A Disheartening Day

I received word today that the company I was formerly working with terminated 900 IBOs (Independent Business Owners) this week "without cause". It states in the contract that this can be done, but who would believe that a company would terminate a large number of IBOs like this.

My heart goes out to all of the people who will struggle to pay their bills this month (and possibly for many months to come) and for everyone who was trying to build a residual income to have in retirement or to leave as a legacy for their family.

"When one door closes, another opens;

but we often look so long and so regretfully

upon the closed door that we do not see the

one which has opened for us.”

The Power of a Positive Attitude

"Attitudes are contagious. 
Are yours worth catching?"

~Dennis and Wendy Mannering

In any aspect of your life this is 100% the case.  No one is immune to "bad" things happening to them, but it is the way that we pick up the pieces and talk to ourselves about these things that determines the kind of person we are. 

The Glass Half-Empty People
We have all known someone who is more than willing to look at the negative side of EVERY situation - the people whose glass is always half-empty.  Personally, these are the people that I tend to keep at an arm's length.  I don't have in depth conversations with them very often because they tend to bring me down too.  When it is a situation where I have to have a conversation with a "glass half-empty" person, I try to keep the conversation to the matter we need to discuss and little or no small-talk.  Small-talk tends to be the place that allows the most negativity to enter the conversation.

The Glass Is ALWAYS Overflowing People
I think that these people are few and far between in our world - in my opinion, this is a good thing.  Have you ever been around someone who is overly positive all of the time.  You never hear anything negative come out of their mouth, their life is PERFECT (a bed of roses with no thorns), and their smile seems to be permanately pasted to their face.  I tend to shy away from these people also because they seem fake.  No one has a life that is perfect and it is okay to show some weakness, talk about problems, etc.  Again, it is how you talk about the problems that is important.  However, if you ever need a pick-me-up these are great people to call because they have something positive to say EVERY time that you talk with them. 

The Glass Half-Full People
These are the greatest, most positive people that I absolutely love to associate with.  They are the person who can offer you kind words when "bad" things happen, but they can also offer you a positive side to the situation.  When working at home or being a stay-at-home mom, these people are very important in your life.  When things go wrong, it is nice to be able to pick up the phone, talk to someone, and come away with a different perspective about the situation.  I have noticed that since starting to work-from-home in January of 2010, I have become a glass half-full person for my teammates, family, and myself. 

I recently broke a bone in my foot, but rather than dwelling on the things that I can't do, I have picked myself up and I am focusing on the things that I can do.  I am thankful that I do not have to have surgery, I am still able to play with and take care of my kids every day, and I have the chance to re-evaluate some choices that I have been trying to make.  Although, breaking my foot was not a "positive" event in my life, having a negative attitude about it is not going to change the fact that my foot is broken. 

My Challenge
I would like to challenge each of you reading this post to find the positive in every situation.  You do not have to acknowledge every situation as positive, but only try and find at least ONE positive thing that can and will come from the negative.  What does your glass look like?!?

Why I DO NOT Make New Year's Resolutions

A few years back I decided that making a New Year's Resolution each year is somewhat silly.  Let me give you some statistics that I found while researching New Year's Resolutions.

• 40-45% of American adults make at least one resolution
• ONLY 3/4 of these people make it through ONE WEEK.
• ONLY about 2/3 make it through ONE MONTH (64%).
• By 6 months, LESS THAN HALF are still with it (46%).
• Statistics say that someone who makes a resolution (whether they continue striving to achieve it or not) is 10 times more likely to achieve their goals.

Now, for some of the TOP resolutions made by Americans (in no particular order).

• Weight loss and/or physical fitness.
• Quit smoking OR drinking.
• Spend more time with family and friends.
• Get out of debt - increase income.
• Help others - make a difference. 

You are probably waiting for me to explain why I, a highly motivated individual with dreams and goals for myself, do not make a New Year's Resolution.  I am a believer in making EVERY day of the year a new chance at achieving your goals and dreams.  Why bind yourself to the goals that you set for yourself on January 1st.  For example, I have a goal to become a more successful at-home career mom, to lose about 20 pounds, and maintain my moral, ethical, and religious beliefs throughout my life journey. 


Let's use the weight loss as an example of my New Year's Resolution - also on the list of popular New Year's Resolutions.  So, I lose 20 pounds by April because I am a stick-to-it kind of girl.  Then what?!?  I celebrate the achievement of my resolution for another eight months until I make another one, in the meantime, not growing or changing myself.  I just want to better utilize the time that I have on this earth - so, in April I would set a new goal for myself.  Maybe now that I have lost the 20 pounds, I would like to work on toning muscle mass, increasing the distance I can run, or the speed in which I run it.

Feel free to leave me a comment about your feelings on New Year's Resolutions or what your New Year's Resolution will be for 2011!  I look forward to reading your thoughts.  Have a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!!!!! 

TOP 5 ANNOYING Things About Facebook

I have been noticing some incredibly annoying advertising on Facebook recently.  Maybe I just started paying more attention since resigning from my former company.  I have decided to list the TOP 5 things that I find the most annoying (in no particular order because they are all equals).

Spamming Your Ads in EVERY Group Possible
While I think that it is GREAT that you own your business and you are trying to drum up new clients and recruit others, seeing your ad every time I open up my Facebook page is not the way.  To be honest, if I see more than ONE ad every couple of days, I will remove that person's post from showing on my News Feed.  People who are truly interested in finding out more about your product, service, or opportunity will see your ad and come to you.  STOP SPAMMING ME!

Inviting Me to Be Your Friend (I don't know you and you do not send a personal message with your invite.)
Let's be honest here - the majority of us have people on our Friend List that we do not know personally.  I will definitely Friend people that I do not know, but find interesting or have something in common with (many times a fellow network marketer, etc).  When you invite someone to be your friend, just do them the common courtesy of including a personal message.  For example, "Looks like you are involved with _____.  I would like to talk with you sometime because I am involved with ____ too.  Let's network sometime." 

Adding Me To Your Group Without Asking
This is something that I have grown to HATE.  Facebook has added a feature that allows Group Administrators to add you to their group without asking/requesting.  I am an independent girl who does not enjoy being told what to do - hence my LOVE of being an entrepreneur.  Most likely if you ask/invite me to join your group, I am going to join (so long as it is moral, legal and something that I have half an interest in).  However, if you put me in your group without inviting, I am going to REMOVE myself from your group.  Forcing people to join is NOT a good way to get true followers. 

Tagging Me in Photos That Are Not of Me
I do not want to look at your advertisement that you tagged me in, nor do my friends.  The photo feature should be used for actual photos of yourself, your kids, your family, or anything that YOU choose - not that someone else chooses. 

Mass Private Messages from Group
There are some Group Administrators that send out a DAILY private message to everyone in their group advertising their business or with a tidbit about their business with a link.  I did not respond to your message yesterday or the day before or last week, what makes you think that today is any different???  Mass message once a week or once a month - people who are interested in learning more will respond.  When I start getting a message DAILY from a group, I start DELETING them without reading.  I don't think that this is probably the response that you are looking for.  Let me give you a secret, "LESS IS MORE."

How Do I Utilize Facebook?
I have probably left you wondering how to use Facebook as an advertising tool for your business.  There is a way so, let me give you the very short answer - be social, build relationships, give useful advice to people.  By building friendships with people online, you are going to find that if and when they are looking for something (say, "work from home"), they are going to think of you first and ask for your help or advice. 

These are just the 5 things that annoy me the most about Facebook - I'm sure that you have your own annoyances with Facebook.  Feel free to leave your comments about things that annoy you and I just might do a follow-up to this post with the things you find the most ANNOYING. 

** A big THANK YOU to my friend Christina for the inspiration for today's blog post.  **

The PUSHY Network Marketer

Let's just be realistic - we have all been in a situation where we felt like we were being pushed to do something that we knew in our head was not what we really wanted.  You have had a salesperson on the phone who wouldn't take no for an answer, you have had a Girl Scout at your door selling you cookies that you don't really need or want, or you have had a family member that REALLY wanted you to do something. 

Start your search for the perfect network marketing company or home-based business and you will find a whole new form of "The Vulture".  Some of you may know that I am clearancing my entire inventory of Mary Kay and closing my business.  This is one of the best decisions that I have made in my recent past!!!  I have an event posted on Facebook and a fellow network marketer jumps in and sends me a message asking why I am selling my inventory.  I respond with honesty and sincerity.  His response was like a vulture coming in for the kill, "How would you like to hear about MY company?"  I tell him that I am not really interested. 

Now this brings us to a crossroads - a successful network marketer who builds relationships is going to send me a Friend Request and continue to send me messages and chat with me in hopes of becoming my "friend".  The salesperson/vulture is going to try again to "sell" me.  So, can we guess by the title of my post what this person tried???

You guessed it, he tried to sell me AGAIN.  He wanted to know if I was just uninformed about his company.  At this point I am getting frustrated with him.  Even if I was interested in his company, I would find another sponsor because I do not want to be sold.  My response became snide - I told him that I had already found a company that I was interested in and would be happy to send him some additional information about it. 

THE LESSON
When you start a home-based business remember all of the times that you felt like someone was trying to "sell" you.  You do not want to be that person.  You want to be the sponsor/business partner that understands and appreciates the things that your prospect has to say.  To become a successful network marketer you MUST become a relationship builder and not a salesperson. 

Fail Your Way Forward

I am learning a very valuable network marketing industry lesson.  About a week ago, I made the extremely difficult decision to leave my first network marketing company.  I started my home business in January with a HUGE Why and a lot of goals.  In my first 90-days I did very well achieving the goals that I had set for myself.  This led me to believe that I was on my way to reaching my long-term goals as well. 

The months began to pass and the company began to change.  It was becoming difficult to explain the company to prospects - I could build relationships with people that I was excited about having on my team - but it was MUCH to difficult to see the path for making a good income.  The company also made some changes with the services we were selling. 

It took me over a month to make the difficult decision to "quit".  I have never felt like such a failure in my life.  However, when talking with a few others in the industry, I have determined that I am NOT a failure - the company FAILED me!  So, it is my plan to

FAIL MY WAY FORWARD AND UPWARD. 

I would also encourage you to do the same.  If you find yourself in a situation where you are no longer passionate, progressing, happy and/or making money - MOVE ON.  Take the great lessons that you have learned with that company and find another company that you are passionate and excited about.  You will pick up more quickly on your next adventure, as you are no longer GREEN in the industry. 

I will be making my BIG announcement about the direction that I am going the week after Christmas.  I plan to hit the ground running with my new company, start making money right away, achieving my goals, while remembering the people and company that made me the person that I am today. 

Choosing the "Right" HBB

Have you ever sat down and given some thought to the things that you are actually passionate about?  Recently this task was posed to me.  I sat down and started thinking - after about 20 minutes of thought, I decided to grab a piece of paper and a pen.  I needed to write things down because this task wasn't as easy as I had originally thought.  I jotted down some notes, crumpled the paper, threw it away and started again. 

When you start thinking about becoming a MomPreneur, your passion is an important part of deciding what kind of business you would like to start.  I am a non-make-up wearing, chemical using, no fuss kind of MOM.  It would, therefore, be foolish of me to start a make-up, go-green, jewelry, or fancy bags kind of business. 

Personally, I knew that when I started a business I knew that I wanted to help people.  I wanted to provide an additional source of income for my family while serving other people.  A BIG part of my passion is being a supportive ~ physically, emotionally, and financially ~ at-home mom.

Product OR Service?  Your second consideration after you have found your passion is whether or not you are looking for a product company or a service company.  There are many conflicting opinions about which type of company is "better".  In my honest opinion, any company, product or service, can grant you the success that you are looking for.  You just have to be passionate about what you are offering to people - whether it is a service like discount programs or prepaid legal services or a product like make-up, candles or vitamins, if go out promote them, talk about them and get others excited, and you will be successful. 

Your final step is to research the company(s) you are interested in.   First you should talk with a representative from the company(s) you are interested in.  They are trying to determine if you will be a good fit for their organization, but you need to be sizing them up as well.  Feel free to ask them, "As my sponsor, what are you going to do for ME?"  After you are satisfied with the person you talked to, you need to go online and research, research, research.  Find out as much information about the company as you can - who started/runs the company, how long have they been in business, is the company debt-free, do they have a fair compensation plan, is the market already overcrowded with distributors, is the product/service fairly priced, is the start-up/monthly fee reasonable - for example. 

These steps will set you in the right direction for choosing a home-based business.  Make it fun, enjoy learning about these companies, and don't let anyone convince you to join.