Monday, April 27, 2009

Susan Boyle | Cynicism | Network Marketing

Like most people, we know that Susan Boyle is a worldwide household name, except of course those in countries or parts thereof where there is no power, let alone luxury items like a TV! When you search the web with my heading to my blog, there are over 7.7 million returns on articles about Susan Boyle, Network Marketing, making money online, Tourism...tourism, what the...! I rest my case, you really need not wonder at my cynicism and why I think, Susan Boyle, Network Marketing and Cynicism go hand in hand in some form or other.

Most articles, blogs etc are all about the positives, some are in the 'I'm over it' stage, lots are 'how you too can be a star' like Susan, but in your business. Don't get me wrong, I was moved by this women's down to earth, somewhat naive and genuine attitude about herself. Then of course she sang...
Now we also have Shaheen Jafargholi, 12 and Holly Steel, 10 who also have taken Britain's Got Talent by storm. I do like the fact that people who perhaps would normally struggle to get 'talent hunted' have an opportunity with these talent shows to get noticed, then forge a career for themselves in the music industry.

We must not forget Susan's quick move into fame through a 'talent contest', is not yet over, she still has more hurdles to jump, lshe has yet to make it past the next round - now her fate lies with the British public, the voting panel (this should be a no brainer, Simon thinks she's lovely, although she's frumpy) and lest we forget the competition of other would be stars, namely Shaheen Jafargholi and Holly Steel just to name two. Part of me hopes she does, but what will the real outcome be for this women? Will she cope with the fame? Will she cope with the makeover - that has to come, does it not?

Remember the builder come opera singer winner of last years Britain's Got Talent. Lovely fellow - awful teeth! He's since had extensive dental work done, wears better clothing, travels the world with his wife. Performs on world stages. He is a completely different man. He appears to have coped well with it all, but will Susan Doyle?

So what has this got to do with network marketing? 7.7+ million reasons and I've decided that I'm no different to the other bloggers, MLMers \ Network Marketers and anyone else that is using this bandwagon to help brand themselves. Here I am blogging along with the 7.7+ million others, being whisked along on the coat tails of this women's overnight success, with what appears to be a good title, match up my keywords and maybe I'll have winner, whereby people who read my article may leave a comment, positive or negative, Google doesn't really care about that, its the back links and networking spiders that 'we' and Google are interested in.

Why cynical? Do I really need to elaborate, look at us all using this platform to gain some traction for our own ends. I'm not necessarily against this process, the internet is a good vehicle for taking us into 'famedom', should we be clever enough. I am more concerned that some of us forget to maintain good business ethos, that we don't succumb and lose oursleves in the mele of what perceived riches could come our way with Google traffic, backlinks etc, people tripping themselves up in droves to dive head first into our sales funnels...well a bit extreme, but it sounds good, yes?

I take pride in myself that I am honest, have the upmost of integretity, I am building trust online, I focus my energy on building relationships. Network Marketing, like Britian's Got Talent, America's Got Talent, Australia's Got Talent...is a people industry. How else would the likes of Susan Boyle, a spinster from Scotland, touch not only Britain's but the hearts of people worldwide.

Our purpose for being here in this industry should be because - we like building relationships with people and realise the vechicle for doing this is through branding - whether it be like Susan, Shaheen, Holly or in our own way online.

I don't know about you, but I am a real person, doing real things, going about an honest days work, earning an honest dollar to pay our bills and advance my family just one step closer towards financial freedom.

Live your Dreams, Enjoy your Life
Julie McClelland

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Success in Network Marketing | Leap of Faith

Background story first, then I’ll explain my quick analogy with Multiple Sclerosis and Success in Network Marketing.


Saturday, 11 April 2009 – Good Samaritan Day! I was out doing our regular weekend shop at the local fruit and vegetable markets – Rusty’s Markets, based here in Cairns’ CBD, on the Great Barrier Reef (sounds idyllic – it is, you’ll just have to trust me on this!).


Drew, 17, came with me – his favourite pass time doing the veg n fruit shop…not!! We completed our rounds and he reminded me that we needed to go to the second hand book store just up the road in Lake Street. We purchased some great comics for Drew and Rich Dad Poor Dad – for me to get more inspirational thoughts on wealth creation…


On our way back we stopped to get our usual home made muffin and fruit smoothies. The lady that owns this business loves Drew – Drew is profoundly deaf, Drew and I sign about what we want, I know she finds it fascinating like lots of others – great benefit for us - he gets ‘free’ banana n choc chip’ muffin and a large drink, I only pay for 2 small drinks and 1 muffin – hence why we be repeat customers – perfect!


As we were organising ourselves to sit and eat our fare, this woman bumped into me, I turned round, she apologised – she was in a wheel chair, not just any chair a motorised one that she drove with her chin, oxygen on board, shopping the lot. I discovered afterwards that she did this deliberately; I sat down, she was right in my line of vision, she hadn’t actually moved at all, I smiled at her as you do – I scanned the area looking to see if someone was with her. This was when she asked me a favour. She needed to eat, drink and take her medication. So for the next half hour we chatted attended to her needs. Turns out she has Multiple Sclerosis, incredibly debilitating, no family living locally – she has to place her trust and judgement of face value looking - in strangers’ hands – literally!


She has help come in from 8pm at night till 8am. They get her up at 5.30am so they can leave on time. During the day she fends for herself. She ‘imposes’ herself on the likes of me – what else can she do. She has to TRUST in human nature – I suppose initially people will take ‘pity’ and help, not take advantage. This woman doesn’t need pity, she just needs people that understand and won’t / don’t have an issue helping. I had no problem with this at all, in fact I felt honoured to have been of service.


She thanked me and drove off. The first thing Drew said to me was “how sad”, “lady has no arms, legs – stuck in chair all day”. He became concerned about where she had gone and what she would do. We discussed how lucky he was to be ‘just deaf’. Now there are a lot of people that would think differently, but neither Drew, nor his family do.


Now, Network Marketing and Multiple Sclerosis the co-relation is easy from the point of view that network marketers have to learn to TRUST too. It’s very hard when you have been ripped off, signed up for things that haven’t lived up to their advertised expectations. In some cases, there are networkers that have lost thousands of dollars, for nothing in return. Somewhere along the line if you have done your due diligence, perhaps have started to get know someone, albeit through reading their profile on Facebook, Blogger, Twitter wherever; you have to take that leap of faith, TRUST that this person will help you.


Of course once that leap of faith has been taken, most Mentors and Coaches require from you in return your commitment to;

  • Listen and learn; therefore be coachable
  • Participate in their training program – not try to, but do
  • Want Success deep down inside and know that you deserve success
  • Want financial freedom for yourselves and for others

When you commit to this then your door will open to the people that you need in your life that will help you and others become the Network Marketing Success that you are entitled too.


Imagine if you had to live your life like this woman for the rest of your lives, TRUSTING someone on the internet that may well become a good friend doesn’t really seem to be such a leap of faith to me anymore after today.


To your Success

Julie McClelland




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Thursday, April 9, 2009

Network Marketing | Atlantic Edge

Network Marketing and the Atlantic Edge - Fargoes, are related how?

It’s Good Friday, 10 April 2009, raining here in the Tropics of Australia, Cairns on the Great Barrier Reef. My teenage boys have commandeered the computers – as they do – my darling husband is playing computer games on his, so I resorted to my much loved job of IRONING.

To make the time pass quicker I turned on the telly, watched this great half hour programme Atlantic Edge - Faroes, a documentary about Adam Nicolson, who sails the west coast of the British Isles from the Isles of Scilly through the Hebrides and beyond Orkney.

So, how does this relate to Network Marketing? Quite easily actually, Adam mortgaged his house, bought his sailboat The AUK and headed to sea, searching the why and to understand how the people of these inhospitable places survived. Adam had no sea / sailor experience, but like the likes of Henry Ford before him, he employed an experienced man, to sail his boat and to teach him how to sail his boat until he was proficient enough to skipper on his own, his experienced captain then became his crew / mentor in case he needed him.


Network Marketing is the same. Many people spend thousands on purchasing join up fees, advertising, monthly memberships, website fees etc, like Adam they don’t have any experience; they are hoping their upline Coach/Mentor will help, teach and train them. Unfortunately, there are a huge number of companies that once they have your money they want nothing more to do with you, or they just don’t have the training available within their system to help you in the way you need.

To do well in this industry you need to align yourself with a team of people that will coach, mentor and teach you, so you can learn the ‘ropes’ of marketing, advertising, branding yourself and teaching/coaching/mentoring you so that you can steer yourself through this ‘ocean’ until such time that you can skipper your own craft.

Adam, with no experience went out and did this. He had lots of pitfalls on the way – the most exhausting and awful for him was combating sea sickness. Network Marketing is the same – there are a few pitfalls to negotiate;
  1. Are you going to be a part-time networker? If so, how will you be paid?
  2. On-going support and training from beginning through to success and beyond?
  3. What are you marketing? Is it reasonably priced? Are you sure it's not a scam or pryamid scheme?
  4. Company management – do they have personal experience building their networking organisation and have they done it with Integrity?
  5. Have they passed the "early failure" Time Line, are they still growing and are the company's Products timed with the beginning of a massive trend of consumer demand?
I would recommend that prospective network marketers and current frustrated networkers develop a 'network marketing edge' and consider this to be part of your ‘due diligence’, before signing along the dotted line of the company’s agreement and handing over your credit card.

I'm here to help
Julie McClelland


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Saturday, April 4, 2009

Specialised Knowledge | Personal Experiences or Observations

Specialised Knowledge | Personal Experiences or Observations

The fourth step toward riches. Napoleon Hill; “There are two kinds of knowledge. One is general, the other specialised. General knowledge, no matter how great in quantity or variety it may be, is of but little use in the accumulation of money. Knowledge will not attract money, unless it is organised, and intelligently directed, through practical plans of action, to a definite end.”

So how does this affect us today in how we operate our businesses and go about our general lives?

For many of us here online, we are looking and working towards making a living on the internet. Most of us are in Network marketing/MLM, affiliate companies now as I write, some veterans, some brand new.

Napoleon wants us to understand that even though we are in business, our business is to make money; we don’t have to know all about the ins and outs of our business. Another way of putting it could be; Work on your business, not in your business.

For me this is the acknowledgement of not having to ‘know it all’, it is ok to say, “I don’t know – but I can find out for you”. By acknowledging first to ourselves, then to others, it makes what we do duplicatable, therefore as we build our businesses we are making it easier on ourselves because we are not giving a false picture.

Henry Ford had it so right, we need to take notice! The world then, before then, after then, today and the future find it hard to tolerate the ‘know it all’s’ of the world. We all know these people, we attend parties at friends, functions, business meetings where there’s usually at least one where we all groan ‘not him/her’ because whenever a topic of conversation is raised, any subject from the state of the nation to nuclear wars to the weather to giving birth, they know it all, they always have a story to tell about it, they have friends of friends – none of it is ever personalised to them.

Education in life is about applying our specialised knowledge appropriately. To work in a business, whether it is network marketing or in paid employment, the specialised knowledge we need apply; ‘I don’t know’ the answer, but I will find out.

We are always in situations that are new; new job, new business therefore it’s totally understandable that we won’t know the ‘lay of the land’. Our new company sells a multitude of pills, potions and lotions, we use our education by acknowledging we can’t possibly know about all the products the company has available for sale; by applying this knowledge in practice, business colleagues that have been in the company for years are very knowledgeable, will want to share their knowledge and will respect you for not being that ‘know it all’.

Being part of a Mastermind group, joining your team business weekly meetings, is a great place to start applying your knowledge, personal experiences and observations. Remember, all who are take part are well educated people, just like Henry Ford, all come from different walks of life, some we can relate to, some will be chalk and cheese, but it is turning and using the aray educated specialised knowledge of degrees, certificates, trades, life experiences and observations, age, maturity etc to all of our advantages – it makes us all so much more knowledgeable.

Napoleon’s last paragraph challenges us to have our “IDEA – specialised knowledge may be found just around the corner – any corner” – our mastermind group is part of my ‘specialised knowledge’.


Thank you again
Julie McClelland


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