How to join the 1%

According to Networking Times magazine, there were 103 million people involved in network marketing worldwide in 2015, although only about 20 million were from the U.S. Since the population here in the States was about 326 million in 2015, that means that about 1 in 16 Americans were involved in network marketing 2 years ago. I don't have current numbers.

With 2015 global sales at $183 billion dollars and U.S. sales at $36 billion, network marketing is a huge industry!

How much do top earners make?  As of January 2017 the top earner made $2,100,000 per MONTH in 2016. The 200th made $1,440,000 per year...which isn't too bad. Jordan Adler, the top earner in SendOutCards, was number 126 on the list with an annual income of $1,800,000 per year. The median income of those 200 top earners is $2,100,000 per year. But 200 out of 103 million is only about two ten-thousandths of 1%. So, how much does the top 1% make? I don't know. I haven't found any definitive answers...but probably not very much...so it's easy to get into the top 1%.

Here's a perspective by Richard Bliss Brooke on why so many people fail at network marketing:

I am often asked by distributors, "What does the average distributor earn?" The answer sets them back a bit. "Nothing." The average distributor earns nothing, invests virtually nothing, learns nothing, practices nothing, risks nothing, and does nothing … all the while expecting to make it big like the company's video suggested. Network Marketing is not an opportunity for someone of average ambition, average courage, average confidence, or an average work ethic. Malmart is.

Be sure to read Richard's advice on how you can succeed at being in the top 1% (or better)!

Interesting days

Today - Ecological Debt Day, Tell A Joke Day, Rum Day, Wave At The Surveillance Cameras Day, World Bratwurst Day, Airborne Day and Rollercoaster Day

Tomorrow - Vanilla Custard Day, Get Smart About Credit Day, Thrift Shop Day and Black Cat Appreciation Day

Next Wednesday - Ride the Wind Day, Cuban Sandwich Day, Sponge Cake Day and Valentino Day

September 16 - International Red Panda Day, International Eat An Apple Day, World Ozone Day, Coastal Cleanup Day, International Read An Ebook Day, Stepfamily Day, Collect Rocks Day, Play Doh Day, Working Parents Day, Gymnastics Day and Guacamole Day Do you have a favorite guacamole recipe? Share it!

Because there just isn't enough chemistry humor in the world!

Happy #RelaxationDay

Today is a day we can get all behind celebrating!

This post is based on an email I got from Dr. Michael Breus:

In the email, Dr. Breus talks about educating people on National Relaxation Day and he shared these statistics:

According to the survey out by Wakefield research:   

• 49% of Americans are getting less sleep than they need, this is a little less than the 57% that we saw in 2015
• 51% of moms get less sleep than they need, compared to 29% of dads
• 47% of caffeine consuming Americans admit to drinking caffeine at 2pm or later
• 53% of those over 21 report that they have had alcohol within 3 hours of bedtime
• this breaks down to 61% of men and 47% of women surveyed
• 68% of Millennials, 61% of Xers, and only 38% of baby boomers imbibe before bed
• 67% of Americans report that today’s political climate has made it harder for them to relax

He also talks about something called a “Napercise" class in the UK!

I've discussed some ways to relax in previous posts:

• Breathing
• Sleeping 
• Stress

I've kinda gotten away from implementing these but I'm starting to get back into them.

So, sleep in late, have a leisurely breakfast, stretch out in the hammock for an afternoon nap, and just take it easy all day. But if you're not able to do that today, then look at the previous blog posts linked to above and see if you can find a way to fit at least a little relaxation into your day!

Interesting days

Today - Relaxation Day, Lemon Meringue Pie Day, Acadian Day and Check The Chip Day

Tomorrow - Ecological Debt Day, Tell A Joke Day, Rum Day, Wave At The Surveillance Cameras Day, World Bratwurst Day, Airborne Day and Rollercoaster Day

Next Tuesday - Eat A Peach Day, Take Your Cat to the Vet Day, Pecan Torte Day and Be An Angel Day

September 15 - Tradesmen Day, Make A Hat Day, Hug Your Boss Day, Concussion Awareness Day, International Dot Day, Greenpeace Day, International Grenache Day, Double Cheeseburger Day, Felt Hat Day and Cheese Toast Day Sizzler has a countdown timer on their website that's counting down to Free Cheese Toast Day. They also have some contests that you can enter there. Or you can just make your own!

Save yourself time, energy, and money

You can save money. You can even save energy. But you can't save time. There isn't a bank where you can deposit unused hours. Wouldn't it be nice if you knew you weren't going to use an hour to be able to save it for another time when you'll need an extra hour? But once a moment is gone, it's gone forever.

Time efficiency vs time effectiveness

Well then, what can we do to make better use of the time that we do have? One thing we can do is use our time more efficiently. We've all heard about the efficiency experts and the systems we have to maximize our hours by minimizing the "wasted" time in our days. After all, Stephen Covey said in "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" to be effective with people and efficient with things. And time is a thing.

But is efficiency the best way to deal with time? After all, what if you can get 8 hours worth of work down to only 5 minutes. What would you do with the remaining 7 hours and 55 minutes?

It's more efficient to be effective with our time. To make the best use of our time. But what does "best use" mean? I think it means that we need to prioritize what we want and need to accomplish in a day and then decide when we're going to work on those things. But people can't work non-stop without taking breaks to stretch our legs, give our minds a break, or even to talk to someone else...even if it's not related to what we're working on. Our brains often work best when the things we're working on are relegated to our subconscious for awhile. We'll often find that the thing we were working on is now much clearer after we take a break from it. Often the most effective use of our time is to waste it.

But that doesn't mean that we don't need to worry about time efficiency. We still only have 24 hours in a day to accomplish all the things that we need and want to accomplish, so we can't waste too much of our time. Like I said above...you need to prioritize what you want to accomplish and then to do what you can to accomplish those things. But don't feel bad if you find yourself wasting some time. Just don't waste too much of it or you won't be able to accomplish your goals.

Interesting days

Today - Afternoon Tea Week, Creamsicle Day and Social Security Day

Tomorrow - Relaxation Day, Lemon Meringue Pie Day, Acadian Day and Check The Chip Day

Next Monday - Spumoni Day, Poet's Day and Older Peoples Day

September 14 - Today will be a busy day food wise: Cream Filled Doughnut Day, Eat a Hoagie Day and Gobstopper Day

Your weekend guide to interesting days

This week

Sunday - Farmworker Appreciation Day, Wiggle Your Toes Day, Root Beer Float Day, Fresh Breath Day, Psychic Day, Sisters' Day, Friendship Day, International Sailor Moon Day and Doll Day

Monday - Lighthouse Day, Professional Speakers Day and Particularly Preposterous Packaging Day

Tuesday - Scottish Wildcat Day, Bowling Day, International Cat Day, Happiness Happens Day and Odie Day

Wednesday - Melon Day, Rice Pudding Day and Book Lovers Day

Thursday - S'mores Day, Skyscraper Appreciation Day, World Lion Day, Duran Duran Appreciation Day and Lazy Day

Yesterday - Play In The Sand Day, Son and Daughter Day and Ingersoll Day

Today - International Youth Day, Vinyl Record Day, World Elephant Day, Garage Sale Day and Middle Child's Day

Next week

Tomorrow -  International Lefthanders Day and Filet Mignon Day

Monday - Afternoon Tea Week, Creamsicle Day and Social Security Day

Tuesday - Relaxation Day, Lemon Meringue Pie Day, Acadian Day and Check The Chip Day

Wednesday - Ecological Debt Day, Tell A Joke Day, Rum Day, Wave At The Surveillance Cameras Day, World Bratwurst Day, Airborne Day and Rollercoaster Day

Thursday - Vanilla Custard Day, Get Smart About Credit Day, Thrift Shop Day and Black Cat Appreciation Day

Friday - Serendipity Day, Pinot Noir Day, Mail Order Catalog Day, Bad Poetry Day and Men's Grooming Day

Saturday - International Geocaching Day, International Homeless Animals Day, International Orangutan Day, International Bow Day, Break The Monotony Day, Photography Day, Potato Day, World Honey Bee Day, Aviation Day and Humanitarian Day

Next month

September 6 - Fight Procrastination Day and Read a Book Day

September 7 - Superhuman Day, Salami Day, Beer Lover's Day and Buy a Book Day

September 8 - Iguana Awareness Day, Actors' Day, Pardon Day, Star Trek Day, Literacy Day and  World Physical Therapy Day

September 9 - Wonderful Weirdos Day and Teddy Bear Day

September 10 - Swap Ideas Day, Hug Your Hound Day, TV Dinner Day, Grandparent's Day and World Suicide Prevention Day

September 11 - Boss/Employee Exchange Day, Hot Cross Bun Day, No News is Good News Day, Patriot Day and Make Your Bed Day

September 12 - Chocolate Milkshake Day and Video Games Day

The Friday Fishwrap

All the news that's fit to wrap around a dead fish

The week in review

Monday - "The end of an era" No more "Funday Sunnies" on Sundays. "I'm going to post 6 days a week most weeks except I will do a monthly wrap-up on the last Sunday of the month which will contain links to the 4 (or 5) Friday Fishwraps of the month and what each one contained."

Tuesday - "A Revolution in Real Estate Sales!" All about the SendOutCards Super Saturday event coming up tomorrow. "Jim won't be joining us live since he'll be in the Washington DC area on Saturday, but he's kindly consented to letting us use the video of an event that he did in San Diego."

Wednesday - "Networking the Network" How to use networking groups effectively. "The more value that you add to your network, the more value your network will add to you."

Thursday - "The 7 Secrets to Effective Follow Up - Secret #5 #TBT" Follow up statistics. "So, half the sales people are fighting over the same 2% of the marketplace while only 10% of the sales people are reaching a whopping 90% of the marketplace."

Interesting days

Today - Play In The Sand Day, Son and Daughter Day and Ingersoll Day

Tomorrow - International Youth Day, Vinyl Record Day, World Elephant Day, Garage Sale Day and Middle Child's Day

Next Friday - Serendipity Day, Pinot Noir Day, Mail Order Catalog Day, Bad Poetry Day and Men's Grooming Day

September 11 - Boss/Employee Exchange Day, Hot Cross Bun Day, No News is Good News Day, Patriot Day and Make Your Bed Day

The 7 Secrets to Effective Follow Up - Secret #5 #TBT

This time last year we were getting ready for Jay McHugh to come to the Bay Area and speak to realtors about using SendOutCards. And leading up to that I was running a series of Facebook posts that Mary Swarts had created when Jay had come to Fresno a few months before. Coming up this Saturday, we'll be hearing from another realtor, Jim McCord. But don't worry...we'll be hearing from Jay again in another month!

These statistics are critical to understanding why you may not be seeing the results in your business the way you'd like. Truth time...what are your stats? You don't have to share them here, but it may open your eyes and help you move past your fear/reluctance of following up with your prospects.

What is it worth to you to increase your business by 80%? Is your "why" big enough to reach for this? Do you want to pay off debt? Do you want to save for your children's college fund? Do you want to take your dream vacation, not just once in your lifetime, but whenever, and wherever you want? How hungry are you? How big is your belief that what you represent is the answer to a problem for someone? It is no coincidence that the word "Sales" = "Service" if you reprogram your thoughts that you are not "selling" you are "serving" each person you follow up with then you will be able to increase your reach. 

We can help you reduce the number of follow up touches and increase your likelihood of growing your business & customer base.

48% of sales people never follow up with a prospect
25% of sales people make a second contact and stop
12% of sales people only make three contacts and stop
Only 10% of sales people make more than three contacts

But:

2% of sales are made on the first contact
3% of sales are made on the second contact
5% of sales are made on the third contact
10% of sales are made on the fourth contact
80% of sales are made on the fifth through twelfth contact

So, half the sales people are fighting over the same 2% of the marketplace while only 10% of the sales people are reaching a whopping 90% of the marketplace.

Interesting days

Today - Skyscraper Appreciation Day, Duran Duran Appreciation Day, Lazy Day, S'mores Day and World Lion Day

Tomorrow - Son and Daughter Day, Ingersoll Day and Play In The Sand Day

Next Thursday - Vanilla Custard Day, Get Smart About Credit Day, Thrift Shop Day and Black Cat Appreciation Day

September 10 - Swap Ideas Day, Hug Your Hound Day, TV Dinner Day, Grandparent's Day and World Suicide Prevention Day

Networking the Network

Today's post is based on two SendOutCards calls on Monday by two members of my upline...Mark Herdering and Jordan Adler. Even though these are SOC calls, the information on both are applicable to anyone in business...especially if you do any networking.

Both Mark and Jordan talk about BNI - Business Network International. If you've done any networking, then I'm sure you've heard of BNI. Mark and Jordan have both belonged to BNI, and Mark is actually in the process of starting a new BNI chapter up in Portland. And Jordan has Nate & Kelley Dominguez, Executive Directors of BNI in Arizona as guests on his Zoom video conference. I'm not a member of BNI, although I've been a guest at several chapters.

The subject of both calls are how to make yourself more valuable to your network and how to network through your network...not to your network. I've talked about this before.

How do you make yourself more valuable to your network? There are several ways but probably the most powerful is by referring business to members of your network, either directly or by sharing their posts on Facebook, if they're on Facebook. Or tagging them in your own FB posts. The more value that you add to your network, the more value your network will add to you.

Take an hour out of your day and listen to Mark's call and watch Jordan's Zoom conference and find out how you can use networking to build your business.

Interesting days

Today - Melon Day, Rice Pudding Day and Book Lovers Day

Tomorrow - S'mores Day, Skyscraper Appreciation Day, Duran Duran Appreciation Day, Lazy Day and World Lion Day

Next Wednesday - Ecological Debt Day, Tell A Joke Day, Rum Day, Wave At The Surveillance Cameras Day, World Bratwurst Day, Airborne Day and Rollercoaster Day

September 9 - Wonderful Weirdos Day and Teddy Bear Day