of your training and I’m still not generating any leads… Day 3! That is too funny! I’m on day 2190! Most folks won’t last 90…

So what do you do in the meantime? You get out there and build your business using Social Media. You work your tail off to generate leads!

And while some of you may do that…here is what you WON’T do…

You refuse to pick up that 1,000 pound black snake (the phone) and make  those dials. So what if the leads suck…it good practice for when you start to generate quality leads.

If You Want The Things You Do Not Have

You Gotta Do The Things You Have Not Done!

So get over yourself already and have some cheese and crackers to go with the “whine”. Whining about not knowing how to market, or not knowing how to generate leads, or not knowing how to post a blog, or not knowing how to set up a myspace page, or whine, whine, whine… If you haven’t been online at least 5 years…just do what you’re told and stop surfing for the next big thing. You can build your business on a shoestring budget but ask anyone of my team mates who does it…it does NOT happen overnight.

I get approached at least once a day from team mates who haven’t even completed their training with the next best big thing! I have one guy who is NOT on my team who emails me at least once a week with yet another up and coming lifetime opportunity! Man, enough already. He needs to get over himself already!

So what is my schedule? Do I practice what I preach? You betcha! Most folks won’t do one hour of what it takes to generate leads on a budget…or one hour of what I do on a daily basis…will you?

Monday thorugh Thursday 7-9 Calling leads and follow ups–no exceptions!!!

9 PM 11 PM Work

Monday’s Blogs and Articles and Press Releases

Tuesday’s Videos

Wednesday’s Social Networks

Thursday’s Updating My Websites

My brain works overtime with stuff I like to share so I have a file that I add to almost weekly with ideas. Will I get to them all? Probably not, but i write them down anyway and you should too.

I’m guilty…yes I’m a computer “geek” and I have to STOP my brainstorming efforts for generating traffic and I too have to take the time and pick up the phone to call leads.

So get over yourself already and pick up the damn phone!

Holly Powell

Filed Under: Holly's Rants, Network Marketing Tagged With: scheduling your time

Are You A Full-Timer Or Ready To Quit?

February 15, 2009 By 3 Comments

Between playing with my two granddaughters and just plain old catching up I did manage to write some this weekend.

I had to ask myself a question; does writing create leads for my business? In the long run yes it does BUT NOT overnight.

Some of you have asked Holly what is your schedule? How do you manage getting it all done?

See, I still work full time with my “journey over broke” and I manage to work my business full time. When I get home from work around 4:30 I start working on my business right away and most days I don’t get to bed before 1:00 AM

Anyway, back to my story…when I started my business 6 years ago now I decided that this was IT! I knew I was in it for the long haul. I knew that this was way better than the 40-40-40 plan.

40 years, 40,000, $40 watch!

But here is what most of you end of doing or saying:

“I’ll give this six months” What! Are you kidding? Do your sponsor a favor don’t even start. Six months of training only to have you quit! Gimme a break.

“O.K. I’ll try” Yoda says Don’t Try DO!

“I didn’t realize it was so much work.” Are you kidding me? Go open a McDonald’s. You’ll work 60-80 hours a week for the first 5 years and then you MIGHT break even.

“Do I really have to pick up the phone?” ah, I won’t even comment

“I made 10 calls and 3 of them hung up on me!” Oh well, read my blog.

“My sponsor hurt my feelings.” Jeez, get to work. This is your business NOT your sponsor’s.

“My downline won’t call me back.” Their loss. I traveled from my home here in Southport, NC to Washington, DC to work with one of my Reps recently. I called all 13 of my reps in the area! Guess what, only one showed up! And she’s inactive…I think she’ll be back soon. As I said, their loss.

“I sent in a support ticket and never heard back.” Read your training the answer’s probably there.

Which reminds me of another story. A couple of years ago, I had a team mate email with a bunch of questions. I answered, these are in the team manual. The response? I don’t have time to read that I’ll just send in a support ticket! Are you kidding me? No wonder the company doesn’t answer all of the support tickets they receive. READ THE MANUAL!

I used to call, email, and conjole folks back! Not anymore, I am the Donald Trump of my own corporation! I don’t beg folks back or in my business. And you shouldn’t either. Show them ONCE, trickle emails to them but stop begging folks in. Like Dani Johnson says, “If you gotta beg folks in you’ll be begging them to training calls, meetings, etc.” Your time is worth more than that. Isn’t it?

Oh here I go again…ramblin’…I actually had someone quit within 2 hours!

What’s your story? Do you have someone who joined your business/team only to quit right away? Oh and what is the funniest or weirdest excuse you’ve ever heard from folks who have joined your business only to quit soon after? Comment below; I’d love to hear your stories.

Enjoy today and every day and get to work! It’s so worth it.

Holly Powell


Filed Under: Holly's Rants, Network Marketing Tagged With: full time marketing, quitters in the mlm business

Video Marketing Is Not That Hard–Don’t Be a Scaredy Cat

December 17, 2008 By 1 Comment

Video Marketing is one of the easiest ways to “get the word” out about your business. If you’re not using it you absolutely must do whatever it takes to get over your fear. I remember my first video. It’s on youtube and I was a nervous wreck. It took me 44 videos and 12 weeks to generate my first lead.

Most folks quit after 10 or so. How sad is that! When I started providing value in my videos and realized that it was NOT about me–it was about getting my message out and touching as many lives as I possibly could.

Once you get over your fear it’s time to really take massive action and use the tools that most of the internet marketers use to get their videos out to as many sites as possible.

Traffic Geyser is a must have tool. Yes, there is a monthly fee but the return on your investment is ten-fold. I uploaded a video last night to our traffic geyser account and yes I put a weird title, “”video are not that hard”…go ahead and google that keyword in quotes. You’ll see at this writing I had 10 results for my video. I daresay by not using that tool you would not have those results for any title if you’re just using one video channel site.

So if you’re still a scaredy cat I say “Get Over It Already!”

Holly Powell

Filed Under: Holly's Rants, Holly's Reviews, Social Media Marketing Tips Tagged With: traffic geyser, Video Marketing, video submission tools

Successes–How Do You Count Them?

October 17, 2008 By 1 Comment

What does success mean for you? We all have made the mistake of counting success with $ signs. Today, start counting your successes every single one of them as milestones or stepping stones.

So let’s go through a day in the life of a newbie marketer. As a leader celebrate each success with excitement.

Success–You joined your business–Yay for you! Do a dance. Have a ribbon cutting party with your friends. I’m serious.

Success–You posted your first blog–You’re an author oh yes you are! Tell all your friends to read your post and ask them to comment on it.

Success–You joined a social network! Wow, you’re a star or you can be. Share, share, share and let your beauty shine through! Everybody has value to add. Don’t spam, share, spread the love and celebrate with your new friends. How exciting.

Success–You listened in on your first conference call! You shut the TV down right in the middle of your favorite show and launched your education university training. How cool is that?

Success–You started a website! You are now the proud owner of some very valuable internet real estate…now improve that “property” and announce your ownership.

Success–You wrote your first article. Whoopie. You’re creating backlinks to you. How smart is that?

Success–You just published your first Press Release about your new team mate!

So let’s start celebrating these successes. Because if you do the money will follow; honest it will. Don’t feel as though every success has to have a $ “sign” behind it.

Let me know some of your successes. I’ll do a dance for ya!

Holly Powell

Filed Under: Holly's Rants Tagged With: count your successes, failure in business, mlm success

Excuse, Struggles, Ugh

October 15, 2008 By Leave a Comment

I want to tell ya that excuses…you don’t need them to quit you just walk away BUT before you do remember that every single person in this room is going through some type of “struggle”!

You might not know it. you might not realize it because all you see is business as usual…serious…most of us don’t really share the day to day struggles.

I know that some of us suffer from depression, some of us struggle to make ends meet, some of us are taking care of a sick loved one, some of us are in dead-end relationships and don’t know how to get out, some of us can’t seem to get this web 2.0 and are ready to just quit, some of us are lonely (and sometimes just being around a group like this one is all they want out of their business); who are we to tell them to get busy when all they want it is some sort of a social life; some of us have terminal diseases, some of us are single Mom’s or Dad’s; some of us are grand parents who should be enjoying life and instead are taking care of our grandbabies; some of us are in debt up to our ears and looking for just an extra $100 a month; some of us are young families just starting out; some of us have family and friends who are laughing at us; we’re Mom’s, Dad’s, sisters, brothers, grand parents, and we’re friends…

While I’m not encourage everybody to come in and tell us about your struggles; just remember that we are here to support one another and I think the folks in here do an incredible job with that…

Filed Under: Holly's Rants

Excuses? Don’t Need ‘Em–Just Walk Away

October 7, 2008 By 1 Comment

I want to tell ya that excuses…you don’t need them to quit you just walk away!

BUT before you do remember that every single person in this room is going through some type of “struggle”! You might not know it. you might not realize it because all you see is business as usual…serious…most of us don’t really share the day to day struggles.

I know that some of us suffer from depression, some of us struggle to make ends meet, some of us are taking care of a sick loved one, some of us are in dead-end relationships and don’t know how to get out, some of us can’t seem to get this web 2.0 and are ready to just quit, some of us are lonely (and sometimes just being around a group like this one is all they want out of their business); who are we to tell them to get busy when all they want it is some sort of a social life; some of us have terminal diseases, some of us are single Mom’s or Dad’s; some of us are grand parents who should be enjoying life and instead are taking care of our grandbabies; some of us are in debt up to our ears and looking for just an extra $100 a month; some of us are young families just starting out; some of us have family and friends who are laughing at us; we’re Mom’s, Dad’s, sisters, brothers, grand parents, and we’re friends…

While I’m not encourage everybody to come in and tell us about your struggles; just remember that we are here to support one another and I think the folks in here do an incredible job with that…

Filed Under: Holly's Rants Tagged With: holly's rants, mlm quitter, never quit, quitters never win
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