Why is it that you get stressed?

Is it because you have a new prospect to call and you’re concerned about embarrassing yourself? Is is because money is tight and you are not sure you can pay your bills this month? Is it because you are nervous about hosting that upcoming home party and having people be unhappy because you didn’t plan it well?

Let’s analyze this a little bit.

Situations are External to You

First, you need to realize that each of these is just a situation.  A situation does not have a personality.  It is not “out to get you.”

A situation is just an external collection of circumstances that surround you.  You have the opportunity to react to, or influence, those circumstance. You can’t control them, but you can influence them.

It’s a subtle difference, but an important one.

And this is where the stress begins.

Stress is Internal to You

You can’t control a situation, but you will have a certain amount of influence over how the situation changes, if at all.  If each of us had total control over any given situation, then we wouldn’t feel any stress. In other words, there would be nothing to be stressed about if you could always get the outcome you wanted when you wanted it.

For example, if you are feeling stressed because you have a new prospect to call, then your stress comes from the amount of influence you feel you have over the outcome of that call.

If you make calls regularly, you might feel very little pressure since you know exactly how to position yourself on the phone, what questions you are likely to be asked, and so on. You have a good ability to influence the outcome of the situation and have a successful phone converstation.

On the other hand, if you’ve never called prospects before, then you might feel more pressure because of the learning curve and “on the job” training that will go along with it.  In other words, you will have less ability to influence the situation, and therefore feel more stress.

But what is really at the core of this stressful feeling?

Simply a lack of faith in your ability to influence the situation and get the outcome you desire.

Faith in Yourself

Your stress comes from a lack of faith in your ability to handle a call with a new prospect. The more experience you have, the more faith you have in your abilities to get your desired outcome. The greater your faith in your abilities, the less stress you will experience.

As another example, if you are unsure how you will pay your bills this month, then your stress comes from a lack of faith in your ability to influence and control your financial situation. If you know with a high degree of certainty that you can make the necessary income, then your stress level will be low. If you have little certainty (no faith) in your ability to generate the needed income, then you will feel much more stress.

This explains why in any given situation one person can be totally at ease while another person is consumed by fear and anxiety.

So the question then becomes, how can you get more faith in youself?

How to Increase Faith in Yourself

Here are some idea for increasing the amount of faith that you have in yourself.

1. Focus on solutions. Instead of thinking about all the bad things that can happen, consider as many ways as possible to create an outcome that you want.  Don’t say to yourself, “I just don’t know how I am going to pay all my bills this month.” Instead, ask yourself, “How can I ensure that I will be able to pay all my bills?” This will get you focused on ways to make more money, or ways to save on your current bills, or even ways to eliminate some expenses altogether.
2. Get educated about whatever is stressing you. If you are uncomfortable with calling prospects, learn as much as you can about how to talk with prospects. If you are stressed about hosting a home presentation party, then ask someone who has done them before for help and advice.
3. Stack advantages in your favor. In many situations, the planning you do beforehand will have a lot to do with how much stress you feel. For example, if you are hosting a home party, gather as much information as you can and have everything ready to go as early as possible. This will give you more faith that you have the situation under control.
4. Change your definition of success. You might think that a successful prospecting call is one in which you don’t embarrass yourself, or a call where you sign up a new member. But what if your definition of success was to simply dial the phone and talk to someone, regardless of the outcome of the call? Certainly you should have faith that you can punch numbers on the phone and say hello. Once you are comfortable with that, then your definition of success might be to simply learn why the person is or is not interested in network marketing. As you progress, your definition of success will change with your capabilities.

So, stress is an internal feeling brought about by a lack of faith in your own ability to influence external situations or circumstances. I hope you’ve found these tips for gaining more faith to be useful.

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Talk Back! Please, leave a comment below and let me know what you think. Do you believe that lack of faith is a main cause of stress? If you’ve tried these tips, were they useful to you? Let me know!

Share! If you know anyone else who is stressed and might benefit from these tips, please let them know about this article! You can use the retweet button or one of the other sharing buttons below.

If you are using a website or blog to promote your network marketing business opportunity, then you want to have your site appear at the top of search results. One of the techniques for getting ranked better in search results is to collect more backlinks to your website or blog.  First, I’m going to show you how to check backlinks to your site, then I will give you some tips to get more backlinks.

Basically, a backlink is any other website that points to your website or to a specific page within your website. The search engines figure that if other sites are linking to pages on your site, then the content on your site must be relevant.

It’s a good idea to check backlinks periodically to make sure that your marketing efforts are giving the results you want.  To check how many backlinks you have, Yahoo! has a simple backlink checker tool just for that.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Simply go to http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/ and enter the URL you want to check into the search box at the top. Then, click on the “Explore URL” button.

When the results appear, click on the button that reads “Inlinks.”  These are the backlinks to your website.  Now, this will also include links from within your site to the web page (URL) you are examining. To see the links coming only from sites other than your own site, select “Except from this domain” from the drop-down labeled “Show Inlinks”.

And just how do you get more backlinks to your website? Here are a few techniques you can use (Disclosure: some of the links here may be affiliate links, meaning that I will be compensated if you decide to use their products.  Any product I recommend I also personally use.):

1. Write keyword rich articles and submit them to article sites like GoArticles and EzineArticles. To get even more exposure, you can use article submission software like Automatic Article Submitter and iSnare. Article sites that you submit to will have an author resource box where you can enter a link back to your website.
2. Create videos that promote your website or articles on your blog. Just make sure the videos are not sales pitches, and that they actually give valuable information to people. In the description of the video, be sure to include a link back to your website. You can easily distribute a video to over 30 video sharing sites using Traffic Geyser.
3. Comment on other people’s blogs. Many of them will let you enter a link to your website along with your name and email address. Now, these links are often “nofollow” links, which theoretically means that the link should not be calculated when determining the relevancy of your site. This is because YOU are placing the link, so of course you will think your site is the bomb, but relevancy is really about whether OTHER people think your site is worth while. Some search engines pay attention to this, some don’t. And just a tip, don’t place links in the body of the comment as that could be considered spam, and make sure your comments are relevant to the blog author’s post.
4. Participate in forums where you can add your website URL to your signature. This is similar to commenting on other people’s blogs.
5. Share your content on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. This will get you more exposure, and encourage others to spread links to your content. Realize, however, that many people will shorten links to your content and not all search engines will follow through the shortened links to get to your content. On the other hand, someone might pick up on your website and provide a link from their own website to yours.
6. Encourage others to use bookmarking tools like Delicious, StumbleUpon and Digg to bookmark and share your content. Make sure you have tools on your website that make this as easy as possible for people to do. If you are using WordPress, there are plenty of plug-ins that will easily allow you to do this.
7. And here is the one most people don’t want to hear: create super-valuable content that people will actually want to link to! Yes, this is more time-consuming than other methods, but it’s still the best. Not only is it a great form of flattery that will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, it will also let you know that you are on the right track with your website.

Now that’s certainly not an exhaustive list, but it covers many ways to get more backlinks to your site. Be persistent, visit Yahoo! and check backlinks to see if your efforts are paying off, and just keep creating really good, relevant content.

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Talkback! leave me a comment below. I’d really like to know if you found this information useful, or if you have any other tips related to backlinks.

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You’ve probably seen advertisements that go something like this:

“I spent thousands of dollars and many long hours figuring out how to build my network marketing business. Now I’m going to share my exact system with you!”

What do you think when you read a headline like that?

Let’s say that you know this person is legitimate, they’ve been in the industry for years, and they really are going to share with you their hard-earned methods for building a downline.

When you read that headline, what does it mean to you?

If you are like most people, you are probably thinking that access to this person’s system will save you many long hours and thousands of dollars.

You might be right.

But what does THAT imply? Think about saving all those hours and dollars, what does it mean now?

The Glamour of a System

If you are like most people, you are probably getting excited and thinking, this is going to make building my business so easy!

You might be right.

But, if you are like most people, then you are probably wrong.

You see, even when you know how to do something, that doesn’t automatically make it easy.

This is why most people get started with a marketing system, but then never really do anything with it once they see just how much learning and work it will take to implement.  Sure, they probably would save many hours and dollars over what they would if they had to figure it out all on their own. But that’s not what they’re looking for. They’re looking for the easy road.

However, just because this person figured out a system to build a downline, doesn’t mean it didn’t take work to USE the system.

And that’s where most people who buy into these systems get discouraged. They assume that because it is a system, that the system will do the work for them. Systems are not magic. The person who invented the system still had to execute it, just like you will have to execute it.

Just because you know the system for building a skyscraper doesn’t mean that it’s easy.

The Drudgery of a System

The other thing people often overlook is that fact that systems are oftentimes very boring.

Sure, in the beginning they’re interesting and a lot of fun.  You spend time creating a website, creating profiles, learning to record videos or write articles, creating your prospecting scripts, getting your office area set up, and so on. You are learning and you are creating.

But once everything is set up, it becomes a daily routine. It becomes, dare I say it, a JOB.

Today, do step 1, 2, 3, 4… Tomorrow, again do step 1, 2, 3, 4… The day after that, step 1, 2, 3, 4…

And suddenly the glamour wears off.

Running a network marketing business is just like, well, running a business. There is a daily method of operation. That is, there are things that you will need to do every day. The SAME things every day.  Being an entrepreneur is really not all that glamorous.

How to Keep it Interesting

The bottom line is that systems WILL save you time and money.  But set your expectations correctly: you will still have to work to make the systems work. And that work can often be boring and repetitive.

There are, however, some things that you can do to make it more interesting, and to spend less time working the system and more time in the creative areas of work.

1. Systems will require some sort of set-up. Rather than get everything set up before you start using the system, set it up in stages and begin using it in stages. This way, you will be doing some daily routine work, but can also look forward to continuing to learn and set up the system.
2. Many systems have different areas in which you can focus. For example, you can focus on Facebook or Twitter if you already enjoy social media. You could focus on videos if you like doing that.  If you like to write, then you could pursue article marketing. If you love being on the phone and meeting people, then you might buy leads. The methods available to you will depend on the system that you are using. Pick the ones that you like.
3. Because it is a system, there will be certain things that you can outsource if you have the money for it. Outsourcing is often viewed as a solution for anything you don’t like to do or are not good at. But realize that outsourcing itself is work.  It takes time to find someone who is both affordable and good at writing articles or editing videos, or any other such task.
4. Research other tools that might be available that you can plug into your system. For example, if you are pursuing article marketing as part of your system and there are 10 article sites that you are supposed to submit to, then you might purchase article submission software to make the work easier for you. Same with videos. There are lots of tools that will help you be more productive in the social networks as well. Research them and use them.

Systems work, and they will save you time and money. But they do not work automatically, and they are not necessarily easy to implement. There will be a learning curve and by their very nature there will be some boring routine work to be done every day.

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And please leave me a comment! I really do enjoy hearing your opinions and questions, and I always do my best to respond to everyone.

If you are a parent, then you probably know what it is like to be negative a lot of the time. At least, that’s often what it feels like. Parents are constantly telling their kids what NOT to do.

Of course, it’s not just with our kids that we tend to speak in negative terms. We do it with our friends, our co-workers and ourselves!

But what if we could turn all this negativity around?

What if everything we said was phrased positively rather than negatively? And I’m not talking about positive affirmations or positive self-talk. I’m talking about turning your negative talk around in a constructive way.

This is going to be harder than you might think.

I got the idea for this one when I saw my son reading at the kitchen table with the overhead lights out.  My initial reaction was to tell him NOT to read with the lights off.

But that doesn’t tell him exactly what he SHOULD do. Yes, it is implied what he should do, but I’m tired of always telling him what not to do. So, I decided to tell him what he SHOULD do, rather than NOT do.

I corrected myself, and told him to read with the light on.

Do you see the difference?

What do you think your life would be like if you did this all the time? Imagine how much more of a problem solver you would be, how complaining would be missing from your conversations, and how you would have to help your co-workers and kids find solutions to their problems, rather than blaming them.

How To Speak More Positively

Pay attention for any negative words when you talk (and even when you think). Look for the word “not” and especially its contraction in words like can’t, don’t, won’t, and shouldn’t. Use a phrase that does not include the word “not.”

Look for times when you start complaining. A complaint is nothing more than a description of a situation or outcome of an event that is phrased negatively. Turn it around into something positive. I’m not saying to make stuff up to try and make yourself feel better. If it sucks then it sucks, but complaining about it will just make you feel worse. Rather than complain, state that there is a solution and that you’ll find it.

Keep in mind the close companion of a complaint: the blame. When was the last time anything good came out of blaming someone else (or even yourself)? Sure, people cause problems and the fault can often be clearly placed on someone’s shoulders. Never deny what happened, but state the solution rather than the problem.

Anytime you feel a negative emotion, look for words tied to that emotion. Eliminate words like “hate,” “frustrated,” “overwhelmed,” “angry,” and “upset.” Again, I’m not saying to deny these feelings or the situation. But there is no point in focusing on the negative. Select a realistic positive emotion that you can focus on instead.

In other words:

• Don’t say what you don’t want, say what you do want.
• Don’t say what you don’t like, say what you do like.
• Don’t say what you can’t do, say what you can do.
• Don’t say you have a problem, say you will find a solution.

Here are some specific examples of what I’m talking about:

That last one was for all my blogger friends!

Your Challenge

It has been said that it takes about a month to create a new habit. See if you can phrase things positively for just one week. Like I said, it’s going to be harder than you think. You might want to write yourself a little reminder and post it where you’ll see it periodically throughout the day.

I’d like to hold you accountable to this challenge, so let me know how you do!

What negative phrases did you turn around to positive phrases?  You can keep me updated by leaving a comment below, by sending me a tweet or writing on my Facebook wall.

And be sure to tweet this to your friends using the retweet button below, or share it by using one of the other sharing links. That way, you can all be positive together!

So 2009 is coming to a close.

Did you accomplish a lot? Did your business grow? Did you learn new things? Did you try out new strategies?

Was 2009 all you expected it would be?

Well, now is the time to make plans for the new year. If you are like me, you probably have lots of goals and new opportunities that you’re going after in 2010.

But before you tackle all those 2010 plans, might I make a suggestion?

Click here to view the embedded video.

My Journey in 2009

For me, 2009 was a very educational year.  I learned quite a bit about building a business online, implementing marketing strategies, utilizing software tools, and much, much more.

I’ve started up several niche websites, launched my own blog, began shooting videos, learned how to market through social media, set up several pay-per-click campaigns, tried out many, many, many software tools, and taken hours upon hours of training courses.

I’ve spent a LOT of money in the past year!

I’ve also come across some great mentors and friends who have helped me along the way, and to whom I am sincerely thankful.

I’m very excited to put all I’ve learned and tested in 2009 into full effect in 2010.

2009 was a PERSONAL GROWTH year for me.

2010 will be a BUSINESS GROWTH year.

That does NOT mean I’ll stop learning and developing my skills, though!

Thanks to You!

Thanks for being a loyal reader of my blog. I look forward to sharing more with you throughout the new year, and I hope some of you will join me on my 2010 business growth journey!

Have a wonderful holiday and a very happy new year!

When I was in high-school, working at the supermarket, I was told that the customer is always right. “Even if the customer is wrong, the customer is right,” the trainer told me.

Where did customer service go?

How many of you have stories of mistreatment from cell phone companies?

How many of you are sick of scripted, thoughtless customer service from computer manufacturers and software companies?

How many of you have been let down by your cable, phone or satellite provider?

The customer, apparently, is no longer right. In fact, the customer doesn’t even have a say at all anymore.

Think You Have a Product?

I had my first job before I was legally able to have a job.  And I remember one of the receptionists having an argument with a co-worker. When the phone rang during the argument, she picked up the receiver and her demeanor changed immediately. She smiled and became FRIENDLY.

She was speaking to a customer, you see.

I asked her about it afterward.  How could she be so angry one moment, then just switch it off the next.

Because, she explained, what happens in the office has nothing to do with the customer.  The customer doesn’t need to be burdened with the company’s problems. We want the customer to be happy.

I miss those days.

But that moment I always took with me.  When I began developing software I always considered that I was building something that would make my clients happy. It would solve their problems and service their needs. And if they needed help afterwards, I would provide it, happily. Even if I was in a bad mood.

I was providing a service, not a product.

There Is No Product

Any software application I designed, I would work with the client to determine what they wanted to accomplish, and I would deliver a product that did exactly that.

If they decided they wanted a change, I didn’t grumble and complain, I just did it.

That doesn’t mean I let them take advantage of me. I charged for my services, but gave what was requested.

That said, if I voluntarily gave more, I didn’t expect extra payment for it. I often did get extra loyalty, though.

Long after I completed the software, it continued to service the needs of my customers.  If they had a problem with it, I fixed it.  I didn’t try to blame them.  I didn’t tell them the problem was their operating system or some other conflicting software. I didn’t send them away or tell them its not MY problem.

I gave them service. I solved their problems. I worked within THEIR needs.

It’s ALL Service

People only buy products to fill a need for service.

A car provides the service of independent transportation. A house provides shelter. A computer provides communication, information storage and analysis. TV and radio provide entertainment. A cell phone connects us to family, friends and colleagues.

All of these products provide a service.

In other words, the service does NOT END with the SALE.

Yet this seems to be the trend lately.

Companies give the cheapest customer service possible. They rope customers into contracts (a product) and don’t let them get away (without a PENALTY).

Cell phone companies are notorious for this. They tell you that they can’t help you because of the contract you were sold. They shrug their shoulders and tell you that you can leave if you pay a penalty.

Thanks for being a customer. Hang on while I kick your ass out the door. Tell your friends they better not screw with us like you did, Mr. Customer, or we’ll kick them HARDER!

I was a customer with my satellite provide nearly 10 years.  When I wanted to upgrade to HD service, I was told I would have to pony up nearly $800 for  new equipment.

Yet they were offering the same equipment to new customers for FREE!

Thanks for being a loyal customer, but you bought our equipment and contract (both products) so there is nothing more we need to do for you.  If you’d like to leave, you won’t hurt our feelings. We’ve got TONS of other customers!

So I left.

They’ve been sending me all sorts of offers now. But I refuse to go back to them.

What About YOUR Business?

So you have a new retail customer. Do you tell them to call the company headquarters when they need help placing an order or have a question about a product? Do you ignore their emails and call them “stupid” under your breath?

So, you signed up a new distributor into your network marketing opportunity. Are you shunning their calls for help?  Are you passing them off to your upline because you don’t want to deal with them anymore? After all they bought the business kit (a product), you don’t owe them anything else, right? It’s all “in the box.”

Silly.

Yet people do it.

I’ve seen it, and I’ve been a victim of it.

It’s about service. It’s about helping people get what they want. It’s not about selling them a product and forgetting about them. It’s not about penalizing them if they purchase something and then decide it doesn’t serve their needs and they want their money back.

Give them their money back. With a SMILE.

Word gets around about companies, and about YOU.

We all want to sign up new distributors into our downlines.  We know we need to get the message out there about what we have to offer. So understanding where people are within your marketing pipeline of advertising, traffic, leads and prospects is critical to marketing to them effectively.

You can think of advertising, traffic, leads and prospects as distinct areas of the marketing pipeline, and they remain in play whether you are working your business online or offline.  Each person who comes in contact with you or your message will be in one of these areas of your pipeline.

Advertising

The purpose of advertising is to make people AWARE of YOU and your OPPORTUNITY, though it does NOT need to do BOTH at the SAME TIME.

A certain portion of your advertising, but not all of it, will generate traffic to you.  It’s important to realize that advertising should NOT try to SELL. That’s not its job! Its job is only to drive traffic.

If you are building your business online, then your advertising might consist of the traditional methods such as pay-per-click ads or banner ads. These might promote you, or they might promote your opportunity directly.

If you are using social media, your advertising will include articles, videos, and participation in sites like Twitter and Facebook.  Advertising through social media is not about buying ad space and sticking a message in there about your business opportunity.

It’s about giving value first.

It’s about being a PERSON first.

Once people find you through social media sites, or through the more traditional online ads and they start checking out your blog and your Facebook page, you now have traffic.

In the offline world, your advertisements might be flyers, drop-cards, business cards, or just talking to someone about THEIR interests to see if they relate to your business.  Again, these advertisements, sometimes direct and sometimes more subtle, bring you traffic.  That is, they get people interested in learning more about you and what you have to offer.

Traffic

Advertising generates traffic.

Traffic is not necessarily leads.

You might have people who are interested in learning more about you, or who follow you online and read your blog. You might have people who become friends or casual acquaintances in the offline world. It does not mean that they are interested in your business opportunity.

Traffic can turn into leads.  A lead is someone who is interested in potentially doing business with you or becoming a retail customer.

Traffic can often result in more traffic and leads.

For example, you meet someone and become casual acquaintances. The person knows you and likes you, but they have never expressed an interest in joining your business or using the products. However, they are talking to one of their friends and realize that their friend might be interested in what you have to offer. They direct them to you.

That friend, who is interested in your products or opportunity, is very likely a lead.

Traffic is good, even if everyone is not a lead!

Leads

It should be fairly obvious that a lead is someone who is interested in what you have to offer.

In the previous example, your casual acquaintance became your advertisement. They told their friend about you. When they contacted you, that friend became traffic. Once it was established that, yes, you have what they are looking for, they became a lead.

Don’t sign them up though, because they are not a prospect yet.

Prospects

What is a prospect, then?

Very simply, a prospect is someone who has QUALIFIED to become a business partner or customer.

In other words, not every lead is a potential business partner or customer!

They might not have the time to build the business. They might not have the money to become a customer. Or, it might be that they are just exploring new ideas and are not ready to commit. Or what they are looking for does not fit your particular opportunity.

It is your job to take each lead, and to qualify them to see if they are a prospect.

This is GOOD for you. It means you will not waste a whole lot of time talking to leads who will never join your opportunity.

Once they are qualified and you know that they are a prospect, then you can get into talking about your opportunity and products.

The Pipeline

It takes time for people to move through this process, but you should always have people at each place in the pipeline.

One day, you might have twenty people who see your ad. The next day, five of those become traffic, and twenty more people see your ad. The third day, two of the traffic people become leads, five of the people from the second day advertisements become traffic, and twenty new people see your ad.

This is your pipeline, and you want to fill it with people.  Some will leak out of the pipe, and some will make it through and come out the other end as a new business partner or customer.

Can you see how it takes time to get people from the advertisement to the point of prospect, but that you always have people in each stage of the relationship process?

In other words, when you start marketing, BE PATIENT!  It will take some time to see the results of your efforts.

This also explains why you can stop advertising, and you will still generate prospects for a little while after.  How long exactly depends on how many people are in your pipeline.

You will have very good success if you market to people based on where they are within your pipeline. You will save yourself time and energy. And people will appreciate you more as well, since you won’t be thrusting your business opportunity in front of people who aren’t be interested.

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Talk to Me! Have you been marketing to people based on their place in your marketing pipeline? Did you realize you HAD a marketing pipeline? Let me know what your experiences have been!

Share It! Your downline will become more effective and efficient if they understand the marketing pipeline as well. Be sure to share this article with them using the retweet button, or one of the other share buttons below.

There will always be things that you will consciously decide you don’t want to do, for one reason or another.  But it’s those things that you are not willing to do out of DISGUISED EXCUSES that will hold you back from achieving your goals.

Now I’m not talking about anything immoral, unethical or illegal. Hopefully you have good, valid reasons for not wanting to do anything like that!

I’m talking about those things you know you SHOULD be doing, but you don’t do.

You have an excuse for them, don’t you?

“I just don’t understand technology, so I’m not going to set up a new website.”

“People don’t care what I have to say, so I’m not going to make videos.”

“Calling leads doesn’t work, so I’m not going to talk to anyone on the phone.”

Look carefully at these “reasons” for not doing something. Each of them represents one of the disguises of excuse.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If your mentor tells you that you need to start marketing with video, and you start making excuses like, “I can’t make a video because…”

“I don’t have a video camera,” or
“I don’t know how to make videos,” or
“I don’t have the right software,”

…or excuses like, “I can’t write an article because…”

“Articles don’t generate enough traffic,” or
“People will not be interested in what I have to say,” or
“Writing articles takes too much time,”

…or excuses like, “I can’t talk to that person because…”

“They probably won’t want to talk to me anyway,” or
“I’m just not a social person,” or
“It’s not the right time, they look too busy,”

…then you are making excuses.

Can you identify the EXCUSE DISGUISES, as I described in the video, in the above examples?

Someone who does not make excuses doesn’t say those things.

Someone who TAKES ACTION will say,

“I’ll make the video, AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.”
“I’ll brainstorm a couple article ideas, start writing, AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.”
“I’ll talk to that person, AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.”

A person without laziness and fear doesn’t make excuses.

They might produce some videos over a two month period and determine that its not a good source of leads, or that they really don’t like doing it and want to replace it with another marketing source.

They might call a lead with a script that doesn’t work. So they use that information to create a new script and try again. They seek out and find people who have had success calling leads and learn what that person does.  They might ultimately decide that calling leads is not for them.

But they only make the decision AFTER they have a LEGITIMATE reason. After they’ve had an EXPERIENCE and gotten some RESULTS.

You should ONLY make decisions based on results, NOT based on the DISGUISES of an EXCUSE.

Learn to recognize when you are avoiding the STEPS to a goal, or your decisions have no FACTUAL basis, or because you feel FEAR.

And don’t think, I’m just making an excuse for this ONE thing, so it’s OK.

That’s an excuse, too! If you make it for ONE thing, you give yourself PERMISSION to make it for OTHER things as well.

Have courage, take baby steps, and commit to making your decisions based solely on facts and experience.

In my previous post on balancing optimism and pessimism, I discussed the importance of using both optimistic and pessimistic patterns of thinking to identify and overcome problems that may arise as you go after your goals.  Today, I want to look at a specific ACTION you can take in order to do this.

It’s called risk analysis, and you do it whether you realize it or not. It’s just that after you read this, you’ll be able to take an objective, realistic approach to doing it.

Many people get emotionally attached to their goals, such that if they fail to reach a goal, due to some obstacle or problem, they FEEL like a failure themselves.

Let me say this: You are NOT your goals.

In other words, if you fail to reach a goal, it does NOT mean that YOU are a failure.

It simply means that you either don’t really understand your ULTIMATE goals, or that you don’t focus on SOLUTIONS.

A failure simply means that you need to SELECT a DIFFERENT course of ACTION.

And the best time to identify those alternate courses of action is BEFORE the problem arises. That way, when a problem does arise, you ALREADY KNOW your course of action.

And you can use this technique for any goal, whether it’s a business goal, a project at home, event planning, etc.

Risk Analysis

Risk analysis will focus your thinking on SOLUTIONS and finding DIFFERENT PATHS to your goals.  It starts by using the pessimistic pattern of thinking to analyze your goals for potential problems.

So, put on your pessimist’s hat.

Create a chart like the one below for each specific goal that you have.  Enter the goal into the first line. Be specific (include a measure and a deadline).

Next, think of all the things that could go wrong, and enter them into the chart as well (an explanation of each column follows the chart).

In the Potential Problem and Outcome column, identify what the potential risk is and what the outcome of that risk will be if it occurs. The outcome should DIRECTLY relate to the GOAL.

In the Probability column enter the likelihood that this problem will actually occur. Use a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being highly unlikely and 5 being imminent.

In the Impact column, enter the likelihood that this problem will prevent you from achieving your goal. Again, use a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being very little or no impact and 5 meaning it will completely stop you from reaching your goal.

Multiply the Probability and Impact columns and place the result in the RISK column.

It’s important when you complete the Impact column to consider NOT the RESULT of the problem, but the impact that problem will have ON ACHIEVING THE GOAL.

In the example above, “closing less than 5% of pay-per-click leads will not create enough ROI to sustain marketing” does not mean that your business will collapse and you’ll never be able to sponsor 50 people into your downline. It just means that pay-per-click won’t be a viable source of leads. That’s why the impact ON THE GOAL is only a 2. The impact on using pay-per-click as a source of leads would be a 4 or 5, BUT THAT IS NOT THE GOAL.

Do you see the difference?

On the other hand, “Unable to generate a steady stream of leads” DOES mean that you will not be able to sponsor 50 people by the deadline.  That’s why the impact is a 5. This risk, should it come to fruition WILL stop you from achieving your goal.

Risk Prioritization and Mitigation

Now that you have your RISK totals, you can prioritize your list of potential problems. You’ll want to address the risks with the total highest RISK first, as these will be the most likely to derail your goals.

Use common sense here. If a risk value seem too high or too low, re-evaluate the risk and determine why. Maybe you have the outcome wrong. Maybe the probability or impact isn’t right. Trust your instincts, but FOLLOW THE RULES when you re-calculate the risk!

Now is the time to start using the optimistic pattern of thinking. Determine in what ways you can address the problems to either eliminate them or at least minimize the impact they will have on achieving your goals.

Add another column to your risk chart to include your mitigation actions.

Notice how the column is titled Mitigation Actions. You always want to make sure that your mitigation plans are ACTIONABLE. They MUST be things you can DO.

For example, a mitigation plan to “get better at closing leads” is NOT actionable!

On the other hand, “locate training courses”, “talk to Joe Schmoe”, and “listen in on three-way calls” are all actionable.

How do you know if a mitigation plan is actionable?

Just ask yourself, is this something I can PHYSICALLY do RIGHT NOW, or do I have to THINK about what needs to be done? If you can physically do it right now (or schedule it for a SPECIFIC TIME) then its actionable.

Look at the examples above again. See the difference now?

Risk Recovery

But what happens if a risk actually comes to fruition? What if, even with your five different lead sources, you still can’t generate a steady stream of leads? What if, even after all of your training, you still can’t close more than 5% of your pay-pre-click leads?

It’s best to know what you will do BEFORE the problem arises, so add another column to your chart.

In the Recovery Actions column, list the actionable steps you will take to recover from the risk.

Pretending that problems won’t happen is unrealistic. Knowing what action you will take IMMEDIATELY if they do arise will go a LONG way in helping you feel more confident and staying on track to your goals.

I also want you to notice that NONE of the recovery actions say you should give up!

Even if you can’t brainstorm any recovery actions, there is ALWAYS at least ONE action you can use in ALL circumstances.  But ONLY use it as a LAST RESORT!

The action is this: Readjust your goal.

RARELY should this be your ONLY recovery action.

In this example, you might decide to sign up only 25 people instead of 50, or push the date out to the end of the year.

Your Risks Are Alive!

It is very important to re-evaluate your risk analysis periodically.  Some may go away, others will need to have their Probability or Impact values readjusted based on your current situation. Cross off any Mitigation Actions you have completed, and add any new ones.

You may also find new risks that present themselves. Follow the same procedure above to evaluate, mitigate and plan a recovery should they occur.

The idea, of course, is to eliminate risks from the list or at least mitigate them to the point where they are insignificant.

Like I said, you do this anyway. Every time you think of a problem or anytime an obstacle is presented before you, you analyze it.  You identify the risk it poses to reaching your goals, and you make a decision how to handle it.

Risk analysis just makes it controlled, and allows you to identify problems before they derail you or set you back.  It increases your confidence, focuses your energy on your goals, and relieves worry about things that could go wrong.

Don’t spend TOO much time on this! It should NOT get in the way of your day-to-day operations.  Focus on your MAJOR goals only.  It will take a little longer to set up initially, but should not take too much effort to maintain.

Use this technique for business goals, a project that you are working on either at work or at home, or for the next big event that you are planning.

Give it a try, and let me know how it works for you!

Last week I attended a financial wealth conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. The conference was all about BUILDING wealth in the current economic recession.

But it also led me to think about another topic. Peer groups.

Click here to view the embedded video.

You see, at this wealth conference, I met a lot of successful business people.  A lot of entrepreneurs. A lot of people with money to lose. A lot of people who already lost money in the stock market, in their 401(k), in their real estate investments.

But NONE of these people were complaining.

None were playing the part of the victim.

They were all there to educate themselves, to find out more about how they could protect and build their wealth during this recession.

I also met people who took my personal financial education to a whole new level.

These are the people I want in my peer group: people smarter than me in the areas that are important in my life, and people who are SOLUTION SEEKERS rather than VICTIMS.

Who’s in YOUR peer group?