Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Attrition Rates, How Do You Reduce them?

Starting in to the New Year brings me to examining the past years successes and it also brings me to examining attrition.
 We get so jazzed about the increases, yes! Fabulous we say, but lets also look over our stats and see those areas where or organization is declining... What is the cause? How can I improve this in the new year? 
Lets look at enrolling potential partners...Assuming that we are asking about enrolling potential partners – then the question would be to examine… are we qualifying them enough as to their commitment to do what it takes to change their present circumstances?
We do this by using qualifying questions.The most important part of qualifying is making sure our potential partner is committed to changing their present situation before we present how our solution can help them.
We might ask them something like –
  • Let me ask you – One out of ten, how important is it to you to (repeat back what they said they wanted)?
  • Are you prepared to put the time and effort in moving toward and getting what you said you want?
 Why are we asking them this question? It can be helpful to let them know by saying something like...
“The reason I’m asking is that my partners and I are prepared to put a lot of time and effort into initially helping you achieve what you want, and I think you’ll agree that if we are to do that then it’s important you’re committed to take consistent action on this venture – would you agree?”
What this does is…
  • Help them be clear as to what it’s going to take
  • Puts the responsibility directly on them
  • Helps them remember the commitment they made to themselves when the going might get a little tough later on
  • Helps you to get an idea as to whether they are going to stay with you and how much time you should spend with them

These are called qualifying questions and we can ask them anywhere in our  discovery stage of our conversation.
It may be good to take time refreshing our skillset on the topic of calling leads and expand a bit on our qualifying questions so we can help our questions fit in with the flow of our conversation.
 So remember, the main purpose of qualifying questions is to make sure the potential partner is serious and ready to make a change. They also eliminate any misunderstanding or misinterpretation.
Working this in to our conversation will ensure that people who join our team are prepared to make changes that are necessary while creating a strong supportive team. 

Monday, May 14, 2012

Top 10 Traits Of Highly Successful People

We have all read about people who are successful briefly. They win a gold medal, make a fortune, or star in one great movie and then disappear.…
These examples do not inspire me!

My focus and fascination is with people who seem to do well in many areas of life, and do it over and over through a lifetime. In entertainment, I think of Paul Newman and Bill Cosby. In business, I think of Ben and Jerry (the ice cream moguls)…As a Naval Officer, husband, businessman, politician and now as a mediator and philanthropist on the world stage, Jimmy Carter has had a remarkable life. We all know examples of people who go from one success to another. These are the people who inspire me! I’ve studied them, and I’ve noticed they have the following traits in common:
1. Repeatedly successful people respond instantly! When an investment isn’t working out, they sell. When they see an opportunity, they make the call. If an important relationship is cooling down, they take time to renew it. When technology or a new competitor or a change in the economic situation requires an adjustment, they are the first and quickest to respond.

2. They work hard! Yes, they play hard, too! They get up early, they rarely complain, they expect performance from others, but they expect extraordinary performance from themselves. Repeated, high-level success starts with a recognition that hard work pays off.

3. They are incredibly curious and eager to learn. They study, ask questions and read—constantly! An interesting point, however: While most of them did well in school, the difference is that they apply or take advantage of what they learn. Repeated success is not about memorizing facts, it’s about being able to take information and create, build, or apply it in new and important ways. Successful people want to learn everything about everything!

4. They network. They know lots of people, and they know lots of different kinds of people. They listen to friends, neighbors, co- workers and bartenders. They don’t have to be “the life of the party,” in fact many are quiet, even shy, but they value people and they value relationships. Successful people have a Rolodex full of people who value their friendship and return their calls.

5. They work on themselves and never quit! While the “over-night wonders” become arrogant and quickly disappear, really successful people work on their personality, their leadership skills, management skills, and every other detail of life. When a relationship or business deal goes sour, they assume they can learn from it and they expect to do better next time. Successful people don’t tolerate flaws; they fix them!

6. They are extraordinarily creative. They go around asking, “Why not?” They see new combinations, new possibilities, new opportunities and challenges where others see problems or limitations. They wake up in the middle of the night yelling, “I’ve got it!” They ask for advice, try things out, consult experts and amateurs, always looking for a better, faster, cheaper solution. Successful people create stuff!

7. They are self-reliant and take responsibility. Incredibly successful people don’t worry about blame, and they don’t waste time complaining. They make decisions and move on.…Extremely successful people take the initiative and accept the responsibilities of success.

8. They are usually relaxed and keep their perspective. Even in times of stress or turmoil, highly successful people keep their balance, they know the value of timing, humor, and patience. They rarely panic or make decisions on impulse. Unusually successful people breath easily, ask the right questions, and make sound decisions, even in a crisis.

9. Extremely successful people live in the present moment. They know that “Now” is the only time they can control. They have a “gift” for looking people in the eye, listening to what is being said, enjoying a meal or fine wine, music or playing with a child. They never seem rushed, and they get a lot done! They take full advantage of each day. Successful people don’t waste time, they use it!

10. They “look over the horizon” to see the future. They observe trends, notice changes, see shifts, and hear the nuances that others miss. A basketball player wearing Nikes is trivial, the neighbor kid wearing them is interesting, your own teenager demanding them is an investment opportunity! Extremely successful people live in the present, with one eye on the future!

These traits work together in combination, giving repeatedly successful people a huge advantage. Because they are insatiable learners, they can respond wisely to change. Because their personal relationships are strong, they have good advisors, and a reserve of goodwill when things go bad. And finally, none of these traits are genetic! They can be learned! They are free and they are skills you can use. Start now!

This article was originally written by Philip Humbert and can be found here

Monday, September 5, 2011

Social Media ---Who needs it?

The buzz about social media has grown from a buzz to a roar and it has many business owners asking the question "What if anything should I do with it"? In fact the questions flying around are dizzying... What is it? What can it do for my business? Why would I even consider social anything to my business strategy, after all its business, right? Let's look at these questions and perhaps we can come to some conclusions. First let's look at why we would even consider incorporating the social aspect into our business strategy.

Why Social Media?

A story ran back in 2005 in  Bloomberg Businessweek entitled "Social Media Will Change Your Business".
Interestingly rather than getting buried under the massive amounts of shared communication, today it continues to be read and re-read even leading to its authors updating the information and continuing to make it available to curious readers. It mentions the importance blogging has had on forming the way we share today. In fact blogging has had such an impact that it has shaped how we do business today. Let's look at the facts...

SOCIAL MEDIA FACTS:

164 MILLION - Number of active blogs.
695 MILLION - Number of Facebook users.
148+ MILLION - Number of Linkedin users.
140 MILLION - Number of tweets created each day.
2.5 BILLION - Number of visits Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn together received in one month alone.

Over 3 MILLION people are connected and auto-sharing to at least one social network.

How did blogs do all this?

As bloggers read each other, comment, and link from one page to the next, they create a global conversation. While the worldwide web records or catalogs what we have learned, the blog can track what's on our minds. Think of the implications... businesses are getting an up-to-the-minute read on what the world is thinking.

 So what does this have to do with social media?

 According to our statistics, over 3 MILLION people are connected and auto-sharing to at least one social network. Says Jeff Weiner, past senior vice-president at Yahoo, "Never in the history of market research has there been a tool like this."


eMarketer estimates that 57.5 percent of internet users, or 127 million people, will use a social network at least once a month in 2010. By 2014, nearly two-thirds of all internet users, or 164.9 million people, will be regular users of social networks.


Many think of social sharing as a form of frivolous conversation among bored and mostly young users but statistics are showing this is not so.  In business when you and your subscribers share your email marketing with online social networks, the average consumer you're reaching is 37 years old. And the top reasons for sharing: product information and recommendations...interesting!


Socially we interact, share our experience, our likes and dislikes for all the world to see. Our friends interact and do the same.  It is somewhat like the illustration from the movie "Pay It Forward". In the movie was a question raised, " Is it possible for one idea to change the world?" I believe one person sharing with another CAN change the world and social  media interaction is creating the environment where its happening.


Monday, August 15, 2011

Celebration Dinner and Training

You and your team members are cordially invited to join your leadership team in a celebration of joy, accomplishment and vision. Our annual Celebration Dinner and Training at the XANGO GO 2011 Convention will be Friday, the 16th of September, 2011 at 6:30 in the evening in the historic national landmark, The Hotel Utah (also called the Joseph Smith Memorial Building) on the corner of East Temple and South Temple, just 2 blocks from the Salt Palace. Sit down dining in a top floor room with breathtaking views of downtown Salt Lake City. Visits from our beloved Founders, Corporate Executives, and Staff. Recognition of top performers. PLUS training segments presented by each of your leadership partners. For an elegant evening of dining, celebration, perspective and growth, please join us. To purchase your tickets and indicate menu choice, click Buy Now.

Number of Tickets
Menu Selection

Monday, February 28, 2011

The Money Game

We've all heard about  some famous rich people who have become wealthy as a result of the network they built. We've heard stories about Bill Gates (Microsoft), Sam Walton (Walmart) and Jeff Bezos (Amazon).

Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad had a hero who became very rich by building his own network. This man is better known for the product he perfected, but really became rich because of the network he built across the world. Even today, many of us think Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, but  really he only improved and perfected the light bulb. His true stroke of genius was to create a company that strung electrical lines that allowed the light bulb to penetrate society. His network made him, Thomas Edison, a multimillionaire!

Most of us are not a Thomas Edison, a Bill Gates, a Sam Walton or a Jeff Bezos, but we want to create the same wealth for ourselves. Robert Kiyosaki in his book The Business of the 21st Century, makes the valid point (Asset #4) that Network Marketing offers millions of people the opportunity to build their own network and create the same wealth created by Thomas Edison and the rest of the famous multimillionaires!

Rich Dad said “The richest people in the world build networks. Everyone else looks for work.” The model of network marketing is that all owners of their own network can create their own wealth. I am so happy to have discovered this business model and to have developed  a network.

Of course, the key is to build your own network. It doesn’t happen just by JOINING a network marketing company, you have to work to BUILD it.

How excited are you to have the same advantages as Thomas Edison and Sam Walton, and how strongly are you are committed to creating that same level of wealth for yourself?

NOW what I'd like to show you by example in this video is an example of the power of a network and the power of exponential growth. Lets take a look shall we?
I hope you can see that being the owner and builder of your own network is so much better than spending your life working for someone else’s network.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Run Your Business Like a Business

According to CNNmoney.com, investment costs to get started in business on average is $10,000 for a traditional small business.

You've heard all about this fantastic business opportunity, you've asked the tough questions and now you've made the decision to get started. The fantastic part, the item that sealed the deal for you...was the low start up cost,1/20th the cost of an average small business in fact.

So what can you do to ensure that your new business gets off the ground, sees successful growth and turns a healthy profit? Run your business like a business. Home business tax savings are one of the most compelling reasons to start a home based business. Many people who get a second job actually being home LESS money as they move into a higher tax bracket ... where starting a business and using the home business tax deductions can actually increase your take home pay. Now is the time to ensure you set up that home office reporting to ensure you take every tax break allowed by law.

• Make sure you have the tools that you will need to run your business adequately.
• Determine a monthly marketing budget for your business. This is so very important. Often, people start a business but don’t factor any investment money into the actual marketing of the business and this is a serious mistake.
• Schedule your work hours- Work your scheduled hours.
• Use your business partners/ team, it's more fun and we get more done!
• Be at meetings, trainings and events...your new partners will duplicate YOU.


~Plant enough seed to create a harvest! Actions are the seed of fate, deeds grow into destiny. Harry S Truman

Friday, March 12, 2010

"How to hold on to YOUR hard earned dollars?"

Tax time is looming on the horizon and inevitably it begs a question,"How can I hold on to more of my hard earned dollars?"
If you have ever asked this question, within this article lies some good news for those who will take heed. 

If You Don't Have a Home-Based Business, Start One Today!
By Sandy Botkin

This may be a decade of tremendous corporate profits and economic growth, but for the vast majority of North Americans, the 90's have been a dismal, uphill climb. And many economists believe that this next, new millennium won't be getting better any time soon.

Why?

Changing business and government attitudes are the reason. There has seemingly been more anti-business legislation in the last decade than in any other this century. 
  • stronger employment and labor laws
  • the Age Discrimination in Employment Act
  • the Comprehensive Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA, which includes mandating health insurance for workers for a period of time after they leave employment)
  • safety laws
  • much tougher laws for discharging workers
  • more liabilities for lawsuits
  • the Family Leave Act
  • the Americans with Disabilities Act (which is creating immense numbers of lawsuits)
  • higher minimum wages and fringe benefits
Just reading this list is exhausting.

While these acts have beneficial and protective aspects, they have also encouraged businesses to move their facilities. That "sucking sound" popularized by Ross Perot is not just down to Mexico, but elsewhere as well. The result has been a dramatic loss of heavy industry in the U.S. 

 The young and the middle-aged alike are realizing that their dream of "having a job with a company forever" is an illusion. Companies have been downsizing, rightsizing, and capsizing for some time now, and they continue to do so-more now than ever before. Even the federal and state governments are getting into the act with layoffs and attrition of jobs.
In addition to all this uncertainty and mutual lack of loyalty between companies and employees, even the workers who do not keep their jobs have no guarantee of promotions due to the shrinking number of management positions. These circumstances aggravate the already tryingly long commutes in rush hour traffic and increasingly typical frustrated boss-spelled backwards, that double S-O-B.
  
Finally, if all this isn't bad enough, under recent tax laws employees are shafted more than ever wit h limits and thresholds for their employee deductions and higher social security tax limits. This results in more couples working than ever before and, on many occasions, working more than one job. It is now almost impossible to have only one job in the family and make ends meet! Today, many households need three incomes just to survive.
  
Sadly, even having more than one job does not produce any major positive effect on most people's bank accounts. Why? Because of tax laws. This was well illustrated in 1994 by Jane Bryant Quinn in her Woman's Day article on "How to Live on One Salary."

Where the Money Goes
Ms. Quinn's example assumed that a man was earning $40,000 per year. His wife (we will call her Lori) wasn't working. They had more month than money. (Sound familiar?) Lori subsequently got an administrative job for $15,000 per year. You would think this would improve the family's financial situation, but when Ms. Quinn examined the economics of getting this extra income, the results were startling!
Lori had to pay federal and state taxes on her new income. Since they filed jointly, the family's combined income was what established their tax bracket. She paid $4,500 in new taxes, most of which was non-deductible, for federal and state income tax.

Lori had social security withheld from her paycheck at the rate of 7.65 percent, which amounted to an additional nondeductible amount of $1,148 being extracted from her salary. She also had to commute to work 10 miles a day round trip, which is probably conservative for most people. This resulted (in 1995) in nondeductible commuting costs of $696.
Lori also had some child care expenses, which give a partial tax credit. Ms. Quinn figured that the amount spent over and beyond the tax credit was $4,250 per year.
Lori also ate out each day with colleagues, spending an average of $5 per day, five days a week. This results in a nondeductible expense of $1,250 per year. ( I would love to know where she ate for only $5!)


Now that Lori has a job, she has to have professional clothing, this means a hefty dry cleaning bill. Ms. Quinn assumed that Lori's increased expenses here amounted to an extra $1,000 per year, nondeductible, of course.


Finally, with both spouses working, Lori wasn't in the mood to cook dinner every night. They bought more convenience foods and ate out more frequently. This resulted in increased food costs of a nondeductible $1,000 per year in minimum.


Add it all up and Lori's take home pay was a paltry $1,156 a year, for which she had to put up with a daily commute, an unpleasant boss, and corporate hassles. (See the following summary of all of these numbers, so you can do the math for yourself.)


No wonder more and more people are starting home-based businesses. In fact, there are currently an estimated 30 million people working from their homes. This number is expected to more than triple, to 97 million, by the year 2000, and to keep on growing. This has become and will continue to be one of the greatest mass movements in the U.S.


Why a Home-Based Business Makes So Much "Cents"


There are many reasons why so many people are favoring home-based over traditional business.


There is no commute (unless you have a really big home), no boss, little if any chance of lawsuits, much lower overhead, no employees, (or few), and far fewer government restrictions. In fact, many of the laws previously cited don't apply to small firms with few or no employees. It is for these reasons, according to Entrepreneur magazine, that 95 percent of home-based businesses succeed in their first year and achieve an average income of $50,250 per year with many earning much more.


There are really two sets of tax laws in this country. One is for employees, and it allows deductions for individual retirement accounts, 401(k)s (if you have one set up by your company), interest and property taxes on your home (which some in Congress want to do away with ), and charity. Then there are the laws for home-based business people who conduct their business either full-time or part-time. They can deduct, with proper documentation ,their house, their spouse, and even children (by hiring them), their business vacations, their cars, and their food with colleagues. They can also set up a pension plan that makes any government plan seem paltry by comparison.


For Lori-and for you - the meaning of all this is simple:


Lori earned $15,000 in salary as an employee, but took home only $1,156. She could have netted the entire $15,000 had she earned it in a home-based business!


This is an increase of almost 13 times her take-home pay as an employee.


Notice that Lori is not spending dramatically more money than she is currently spending. She would eat out anyway, go on trips and drive her car the same as before. By having a home-based business, however, many of their expenses become deductible. This concept is known as "redirecting expenses." With a home-based business, she can now deduct some of the expenses that she is incurring anyway.

Renegade Strategy: If You Don't Have a Home-Based Business, Start One!

In addition to all the benefits mentioned above, Congress will subsidize you while you are growing your home-based business. If your home-based business produces a tax loss in the first year or so, you can use that tax loss against any other income you have. It can be used against wages earned as an employee, dividends, pensions, or interest income-or you can use the loss against your spouse's earnings if you file a joint return.

If the tax loss exceeds all your income for this year, no problem. You can carry back the loss two years and get a refund from the IRS for up to the last two years of income taxes paid, or you can carry over the loss twenty years. You read it right: You can offset up to 20 years of income!
Here's an Example:

Mike earns $50,000 in a job with the government. If he starts a home-based business that generates a tax loss of 10,000, he only pays tax on $40,000.

Renegade Tip: You can never lose a properly documented business deduction.

In fact, if everyone in the U.S., who is employed full-time began a home-base business, used the strategies I suggest, each household could easily save between $2000 and $10,000 in taxes each year. If all employees in the U.S. did this, the tax bite of the IRS would be reduced by a whopping estimated 300 billion dollars annually. Of course, Congress would have to change the laws for this to occur.

Renegade Strategy: Get LUCK (Labor Under Correct Knowledge).

Can You Succeed In a Home-Based Business?

Research has constantly shown that it is rarely the business that determines success or failure. It is usually the business owner. Why does one person succeed and another fail at the same business? Two words:

Knowledge and Action

Some people want the benefits of having their own business, but they don't take action. The result is business failure.

Then there are the people who are always working. The take action but still fail. The reason is that they are not taking the correct actions, the knowledgeable actions, that will bring the desired results. Again, business failure.

It's like drilling for oil. If you set up a drilling rig in your back yard, it is going to fail at producing oil unless your back yard is in Texas or Alaska. The same rig in a good field will produce a gusher, because it was placed where oil was known to exist.

The point is that most people who get excited about starting their own home-based business do so without all the necessary knowledge. Consequently, many people quit before they acquire, through experience, the knowledge they need, without realizing that they are getting substantial tax breaks. This leads to another strategy....

Renegade Strategy: Learn to Duplicate the Success of Others.

Duplicating the strategy of others is much quicker and more effective than going to the school of hard knocks.

It is also known as modeling, which is well-illustrated by the way The McDonalds Corporation blazed a trail to success that many have since followed.

In the early 1950's McDonald's and other start-up companies discovered that they could grow many times faster than the conventional firms through franchising. Instead of the company investing millions of dollars to build new stores, they let independent franchise do it for them.
It seemed like a great idea, but at first no one figured out how to make it succeed on a consistent basis; therefore, the media attacked relentlessly and continually. News articles featured destitute families who had lost their life savings through franchising schemes. Virtually every state attorney general in the U.S. condemned the new marketing method. Some congressmen even tried to outlaw franchising entirely.

Over the years, however, Ray Kroc and his management team at McDonald's developed a turnkey franchise business team at McDonald's franchise. The newfound success-from the system-turned public perception of franchising around. Today, virtually every franchise business models-to some extent-the franchise business system created by McDonald's, making franchising one of the most respected ways of doing business in the world.

Modeling is simply learning what other successful people have done to achieve success in a specific area, and then doing the same thing. Someone said that "education is the shortcut to experience." With modeling, you literally leverage your own learning with the collective years of learning through experience of many others. Modeling the success of others saves both time and money and reduces frustration and stress.

The light at the end of the tunnel, for you and millions of others today, is the financial opportunity that starting your own business offers. If you have one going already, then make sure you are enjoying the many financial advantages to which your smart choice entitles you. The tax advantage alone can make a home-based business the single best financial move you could ever make.