Workable business plan — Keep It Significantly Simple

Sometimes I make things way, way too complicated. I’ve often analyzed, designed and planned exactly what to do, when all I needed was a workable business plan.

I was on a conference call the other night, when I heard network marketing explained in a simple, straightforward way. When it was over, I said to myself, “That’s it. That’s all there is to it.”

Here it is: there are only two parts to the business. (1) Find people. (2) Tell them your story.

Simple, isn’t it? Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s easy. You still have to do those two things, but sometimes we tend to make it too complicated.

Here’s a few tips for each of the two parts.

You can find people in multiple ways. Here’s a few:

• Participate in social networking sites. Don’t try to sell. Just participate. Be friendly. Form relationships. When someone asks you what you do, tell them your story.

• Place ads. You can buy them from newspapers and paid web sites, or you can find free sites that work quite well. When the person responds, tell them your story.

• Flyers. Design your own or go with one from your company or upline. Place them on community bulletin boards or similar places. When people call, tell them your story.

• Internet forums. Find a forum on a subject that interests you. Participate in the discuss. Don’t sell. When people ask what you do, tell them your story.

There are multiple ways to tell your story. Here’s a few suggestions.

• Keep it short. Use the five B’s of a presentation: Be Brief, Brother, Be Brief. Try to limit it to two minutes or less.

• Make sure it’s your story. Your upline or company will have some suggestions, but be sure and personalize it to fit you.

• Memorize it. The key is to know the story so well, that it sounds natural.

Follow this workable business plan and you’re business will grow.

Steve DeVane

Finding the right income opportunity – Five non-negotiables

You know how a lot of people are struggling to make ends meet? Many are looking all over for a way to make extra cash.

Here’s a way to make sure you find the right one for you. Look for these five keys.

• An opportunity that pays you while working part-time but has the potential to allow you to soon leave you current position.

• A system that’s already working for people who are teaching it to others.

• Great products that people want.

• A profession and company that have a strong past and a bright future.

• A company with experienced, dependable leaders.

All five are important. Having less would be like taking a trip and only planning to a fraction of the way toward your destination.

Steve DeVane

The real story — Make it personal

I was on a conference call recently when several people talked about the change that they’ve had in their lives due some nutritional products.

The stories were moving. After several of them, I thought to myself, “I wonder if I should try that product.”

Later on, I was thinking about why the stories were so powerful. It occurred to me that every one of them was personal. The person was sharing from their experience and from their heart.

I know that if someone had rattled off a series of statistics about each of those products, I wouldn’t have been near as compelled to try the products.

In short, a personal story will beat impersonal stats nearly every time.

So, next time you’re talking to someone about your business, your company or your products, make it personal. Tell them how each has made a difference in your life.

Steve DeVane

MLM companies — appearances can be deceiving

Sometimes impressive stuff gives the wrong impression.

Some network marketing companies go out of their way to show prospects plush offices with expensive furniture and corporate jets for well-paid company executives. I suppose the company wants to come off as upscale, a place for the ultra-wealthy.

But instead distributors should realize that money spent for such extravagance is money that could be going into the compensation plan.

In the early days of network marketing, it wasn’t unusual for companies to keep as much as 60 to 70 percent of the profits with the rest going to distributors. Later, companies working hard to attract new distributors made the division nearly equal.

Now some companies have found ways to make their operations even more efficient, passing on as much as 70 percent to the reps.

The end result is that distributors get a bigger slice of the profit pie and have to recruit fewer into their downlines to find success.

In addition, part-time distributors make money faster, increasing retention.

Private jets and lush offices are nice, but it's better if they belong to distributors, not company executives.

Steve DeVane

Celebrity endorsements — You can get paid to promote products

Have you ever seen a celebrity on a television commercial and said, “I wonder how much they’re getting paid for this?”

You can bet it’s a bunch of cash. Perhaps even more than most people will make in a lifetime.

Many companies think this is a great way to advertise their product. They believe that the celebrity’s endorsement will bring enough buyers to more than make up for the money they’re paying.

Now, suppose there was a company that was willing to pay you to promote their products. Good news — there are plenty of them.

That’s what network marketing companies do. They pay their distributors to promote and recommend their products. Instead of paying huge amounts of money to celebrities, MLM companies divide their income with their reps.

More good news — the better a promoter you are, the more you get paid. When you recommend the company’s products to people who use them, the company sends you a check.

Even more good news — nearly all network marketing companies have great products. They have to have good products, because they rely on word-of-mouth advertising. If people don’t like the products, they don’t recommend and promote them.

The key is to find products that people already want and promote them. All you have to do if connect the people and the products.

So next time you see one of those celebrities on television, think about how nice it’d be to get paid for promoting products.

Steve DeVane

Personality types — Learning the tendencies

I’ve always been fascinated with personalities. It’s always been intriguing to me to think about my personality and the personalities of others.

I’ve taken a number of personality tests. I learned something from each of them. And they all came out pretty much the same, when you allow for different terminology.

But I’d never seen anything that helped me learn to quickly identify personalities in other people until a little more than a year ago. Michael Dlouhy, who has since become a good friend and mentor, used colors to describer the four basic personality types.

Using colors makes it easy to remember the personalities, but what makes Michael’s system extraordinary is how he teaches people to identify them. He shows you how, by listening to someone, you can determine with a high degree of certainty the person’s personality type.

Michael’s training has helped me in many ways, most importantly how to better understand why people do the things they do. It’s helped me understand members of my family and improved my communication with other people.

The training has changed my life for the good in ways I can’t even describe.

That’s why I was excited to learn that Michael will be touring the United States and Canada teaching his colors training. His schedule for the rest of this year is below.

I'm offering all readers of my blog a free ticket to any of the events. If you’d like to attend one, e-mail me at stevedevane@gmail.com or call me at 910.978.8452.

Jacksonville, FL
10-24-08

Greenville, SC
10-25-08

Charlotte, NC
10-26-08

Roanoke, VA
10-27-08

Baltimore, MD
10-28-08

Harrisburg, PA
10-29-08

Philadelphia
10-30-08

Ridgewood, NJ
11-1-08

New York City Area
11-2-08

Marlborough, MA
11-3-08

Manchester NH
11-5-08

Moncton, Canada
11-7-08

Montreal, Canada
11-8-08

Toronto, Canada
11-9-08

Cleveland OH
11-12-08

Detroit, MI
11-13-08

Chicago, IL
11-14-08

Milwaukee, WI
11-15-08

Indianapolis, IN
11-16-08

Elizabethtown, KY
11-17-08

Nashville, TN
11-18-08

Memphis, TN
11-19-08

Little Rock, AR
11-20-08

Kansas City, MO
11-21-08

Mineapolis, MN
11-22-08

Fargo, ND
11-23-08

Winnipeg Canada
11-24-08

Sioux Falls, S.D.
11-25-08

Omaha, NB
12-1-08

Tulsa, OK
12-2-08

Boulder, CO
12-3-08

Denver, CO
12-4-08

Dallas, TX
12-5-08

Austin, TX
12-6-08

San Antonio, TX
12-7-08

Houston, TX
12-8-08

Tallahassee, FL
12-10–08

Tampa, FL
12-11-08

St. Petersburg, FL
12-12-08

Ft Myers, FL
12-13-08

Fort Lauderdale, FL
12-14-08

Steve DeVane

Make the right decision — It’s not too late

Isn’t it great when you think you’ve missed an opportunity to do something, and then you realize you haven’t.

And it’s even greater when you understand the bigger meaning behind the realization.

The other night, I went to an awesome concert by Kyle Matthews, a Christian singer and songwriter. I like his singing and piano playing, and I really enjoy his concerts.

You know you’re watching a talented person when it’s just the musician and his instrument.

No blinking lights. No fog machine. No backup singers. Just pure music.

After the concert, I went a table where Kyle’s CDs were on sale. He has a new CD coming out, and for $13 you could get a single and have the full CD mailed to you when its released. That’s what I decided to do.

Four other CDs were on sale, including one which I already have. After I wrote the check for the new CD, someone mentioned that you could get it and the other four for $40.

“Bummer,” I said to myself. “If I would have known that, I would have went for that deal.”

A short while later, I was telling my wife about the CDs as we were fixing to leave for home. “I would have gotten the $40 deal if I would have known about it,” I said.

Then it hit me — I could still do it. So I went back to the table and asked if I could give them $27 and get the other CDs. “Sure,” they said.

And that’s what I did.

Later, it occurred to me that many times, that we often make the same mistake in life and in business. We think it’s too late, when it’s really not.

Sometimes we get the idea that when we make a decision that we’re stuck with it forever and ever. Not necessarily.

So next time, you’re thinking about how you want your life to improve, perhaps you should reconsider your options. Chances are you have the capacity to make things better. Just make the decision and do it.

Steve DeVane