How busyness can hurt your business

I’ve been thinking today about how my busyness seems to get in the way of my business.

Sometimes I just think I have so many things to do that I don’t get anything done. I was reminded of this watching a clip from one of the morning TV shows this morning. It focused on traffic and included a section comparing how efficiently ants got around to traffic jams on major highways.

The ants it turned out, get around much better even though there are a lot more of them than there are cars in the traffic jam.

Later, I thought about how my life sometimes seems like the traffic jam. All the things I want or need to do are stacked up behind each other.

As I pondered what to do about it, it occurred to me that I need to set priorities and do the most important things first. I also need to set aside a certain amount of time for each area of my life.

I have a feeling that getting my priorities in order and honoring a time schedule will help me stay on the fast lane to success.

Steve DeVane

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

Speak up for your profession and products

The other day, my daughter called me on the phone to complain about the cost of ice cream. She and her friend had been to a nearby ice cream shop. Each had ordered a scoop of ice cream.

When they got ready to pay, the cashier told my daughter it would be $8.03. I told her that maybe it was just an expensive place to buy ice cream. She said it wasn’t that expensive because a sign said that each scoop of ice cream was $2.

I asked her why she didn’t mention that to the cashier.

She said she didn’t want to.

I told her she had to learn to speak up in those circumstances.

She protested a little, but I think she understood.

Later, it occurred to me that network marketers often face similar tests in their business. Occasionally, you’ll be talking with someone and they’ll say something about being in a financial crunch. Or someone will tell you about a challenge they face that one of your company’s products would help.

Many network marketers make one of two mistakes in those circumstances: they come on too strong or they clam up and don’t say anything.

Putting a sales squeeze on people never a good idea. Good networkers learn to present their opportunity or products in a non-threatening manner.

In order for people to know about the wonderful profession of network marketing and its many amazing companies if you have to learn to speak up.

Steve DeVane