Many years ago I was part of a team climbing Mt Taranaki in New Zealand’s Northern Island. Being one of the fitter members I was part of the lead party. It was the middle of Winter so the mountain was blanketed with snow. At about 7 hours up the mountain one of our group tripped and fell on his ice pick piercing his side incapacitating him. While the rest of the group comforted the injured climber myself and one other set off for help with nothing more than an emergency supply of basic equipment and as night wasn’t too far away we didn’t have the benefit of daylight to make the decent. On our way across an open area of ice country the setting sun hit the side of the mountain giving us one of the most exhilarating vistas I’ve ever known. Suddenly the mountain turned golden and because of our height below us was an ocean of loud stretching as far as the eye could see. Well with a watchful eye on direction and every step we took we made a safe decent and eventually reached the ranger station. In the early hours of that morning (~1AM) they pulled the local helicopter pilot out of the pub and the first night rescue mission with a helicopter took place with a happy ending.
Why do I tell you this? In our business model (direct sales or network marketing) teamwork is everything, that way no matter what your level of experience or inexperience, if you want to succeed you have a whole team of people there to help you achieve it. TEAM stands for “together everyone achieves more” and it’s so true. Why would you want to work in a traditional bricks and mortar business or even worse a job where you’re climbing someone elses ladder with no team behind you. Think about it next time you’re facing a tough decision in your business, it’s one of the few models where you can call your sponsor and get sound advice or be steered in the right direction.

Creating a focused environment can be embodied within six characteristics and practices:

I found this very inciteful article by entrepreneur, writer and investor Scott Scheper. You can apply these principals to any size company from home based like myself all the way up to multinationals. His 7 ways to create a productive work environment include:

1. Implementing natural, people-centered tools (whiteboard)
2. Creating a focused work environment (one that prevents distraction)
3. Shaking-up your workspace every three months
4. Seeking rags, not riches (constraints)
5. Holding focused meetings (brief and to the point)
6. Setting focused goals (make sure everyone at your organization understands the why behind their actions)
7. Don’t eat a lot at work

Here’s a link to the full article – http://howtogetfocused.com/chapters/7-practical-ways-to-create-a-productive-work-environment/

Regardless of how new you are to internet marketing every inch of credibility is important. One of the easiest things you can do in this regard is add your picture or company logo to your url, this, in internet jargon is called a favicon. Favicons help users identify what website they are visiting, are used by nearly all modern browsers, and bottom line help make your website feel more polished.

So what are Favicons?

A favicon, simply put is a “favorites” icon. Favicons are the small icons that you see next to the URL in your browser. Look for mine in this browser where the url is.

Why the need for a Favicon? This really is a personal question, but considering how simple they are to implement, adding one has to be on your to do list.

How do I make a Favicon?

To make a favicon start by opening your favorite image editing software such as Photoshop or GIMP and create a new image 16×16 and no larger than 150kb. Once you have a new file open, work your magic and create the Favicon of your dreams.

Once you are done save the file as a *.png.

Now it’s conversion time.

Before we can add the favicon to your website we need to convert it into an “.ico” format. To do this visit you will want to use the converter found at Faviconr.

Simply upload your .png file to faviconr.com
Faviconr will then convert your file into a .ico file.
Once your favicon is generated simply click “Download Favicon.” Remember where you saved it.

Once you have your .ico file saved, it is time to upload it to your website. Make sure you put it in the root directory. This means if you visit

http://www.yourwebsite.com/favicon.ico you will see your favicon.

Once you have your Favicon uploaded simply add this line of code within your tags – <link rel=”shortcut icon” href=”/favicon.ico” type=”image/x-icon” />.

Part of the code above gives you a relative path – href=”/favicon.ico, to make sure browsers find it you may want to change this to an absolute path, in other words – <link rel=”shortcut icon” href=”http://yourwebsite/favicon.ico” type=”image/x-icon” />.

If you are using WordPress this tag will be found within your “header.php” file.

If you are using the “Thesis” theme it’s even easier, here’s what you have to do:

Upload (I use filezilla) your favicon.ico file to:

a) The root directory of your WordPress install. This will display the favicon in your browser and a subscribers’ RSS feedreader.

b) Also upload to the directory where your theme is located. For most Thesis users this will be something like …./wp-content/themes/thesis_17/ This is required to display the favicon for all pages on your site.

3.) Next, log into WordPress and going to Thesis > Site Options > Additional Scripts add the same line of code used in the example above, in my case to be absolutely certain I used the absolute path in the code,
<link rel=”shortcut icon” href=”http://yourwebsite/favicon.ico” type=”image/x-icon” />.

4.) Refresh your browser!

5.) That’s all there is to it. Don’t worry if it doesn’t display immediately, it can take a while. One thing that can help is to clear the cookies in your browser.

Free website traffic has to be the holy grail, it’s what we all want, or at least should.  This article is right on the money. In it’s essence it’s what I and many other online entrepreneurs use to drive traffic to our sites, and guess what, it works. Get the full article here -  An Author’s Plan for Social Media Efforts.

Robert Kiyosaki describes network marketing in his book title beautifully -” The Business School for People Who Like Helping People”.  And in his most recent book  “Business of the 21st Century”  Robert Kiyosaki points out the advantages of the network marketing / direct sales model as follows:

• You get a real world business education
• It’s a profitable path to personal development
• You have a circle of friends who share your dreams and values
• The power of building your own network
• A duplicable and fully scalable business
• Incomparable leadership skills you can develop
• A mechanism for genuine wealth creation
• Big dreams and the capacity to live them

Now see how Kevin Spacey Describes it!!

Do you find blogging can be a bit of a drag – is that a yes or a yes? Darren Rowse over at Problogger has posted 20 Ways To Up Your Blogging Fun Quota…

The read includes: Draw, Photograph, Share, Measure, Debate, Laugh, Watch,  Give,  Teach,  Introduce,  List,  Resource, Colour, Solve, Inspire, Ask,  Headline, Re-package, Link,  Challenge.  Sounds simple, but the ideas are thought provoking.

Problogger is a must read for anyone looking to put inspiration back into their blog or if you want to become a blogger but worried about content.

Are you looking for an Internet marketing strategy that works? If you are, look for a proven model.

You need to design a business based on proven principles that stand the test of time. When it comes to marketing strategies the theory hasn’t changed, but the methods have massively expanded.

When it comes to internet marketing, once you get behind the smoking mirrors and deceptive messages cleverly masked by the industry gurus it’s not that hard, sure it requires some effort, but hard…it is not.

Before we start with the techniques, let’s lay a bit of groundwork and talk about the general concept of traffic generation – that’s getting people to look at your site and hopefully like what they see.

The techniques I’ve listed below will often drive traffic in two separate ways: 1) you will receive immediate traffic from the method directly through the links that you obtain, and 2) the links you receive through these methods will help your site rank higher in the search engines, resulting in a lot of organic traffic.

Now, there are two phases to internet marketing, both equally important, do one without the other and you fall flat on your face – ouch!!

Phase 1:  The System

• Step 1: Get / Design your own Branded Capture Page(s) or a system which includes them
• Step 2: Get / Design your Own Automated Sales Funnel

Phase 2:  Marketing Strategies

(PLEASE complete all steps In Phase 1 before moving on)

• Your email address
• Social Networks – includes facebook, myspace, twitter, linkedin, plaxo, and many many more
• PayPerClick Marketing
• List Building
• Article marketing
• Gather
• Scribd
• Yahoo Answers
• Social Bookmarking
• Blog Commenting
• Squidoo
• Hubpages
• Propeller
• Pres releases
• Craigslist
• USFreeAds
• Affiliate programs
• Making your own bait
• Ebay
• SEO
• Bookmarking
• RSS
• Stumbleupon
• Buying adspace
• Bit Torrents
• Network with others in your niche
• Link exchange programs
• Ezine advertisements
• Digg
• 404 page
• Amazon
• Joint ventures
• Free Classifieds
• Forum Marketing
• Video Marketing
• Link building
• Blogging
• Purchased leads (yes, there’s still a place for this)

While this is a decent list there are doubtless many many more methods of getting your site seen on line, and I haven’t even touched on the off line methods to market your site. Out of all this you need to find what works for you and your business, and focus on them. Only through consistent hard work, will you see the fruits of your labour become profitable. Gone are the days where we can just build a website and wait for the traffic to come!

So you think, makes sense BUT there’s a lot of work here as well as learning. If you’re anything like me and would prefer to focus on getting a life, well fortunatelythere is a shortcut. I use an internet marketing system (phase 1) that gives me video training on all aspects of internet marketing, how to use and leverage web 2.0 technologies, and much much more – all to help me build a business – check it out and see if it’s what you’re looking for.

1. Comfortable being uncomfortable
Once in a home based business you will find yourself in situations you are not possibly familiar with, like dealing with debtors, selling yourself and your product,……..You need to learn to take this in your stride. Two things can happen, you either move though these situations and become a better person, or you go backwards in your personal growth.

2. Keeps you sharp
If you want to be really successful in your home based business you need to be on top of your game so life long learning is now the name of the game. Always look to do what you have just done better the next time around.

3. Having multiple income streams is much more fun than having just one
You find that when you have finally fired the boss and started a home based business you are wide open to looking at different options to make money. In a job and in your daily life you develop many skill sets that you can utilise out there to make money. For example, if you are a stay at home Mum you have great people management and sales skills which you can put to other uses in making a living.

The most dangerous place to be is in a job because your whole financial future is dependant on one source of income, it gives someone else power over you and even worse, lose the job and you are destitute.

4. You are the lapdog to no one
Ever felt guilty taking a day off work even though it was justified, or had a boss that was not as smart as you, or did not work as hard as you, or were at the brunt of office politics. In a home based business you answer to yourself, this gives you the power.

5. Work your own hours
Ever been stuck in a job where you are waiting for the bell so you can leave. Not any more. You are totally flexible because you are the boss in your own home based business.

6. The tax man becomes your friend
Having a home based business must be one of the best kept secrets from a tax point of view. You get to deduct the expense of your toys if you use them in your work, things like cell phones, computers, motor vehicles, and, that home office. Travel can also be deductible. You need advice from someone qualified in your locality on this one though.

7. Pick your own income level
You decide how much money you want to earn, or are worth, not someone else lording over you.

8. You are paid what you are worth
If you are not in production you are not going to get paid, it is that simple. Or put it another way, you are paid exactly what you are worth which bring you back to point number 2 – keep on top of your game.

9. Your work becomes your hobby
You find this the one common denominator with many successful people – they love doing what they do, it is not about the money any more. You may have heard of the saying – when your vocation becomes your vacation, you never work another day in your life – this is so sooo true

10. You are part of the 1 percenters
Statistics is Australia, the U.S and I suspect many other western countries show that of 100 people 95% are dead or dead broke by the time 65 comes along, 4% need to keep working and only 1% are wealthy. So love what you do to be in the 4% or get rich to be a 1 percenter – your choice as a business owner.

You have to ask yourself why we are sold the dream of working for a living when clearly that model is broken. Don’t get sucked in!

This list could go on and on……but when you do jump ship life changes completely. It becomes more dynamic and way more varied and interesting, and occasionally challenging.  On a personal note I fired the boss and started a consultancy business,  eventually moving on to direct sales. This is where the smart money is, where you are paid on a teams efforts, not just your own. This type of income gives you your life back because you are paid even when you are not working, you are in a sense getting a retirement income from that point on.

So to use the affirmation of my homeland – kia kaha, be strong. So be strong and believe in yourself, go out and make a difference

Are you tired – you know, of the long commutes, the soaring transport costs, of waiting for that promotion, of wondering when the interest rates are going to fall, or maybe you’re incredibly successful in your career but don’t have the time to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

There’s a reason for all this , and you can blame it all on your conditioning. That’s right, we’re conditioned by our upbringing, our education, and our work experience to be all of these three things:

Employees – trading a fixed amount of time for a fixed amount of money

Consumers – trading a fixed amount of money for goods and services of a fixed value

Imitators – playing it safe by doing what everyone else does – isn’t that crazy.

This unfortunate conditioning keeps us on the treadmill, trading hours for dollars going to a job every day to make someone else wealthy.

There are benefits to this type of (job) based income – it’s immediate, we know when we’ll be paid, and it’s predictable, we know how much we’ll be paid.

On the downside, it is estimated that most families are less than two pay packets away from technical bankruptcy.

Looking at US statistics – arguably the wealthiest country on the planet the average income is 42,000 per annum. After working 35 years the average monthly annuity based on a lifetime of savings is only $335 per month – barely enough to buy the groceries, let alone get a life.

As far as income generating schemes go, job based income programs have a 96% failure rate, I wish in my case I’d known this sooner, I wouldn’t have wasted so much time in it, what about you?

Fortunately there is a way out. As John Paul Getty, one of the richest en on the planet put it – I’d rather have 1% of 100 peoples effort than 100% of my own – it’s called leverage, where you’re paid on the efforts of many people, not just yourself.

To start down this path we need to re-condition our thinking, because now we need to be an entrepreneur, a marketer, or an innovator. We need to stop thinking in terms of linear job based income and think in terms of what is called residual or passive income, money that comes in regardless of whether you’re working or not. This type of income is where you do something once but get paid over and over for that effort – the end result being money and…..time to enjoy it.

So how do we start? We can be a singer or a songwriter or write and make royalties off our music or novels, develop a real estate portfolio and live off the rental returns, again large capital is required not to mention the associated risks involved, we can build a franchise business and sell it (challenging), or we can buy into another business model (the first fourth generation business system) called network marketing or direct sales. This model has changed significantly over the years as it has evolved, but provided you’re with a credible company that has integrity and a credible product range you can generate a sizable income with proper coaching and mentoring. You can start it for very little money down, and take it as far as you want to go.

One of it’s major advantages other than minimal capital outlay is that you can start part-time and build your business at your own pace around your current commitments.

Other advantages – you can work it from home, no employees, low risk, high reward, endless sales potential, favorable tax breaks, steady cash flow, no experience required, people helping people.

As for pitfalls, they are there as with any other business model. With whichever company you look at do your due diligence, making sure the company has great products and a fair and equitable pay plan, that you have access to an experienced team who can coach, mentor and help you succeed, and that are actively involved and thus current with business trends and systems.

So bottom line, starting your own home based direct selling business is one of the few ways of taking back control of your life – giving you work / life balance, time, cash flow and quality of life.

Whether you are already on Facebook, etc. (or just thinking about it) there are some major opportunities to find more customers and recruit new business builders – online – that every savvy network marketer needs to know about.

For example – did you know that…

• Over 1.5 billion dollars were spent on products and services generated through social media “word of mouth” marketing in 2008.
• ”Twitter” is the fastest growing social media tool, now boasting 50+ million users.
• Facebook is the 2nd most visited website in the world (only GOOGLE has more visitors).
• There are now over 325 MILLION active members on Facebook (and predicted to be 500 MILLION by 2011 (or sooner)!
• 50% of adults on social networks report they are access their sites at least 30 min every other day.
• More than 50% of Facebook users in the U.S. are 35+ in age, the majority of them are educated and have above average incomes – many of them perfect for your products and business!

I’m sure you’d agree, they’re very impressive figures.

From a marketing perspective, here’s a compelling reason why social media should be part of your mix – it’s free. You can be a significant player online without laying out any cash, and in this economic environment cash is king more than ever.

So if you are not already using social networking,  just maybe it’s time to get educated and take a closer look at how these tools can help you find new customers and potential business builders.

The possibilities to develop a large “warm market” are mind boggling. There is one caveat, however, you should be aware of when building your business this way.

You can waste a lot of time (and not generate great results) with Facebook, Twitter, etc if you don’t have an effective “marketing strategy” in place.

Here’s a video that will definitely expand your view of what’s possible for your business on the internet.

Social Media Is Bigger Than You Think