Don't Mention the Name of Your Network Marketing Product or Opportunity

A recipe for success in direct selling

Direct selling makes it possible for millions of people to live the life they love. You heard right…millions! An estimated 15.6 million people are involved in direct selling in the United States and more than 92 million worldwide.

You might be wondering how so many people can find success. While there is no silver bullet, there are some common themes:

• Plan a schedule of daily, weekly and monthly goals. Review them often to make any necessary changes and improvements. For example, “I want to earn $400 this month and will do it by doing x.”
• Get out there. Direct sales requires you to be sociable and enterprising. Get out there and talk to people about your product. Set a goal to promote your business to 3, 5 or 10 people every day. The more you do it, the more comfortable you’ll get. Soon it will become second nature.
• Make use of technology. As a USANA Associate, you can market yourself in several ways: a personalized website, social media and blogs.
• Have passion. If people sense that you believe in the product, they will be more likely to make a purchase. Enthusiasm is contagious!
• Use your time wisely. If you’re juggling the demands of a full-time job and/or family, you will need to carve out time to succeed.
• Have a dedicated workspace. This is a great way to separate your business from family life. Keep your work area neat and organized so you can think more clearly. Plus, there may be some tax benefits to a dedicated work area.

The sky’s the limit with direct sales. Keep reaching for the stars!

-- Roger Cox     

Take time for yourself

Me, me, me! In a busy life that is often focused on others, ‘me’ might actually be the last person on your mind.

In fact, ‘me’ is often bumped way down on the priority list, well below piles of laundry that are waiting to be washed, the briefcase full of papers that accompanied you home, the kids’ ballgames tonight, or attending another committee meeting.

In this fast-paced world, many people have a hard time slowing down. We are constantly in ‘go’ mode, ready to move from one activity or responsibility to the next. Finding time for family activities can be a challenge. Finding time for yourself may just seem impossible, or even selfish.

But making time for yourself is not selfish. It’s necessary. Time alone is important to refresh the mind and reduce stress. If you’re constantly feeling frazzled, you aren’t going to be the best version of yourself. It’s all tied together!

Try this: Take some time – even if it’s just an hour a week – to do something you enjoy, whether it’s reading a book, hiking a trail, or just sitting and enjoying nature. (Don’t forget to put away your smartphone!)

And here’s a little surprise. Time for yourself does not necessarily have to be spent alone. Sometimes, carving out time for an activity with a friend or spouse or even the kids—if that activity is what you really enjoy—counts as time for yourself!

Take this challenge and run with it. Work your ‘me’ time into your weekly schedule. It’s good for your overall health and happiness, which, after all, is what we are all looking for.

-- Roger Cox                  

What does it take to be an entrepreneur?

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to ditch the 9-5 job and be your own boss? Maybe you aren’t looking for a full-time commitment, but you’re interested in supplementing your income in a way where you set the boundaries.

Are you just a little curious what it’s like to change the lives of others with products you love and believe in yourself? USANA Associates have all been in that boat asking the same questions. Wondering if you fit the bill? Take a look in the mirror and see if these traits fit:

• Tenacity: How do you deal with failure? Do you feel defeated and give up, or do you brush yourself off and give it another try? Failure is a reality in business, but it’s how you address it that matters.
• Passion: People want to buy products or services from people who have a contagious enthusiasm. They’ll associate you with the product, and vice versa. Make sure that association is a good one!
• Vision: People with vision will tell you how their product or service fits into the big picture. How does it make life easier, more affordable or enjoyable? Customers are drawn to people that can express this from the heart, not a canned sales pitch.
• Confidence: Are you self-assured? Do you believe in the product or service you’re selling? Confidence is king. There’s no room for wishy-washy!
• Flexibility: How willing are you to change your approach or strategy to improve your outcome? Flexible people are willing to go with the flow. If what you’re doing isn’t working, you need to be willing to try something new.
• Rule-breaking: Surprised by this one? Only a minority of Americans are entrepreneurs, which means it’s considered a non-traditional route. Why be shackled by an unfullfilling job when you can break the mold and have more control of your destiny? Full time entrepreneurship not in the cards right now? Take it on in your spare time before and after work. Breaking out of the box just might lead you to what you’re looking for!

--  Roger Cox  

Which is better for you? A Twix or a Kit Kat?

I like them both. They taste about the same, but one is better for you than the other.

Answer: Kit Kat. Neither of these chocolate wafers candy bars will win any nutritional awards, but the Kit Kat will save you 20 calories and rack up less saturated fat and sodium.

Twix packs three times the sodium (90 milligrams) in three fun size pieces than what you would get in a comparable serving of Kit Kat.

Wondering how other candy stacks up? This post has the answers --> http://whatsupusana.com/20…/…/which-halloween-candy-is-best/

-- Roger Cox

www.rogercox.usana.com

Pessimism Not Always Bad?

Do you think the glass is half full or half empty? While people tend to think that being optimistic is the best option, some degree of pessimism is not so bad. If people always expect the world to go their way, they may not be prepared to deal with disappointment. Being prepared for something not to work out allows people to plan ahead. On the other hand, always expecting the best tends to make people more resilient when things do not go their way.

Surprisingly, even when faced with problems, most people are optimistic about the future. In this Time magazine article, author Tali Sharot calls this tendency for optimism the ‘optimism bias.’ One might expect children to be the ones who are optimists. However, research shows that adults, even older adults, are more likely to be optimistic than pessimistic. In addition, this bias is not limited to any one culture; all cultures share it.

What does that mean for you? Being an optimist will help you find those ‘silver linings.’ Your brain will help you find the positive aspects of negative situations that all people face at some point in their lives. So it is worth the effort for you to consciously change the way you think about your daily activities. Thinking positive, which your brain is apparently wired to do, will provide the motivation to face those difficulties in life. But remember that it is okay for some pessimism to slip in; it will help you handle the bumps in the road.

Roger Cox

Are you waiting for your breakthrough? Perhaps a breakthrough is not the one big, huge event that we think it is. Perhaps it is a combination of all the little thing we do. And perhaps your network marketing business is the same way.

I talk about this in this video.

Click here for the video!

Have a great networking day!

-- Roger Cox

Some times it is nice to be able to do something when you want to do it and not have to wait until you have some unscheduled time. Network marketing may help you find the time to do just that.

Follow the link below to see the video.


Free Time is Nice!

- - Roger Cox

Bob Proctor Quoted in Networking Times

This is a quote from Bob Proctor as quoted in the Networking Times Magazine recently.

 "We have to begin by understanding ourselves, and improving our self-esteem. We've been raised to be dependent on the corporation, the boss, the company.

We're programmed to believe that if you go to school, get a good education and a job in a big company, that you're safe. Of course everyone knows that that's not true. People have been being laid off, downsized, reengineered, or fired by the hundreds of thousands—many are walking the street wondering what's happened."

There is another, and perhaps better, way.  Network marketing just may be a way to break free of convention.  At least your fate is in your own hands and not somebody else's.

--Roger  

Age Discrimination.......I Can Feel Your Pain!

I am currently sitting in a training session for my responsibility as an employment specialist and listening to the concerns in this room about the difficulty of age discrimination in getting a job interview. It is so tough for them. There is so much frustration being voiced.

These people are trying to secure jobs to provide for their family. Some of them have been pushed out of jobs because of their age, and others just want to re-enter the workforce but just can't seem to find the key.  Sometimes the jobs they are qualified are just not out there anymore.  

We also talked about how most online application procedures are intended to limit the number of applications human HR personnel has to process.

Occasionally these older applicants might be offered an interview, but often times can't get past the interview stage.  It is really frustrating for them.

It really increases my appreciation for network marketing. Network marketing doesn't care about your age. It is all about how you perform.  You don't have to jump through hoops just to get in front of a person who can/will hire you.

I really would like to spread the word that there ARE other options out there.

---Roger  

Write It Down!

I saw a great tidbit of advice from Jim Rohn today.  Here is his quote: "Be a collector of good ideas, but don't trust your memory. The best collecting place for all of the ideas and information that comes your way is your journal."

I can't tell you how valuable this advice is.  I have read a good number of books, and each one has had a goldmine of information within.  But how many times do we read a book and then quickly forget what it said?  

Sometimes a quick read will help us to feel good as the concepts ring true to us, and sometimes that is helpful to just influence our attitudes.

But to get the meat out of the book, you need to study and internalize the concepts.  But how do you remember the good stuff out of all the books you have read?

What I do is to keep an online journal open on my computer at all times.  Then when I am reading a book and a passage jumps out at me, I either write it or copy and paste the nugget into my journal.  Then that valuable thought is available whenever I need it by opening my journal and rereading the information.  

Many online journals are keyword-searchable so you can find the posts that contain the thought that you are looking for.

This technique may slow down your reading some, but the advantage is that the thoughts that can change your life are available to you even after you no longer have to book.

Give it a try and see how it goes!  If you already keep a journal for your thoughts, share with us which journal application you use.

-- Roger Cox  

I Tried, But It Just Ain't Working!

I recently read some thoughts from Jordan Adler from the book Best Worst First by Margie Aliprandi and Martha I. Finney, and those thoughts really stuck in my mind.

Suppose you wanted to be an airline pilot. Or a plumber. Or a doctor.  Perhaps your dream is to run a marathon with an acceptable time.  Or anything else that you could dream of. Would you expect to be able to accomplish any of those things with just a few half-hearted efforts? Would you expect that the Olympic medalist on the stand was able to get there without any bumps or bruises?  Would you expect them to fail or to fall a time or two?  Or maybe even a bunch of times?

As Jordan says, "There is going to be a level of pain that comes with those dreams." You just know that there is going to be some discomfort to get to where you want to be.

But how do we approach our network marketing business?  Do we expect to gain a level of success with half-hearted efforts and quit after a few rejections?  Sometimes we see the successful people on stage and we don't realize the hurdles and challenges that they had to overcome to get to their spot on the stage.  We think that we are failures because we haven't reached that level yet, but we fail to recognize we all will have tremendous challenges, but the successful ones will continue on until they overcome.

The lesson?:  If you have a dream to be successful in network marketing, know that you are going to have some growing and developing to do.  Identify the skills that you lack and begin developing those skills.  Work as hard at your networking marketing business as you would if you were pursuing a graduate degree from a university.  Take the falls and failures in stride and continue on.

If the dream is worthwhile, the hurdles will be stepping stones.  IF you keep working and growing and refuse to quit.

--Roger Cox

Teach What You Learn

I just read a posting by Rosie Bank, a person in my industry that I am acquainted with.  She was telling about one of her associates that attended a lot of workshops and training but was feeling like she lacked a lot of what her trainers had.

Rosie's advice to her was to let what was going into her mind come out.  In other words, don't sit on the knowledge that you acquire.  Teach someone else what you know.  Two things will happen:  1.  You will begin acting like the people that are doing the training.  You will start acting on what you know. 2.  You will begin attracting others who want to know what you know.  You will gain a following.

Which is a good thing.

-- Roger

Thinking of Quitting? Read This First.

How is your network marketing business doing?  Are you accomplishing what you set out to do?  Taking some little steps every day toward your goal?

Or are you getting discouraged and just about to the point where you want to give it all up and just stop?

I would like to share a story I read by Ramin Mesgarlou in a magazine that I subscribe to.  A network marketer was being asked about his success.

Here's the story:

“And you did really well right off the bat?”

“Not exactly.  Three months after I joined, my sponsor quit.  Soon after that, his sponsor quit, and I didn’t even know the guy above him.  Now I had no upline support, and was trying to figure this thing out on my own.

“I finally said, “That’s it - I’m going to stick to the restaurant business.  I quit!”

“Right around then some hotshot was coming in from Alberta to give a meeting, and he asked my upline if I would pick him up at his hotel to bring him to the meeting venue.

When I picked him up, he said, “So, I hear you want to quit?”

I said, “Yeah.”

“Why?” he asked.

“I don’t know.” I replied. “It’s just not working.”

“Okay,” he said, “let me ask you something.  Is this business holding you back from your current business?”

“I had to admit, it wasn’t; I was still running my restaurant.

“So do you have a better alternative?” he continued.  “Do you have something else as a backup plan?”

I didn’t.

“If this isn’t holding you back, and you have no other plan, then why quit?”

This made sense to me.  I went back to my restaurant and told my family, “I don’t care what I have to do, we’re going to make this happen.”

Three-quarters of success in this business is commitment.  This was the moment I decided I was going to do this.

So....what about you?  Do you have an alternative?  If not network marketing, what?  If your network marketing business is not holding you back, why not keep doing it?

It is worth thinking about.

-- Roger Cox

Is It Just Me, Or Does Everybody Fail With Network Marketing?

I recently read an article by one of my fellow network marketers by the name of Pete Zdanis that answers the question "Does everybody fail in network marketing?"

What would be your answer?  What answer would you give if somebody interested in your business asked you this question?

Pete says, "Yes, everybody fails in network marketing.  As much as 80 to 90 percent of the time."

Are you comfortable with that answer?

Here is Pete's explanation.  And I must say, I believe there is much value in this concept that will help set the new person up for success in this industry.

Pete says he fails most of the time.  He can talk to 100 people, and perhaps only 10 or 20 are interested in what he has to say.  But if you talk to enough people, those 10 to 20 people begin to add up and can potentially help you to earn an income that most people can only dream about.

The secret is to keep talking to people and promoting your product or service.  If you have a 10% success ratio, and over the course of a number of years you eventually talk to 2000 people, you will have 200 partners helping you in your downline.

And what if only 10% of your downline produce substantial volume?  Well.......you would have 20 people sending significant volume up your organization.

And it is quite possible that 2 or 3 of those will produce enough volume that you would be making a mighty nice income.

 But it starts with getting your product or opportunity in front of people.  Promoting yourself or your opportunity or income is the only way that income is earned in this industry.  That is the only income-producing activity that there is.

And that is where most people who "try" network marketing fails the most.  They have to talk or introduce their offering to enough people.  And most fail to do that.

There is no harm in promoting to a prospect and getting a "no" for your effort.  That is to be expected.  The harm comes when you are unable to get past the "no's" and stop trying.

Nobody said that it would be easy.  But if you are consistent, it can be oh so rewarding!

--Roger Cox  

Don't Speed Through Your Self-Improvement Reading!

In the network marketing industry, we are encouraged to develop ourselves and spend considerable time reading good books.  My first thought about this would be that the more self-development books I can read, the better.  So therefore, the faster that I can read, the more books I can read, and the faster I will grow.

Right??

Maybe not.

I read a quote from Chris Brady that challenges that viewpoint.  He said, "Someone once asked me about my method of reading, implying that I must naturally read quickly or have some speed-reading training.  I replied that I don’t read any faster than the average person, but my approach to reading has made all the difference.  In short, I don’t read-------I STUDY!  I underline text, write notes in the margins, fill the back pages with ideas and comments, and , if necessary, argue with the author between the lines."

He went on to say, "Books are to be devoured, recordings are to be memorized, and conferences are to be experienced to the maximum."

That quote has changed my way of thinking about reading as well.  I used to get a little stressed because I had so many things that I needed to be reading, but I didn't have near enough time to read them all.  I found myself flying through the books so fast that most of the time I didn't really remember what I read by the time I was finished with the book.

Have you ever read a paragraph, and as soon as you finished reading the paragraph, realized that you had no idea what you just read? Did you reread the paragraph or did you plow on to the next paragraph, hoping that everything will make sense when you finish the book?

I've changed the way I read for self-improvement now.  I follow Chris's method.  I don't necessarily write in the margins or argue with the author, but I read much slower and really try to understand what the author is trying to teach me.

I also find myself rereading a book more than once.  I usually get something different from each reading.  Sometimes it's a minor difference, but some times it's a whole new perspective.

At any rate, I am internalizing the information.

So I am reading fewer books.  But what I am reading is sticking to my soul and changing me in little ways.

And isn't that the point of reading self-improvement books?

-- Roger Cox

Another Easy Tip for Gaining Self-Confidence

Would you like another tip for gaining more self-confidence?

When you go to a meeting, a conference, or church.......where do you sit?

Do you sit in the back, so that you can avoid being noticed?  Or in the middle, so that you can blend in with the rest of the people?  Or....do you sit right up front, in the middle, right in front of the speaker?

Sitting right up front will give you the appearance of being a confident person.  However, I believe that sitting up front habitually will actually help you to develop more confidence.

There is one other advantage to sitting in the front.  In my experience from sitting in church, I find that it is much easier to be distracted when I'm sitting in the back.  I can even zone out and be thinking of other things.  I don't get as much from the meeting if I'm not paying attention to the speaker.

Sitting in the front row, right in front of the speaker, helps me to be more engaged in what the speaker is saying.  It is much easier to stay focused, and I actually learn more than I would if I had be sitting in the back.

I would recommend that you give it a try!  At the very least, other people will subconsciously consider you to be a confident person just because of where you sit in the meeting.

--Roger Cox  

Are You Making Your Dreams Come True? Or Someone Else's?

You probably spend a lot of time making someone else's dreams come true.  Do you ever spend some time making your own dreams come true?

If you are employed by someone and spend a large part of your day working, you are actually spending much of your time helping someone else's dreams come true.  Whoever owns the company is getting their dreams fulfilled by hiring employees to do the work for him.  That would include you as one of the workers.

That is not necessarily bad.

But what about you?  What about your dreams?  Are you also working to make YOUR dreams come true?

Maybe.  Maybe not.

What do you do when you come home from work?  Do you watch a little television or watch a ballgame?  Watching a baseball game on television is very relaxing for me, and I watch a game on a regular basis.

But.......when you are watching ball players or actors, you are still making SOMEONE ELSE'S dreams come true.  They get paid because you are watching the show or the game.

If you are employed, the hours between the time you get home from work and the time you go to bed are your best hours to work toward YOUR dreams.  Spend some of that time working for YOU.

Think about what you want for yourself and think about what you need to do to accomplish your desires.  Break your desires down into small steps that you can do in the time that you have available. And then do it.....consistently!  Use the Slight Edge concept that I talked about in a previous post.

It is a great time to work on personal development.  Read some good books or watch some good self-improvement videos.  If your goals involve working with people, begin working with people during those hours by networking with those who can help you make YOUR dreams come true.

Television is a great way to relax.  But spend some of that time in the evenings working for you.  You deserve it!

--Roger Cox

Residual Income Without Work?

Want to know how you can be sure that you will fail at network marketing?  There are actually a number of ways; but for the purpose of this post, I will concentrate on one.

When you first began network marketing, were you told about residual income?  Residual income is income that continues to come in even after the work that created the income is finished.  Residual income can be compared to the royalties that an author or a songwriter might get.  The song is written once, but the songwriter continues to get paid whenever someone uses his song.

Residual income sounds like a great thing.  And it is!  Don't get me wrong!  But it is dangerous to think that you can get a customer or a recruit and then just sit back and watch the money come pouring in.  Sometimes we get that idea and some times we are even taught it from our upline.  It's an exciting to think that with just a little bit of work, we can get greatly rewarded for an indefinite amount of time.

It doesn't really work that way.

Once you have a customer, treat him like gold.  Cultivate the relationship.  Make sure that you meet his needs.  Then once you are satisfied that you are doing all that you can to nurture that customer, go get another one.  The same principle applies to business recruits.

Don't subscribe to the thought that once someone has signed up with you, your work is done.  Yes, that person might be the one that brings you in considerable income, but circumstances change.  People change.  For whatever reason, that customer may stop buying.  Or that business partner may drop out, or just become inactive.

Continue to build.  Continue marketing both your product and your opportunity.  Keep learning how to do it better.

Even if you have ample residual income coming in, don't stop working.  Because contrary to what you may have been taught, residual income is usually not permanent.

Network marketing is NOT an easy, get-rich-quick plan.  It is not even an easy get-rich-slow plan.  It is a business.  It works in direct correlation to how much and smart you work.  If you don't work, you will not have much residual income.  And if you don't work, what residual income you do have will not last.

Treat your network marketing business AS a business.  You won't be disappointed if you do.

-- Roger Cox

Develop at Least 100 Retail and/or Wholesale Customers

You should make developing 100 customers one of your highest priorities.  While it is nice and exciting to add another distributor in your downline, your personal customers, and the customers of your downline, will be the bread and butter of  your business for several reasons.

It is often easier to find someone who will buy your product than it is to find someone who will commit to creating a business.  Launching a business is a far greater commitment than buying some product.  The thinking in the back of a potential customer's mind is that if he is not satisfied, he can just stop buying the product.

There are some things that you can do to ensure that the customer DOES continue to buy from you, but that is a topic for another day!

If you treat your customers properly, the dropout rate can be much lower than the dropout rate for your partners.  A stable customer base will give your business stability and will give you a solid level from which you can build your business.

A network marketing business should be built on customers.  Customers are what gives the business credibility.  It also makes the governing bodies happy.  One of the field marks of a "pyramid" scheme is the absence of real customers.

And you know what?  Some of those customers that are very happy with your service just might someday become your partners in your downline!

So work to develop 100 loyal retail customers that continue to purchase your product month after month, or wholesale customers who are not currently distributors, and see if that does not make you excited about your business!

- Roger Cox

Do You Want a Slight Edge in Your Network Marketing Business?

Lately I've been thinking about a concept that I learned from the CD "The Slight Edge" by Jeff Olson.  It is a simple concept, but, oh, so powerful!

The Slight Edge is composed of consistency of doing the small things over a long period of time.

Suppose you have an assignment to read a 1,000 page book.  There is no deadline, but you MUST read every page to complete the assignment.  Now, you might look at that book and decide that the task is impossible.  There is no way that you would ever be able to read all 1,000 pages so you don't even begin.

Or you might be really motivated to read the book, and the first day you read 300 pages.  The next day you don't have quite as much time to devote to the task so you read 100 pages.  The next day you don't read at all.  The day after that, 25 pages.  The pattern that follows is one of reading a few pages once in a while with large gaps between days where you read at all.  Eventually, you give up on the assignment.

However, suppose you only read one page the first day.  That is NOT a big step.  But the next day, you read another page. And the day after that, another page.  The pattern is one page a day, consistently, for a long period of time.  You would finish the task in 1000 days.  Approximately 3 years.  It took you a long time to do it, but.......You did it!

For another example, think of your exercise program.  You decide one day that you are going to get in shape because you don't want to die young.

You could go to the gym daily for a few days and spend many hours working out.  Are you in better shape now?  Not if you only do it for a few days.  There isn't much improvement if you give up.

But what if you can only exercise 30 minutes a day?  But you can do it EVERY day?  Or at least quite consistently.  Are you in better shape one day as compared to the previous day?  Not that you can measure.  But what about after a year of exercising 30 minutes a day consistently?  Would you be in better shape compared to where you were a year ago?  Most likely.

What if you miss a day or two of exercise during that year?  Are you going to be healthy one day and then the next day not healthy because you missed a day?  Only if that missed day becomes a pattern over a period of time.  A simple task, like a few minutes of exercise, done consistently over a period of time produces results.

A seemingly impossible task becomes a completed accomplishment if broken down into small, simple steps done consistently over a period of time.

Any application to your network marketing business?  Some people have an amazingly high rate of activity when they start their network marketing business. Then some of them burn out.  When the results don't come in soon enough for them, their activity drops off.  With no activity, there are no results.  Then they quit.

I would rather see a new person apply the Slight Edge concept and contact as little as two people a day, either by phone or email or however they can make the contact.  Two contacts per day equals over 700 people contacted over the space of a year.  That excites me more than a big burst of activity at the beginning and then nothing.

What about you?  Do you agree, or do you think I am off-base?

- Roger Cox

One Way to Gain More Self-confidence

What is holding you back with your network marketing business?  Is it a lack of self-confidence?

I am going to give you one simple suggestion that will help you gain more self-confidence.  It has really worked well for me.

When you are talking with someone, or when you meet someone for the first time?  Where are your eyes?  What are you looking at?  Are you making eye contact?

Making eye contact is a sign of self-confidence.  When your eyes are down, off to the side, or in other ways avoiding making contact with the person you are talking to, they are going to notice and most likely determine that you have little self-confidence.

A leader in the network marketing industry needs to project confidence in himself, or he will struggle with attracting people who would want to join him in his business.

Learning to look people in the eyes need not be a hard thing.  Practice looking at their nose or look just above the eyes until you feel more comfortable with looking directly at their eyes.  Look away occasionally so that it doesn't appear that you are staring at them, but maintain a lot of eye contact.

In time, you will feel more sure of yourself, and perhaps you will see your conversations be more productive!

- Roger Cox