Stand for something. Then walk toward it!

This year, I'll be participating in a very special event called the Breast Cancer 3-Day.
I'll walk 60 miles over the course of three days with thousands of other women and men. The net proceeds will support breast cancer research, education, screening and treatment through Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund.
I've agreed to raise at least $2300 in donations. I know I can raise even more than that, and have set my personal goal at $3000. So I need your help. Would you please consider making a donation? Keep in mind how far I'm walking - and how hard I'll have to train. You can Donate Now by just clicking on this widget.

According to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, more than 200,000 American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, and nearly 40,000 will die from the disease. That’s why I’m walking so far. To do something bold about breast cancer. I hope that you'll share this incredible adventure with me by supporting me in my fundraising efforts.
Thank you in advance for your generosity!

Get your FREE Gmail stickers today!

Gmail is offering anyone and everyone a FREE Gmail m-velope sticker pack! Visit their blog now to learn how you can get your hands on a set of these!
Official Gmail Blog: Get your Gmail stickers

Free Starbucks Coffee to ALL Voters!

Just a reminder to everyone that today is Election Day! Get out there and Vote if you haven't already! I Did!
Also did you know that several businesses are offering FREE perks to those wearing an "I Voted" sticker? Now, there’s no excuse not to vote!
Big businesses like Starbucks (coffee), Ben & Jerry’s (ice cream), and Krispy Kreme (star-shaped doughnuts with red, white and blue sprinkles) are handing out tasty treats!
Will you take advantage of the freebies?

A Sizzling Hot Referral System

How would you like to...

1. Position yourself as "THE" go-to expert for your industry?

2. Get prospects to call, beg and cry out for your product or service?

3. Become a local superstar celebrity?

4. Get all the referrals you can handle?

If any of these things sound good to you then you'll love this referral system. It's based on the principle of "Education-Based Referral Marketing."

Have you ever heard the term, "People don't like to be sold, but they love to buy." The reason that people don't like to be sold is because they like to feel as though they made their own buying decision based on logical benefits rather than being "manipulated" into
making a decision.

That's why Education-Based Referral Marketing is so effective.

NOTE: This POST is pretty long, but it's worth every second of your time to read it!

______________________________________________

What is Education-Based Referral Marketing?
______________________________________________


Education-Based Referral Marketing is exactly what it says it is...it's a method of referral marketing that uses educational tools to help spread the word about your products or services.

When I use the term, "educational tools" I'm talking about information products such as audio CD's, DVD's, special reports, white papers, online videos, email
courses etc.

Once you have these tools developed, you simply ask your referral sources to give them away to their friends and business associates.

For instance, one of the ways that AOL exploded their membership is by having their referral partners give away free trial CD's. Every time I walked into the U.S. Post Office I saw a stack of AOL CD's being given away.

I also saw the AOL CD's in local computer stores, cell phone retail outlets, and even grocery chain stores. Millions of people were introduced to AOL through their CD giveaways at their referral source's place of business.

_________________________________________________________

Why Education-Based Referral Marketing Works Like Crazy!
_________________________________________________________


There are few other referral systems more powerful than a well executed Education-Based Referral Marketing program. Here's why...

1. Educating your prospect, allows you to introduce your products and services with the dignity and respect that you deserve.

2. Your educational message will attract the "right" prospects that you're looking for as opposed to selling-based messages that naturally repel people.

3. Because you're providing a valuable educational experience, people will naturally be attracted to you rather than you having to run after them.

4. Because your referral tool contains a valuable and useful educational message, your referral partners will feel proud to give it to their close friends and associates.

5. Referral tools like audio CD's and DVD's make it easy for your referral partners to spread the word for you because they are easy to distribute and they inherently have a value attached to them.

6. You easily track where you referrals came from by attaching unique ID codes to your referral tools.

7. Finally, and this is a huge benefit), instead of giving referral fees to your referral partners for a referral that turns into a successful sale, you can compensate referral partners for each referral tool that they give away.

In this way, your referral partner gets a direct reward for their immediate efforts, rather than hoping that their referral turns into a sale so that they can get their referral fee.

NOTE: You'll get 10 times more referrals by rewarding people for giving out your audio CD than waiting to reward someone for a referral that turns into a sale.

_______________________________________________________

What Is the Best Type of Education-Based Referral Tool
_______________________________________________________


You might be wondering, "Which is the best education-based referral tool? An audio CD, a DVD, a special report, a teleseminar, a webinar or an email course?"

The answer is, "It depends."

However, my favorite referral tool is an audio CD because is can easily be listened to in a car while driving to and from work and it allows people to hear your voice as if you were there, in the car, talking to them.

In addition, there is a high perceived value that people attach to audio CD's.

If you go to your local bookstore you'll find that audio books are more expensive than regular books, even though an audio CD is often cheaper to produce than a
book.

__________________________________________________

How to Create Your Own Audio CD Referral Tool
__________________________________________________


You might be thinking that it's too complex to create your own audio CD, but it's not. Here's a simple, step-by-step method to create your own highly effective audio program.

Step 1:
________

Think about who your best prospects for your products and services are and then identify their top 3 problems.

For example, a restaurant owner might struggle with (1)high employee turnover, (2)employee training, and (3)getting customers to return.

Step 2:
________

Create a 10 - 20 page report that (a)introduces who you are and why people should believe
you, (b)what the top 3 problems are, why they are so damaging, and how you solve them, and (c)make them an offer they can't refuse and let them know what the "next step" is to take advantage of your offer.

Step 3:
________

Download the "Audacity Audio Editor" software from the internet. It's will cost you nothing. Just go to Google.com and type in "Audacity Audio Editor."

Step 4:
________

Buy a computer microphone. You can get a cheap one at your local Radio Shack or computer store.

Step 5:
________

Read your report into your microphone and record it using Audacity. (You can automatically put professional music on the beginning and end of the recording using www.FrontandBackMusic.com)

Step 6:
________

Upload your audio file to www.Kunaki.com. Kunaki is a production and fulfillment company.

Kunaki will allow you to create a full color CD cover, print the CD and ship it for you. It will even take your orders for your CD using THEIR merchant account. (and it's extremely inexpensive!)

___________________________________________________

How to Get People to Give Your Referral Tool Away
___________________________________________________


It's not enough to create a great education-based referral tool. In fact, your referral tool is only as good as the amount of people that you can get to listen to it.

Your education-based referral tool is your automatic salesperson. It has the power to deliver your very best educational sales presentation each and every time it is played.

And the best part about it is, you don't even have to be there!

So the more people you get to listen to it, the more sales you can make.

With that in mind, here are some unique ideas to get your referral tool distributed to lots of people.

Idea #1
__________

Get your referral partners to give it away.

To do this you simply place your audio CD's in a CD holder that you can buy at www.displays2go.com.

Then you just go out and ask all the people that you do business with if you can display your CD's in their office or retail location.

This reminds me how AOL became so huge a few years back. You see, AOL created a start up CD that it used to introduce people to their internet service.

Everywhere you went, you saw the AOL CD being offered for free by referral partners.

The local post office. The local grocery store. The local print shop. Everywhere you went, there was an AOL CD offering a free trial.

Idea #2
__________

Ask your referral partners to display a link on their websites to the order page for your audio program .

Or you can pay complimentary websites to give away your audio CD on their websites.

Idea #3
__________

Ask your referral partners that ship products in boxes if you can insert your audio program into their packages as a ride-a-long.

This is similar to an "insert program." You can pay companies that sell complimentary products to insert your CD into their packages. Popular insert managers are www.Millard.com or www.StantonDirect.com

Idea #4
__________

Print a bunch of CD's and take them to your next networking meeting and give each person three CD's to give away to their friends.

Idea #5
__________

Hold a customer appreciation event and send attendees off with several CD's per person to give away to people (or simply send each customer a packet of 5 CDs to give away.)

Idea #7
__________

Pay the sponsors of meetings where your best prospects gather for each audio CD that they give away to their attendees.

Idea #8
__________

Offer your audio CD to others businesses as a bonus that they can give away to increase their own product offer.

For example, I have a friend who create a video titled, "How to Get $1 Million in Free Publicity." He allowed anyone to order that video at his cost from his duplicator in a minimum quantity of 20 units and then give them away as a bonus when someone purchased their product.

These are just a few ways to get your referral tool distributed to a wide audience using joint ventures and referral relationships.

____________________________________________________

How to Implement a Fully Automated Education-Based Marketing Program
____________________________________________________


How would you like to implement an Education-Based Marketing program that is fully automated and generates a flood of incoming calls from extremely highly qualified prospects that are ready to do business with you?

Here's how you do it...

Step 1:
________

Sign up with www.PoweredByCards.com

Step 2:
________

Make a "hit list" of your best prospects who you want to target for your product or service.

Create a group in PoweredByCards.com called "hit list" and upload your list of contacts into your hit list group.

Step 3:
________

Create a few greeting cards that offer your audio CD to people through a website or phone number.

Here are a couple of great examples of cards that offer audio CDs that you can emulate...

Example # 1: CLICK HERE

Example # 2: CLICK HERE

Step 4:
________

Create a campaign in PoweredByCards.com using the greeting cards you just developed.

Step 5:
________

It's time to send your card to each of the people on your hit list. Simply attach your campaign to your hit list group and press the "send" button.

Step 6:
________

Sit back and enjoy the phone calls that will start coming in from highly qualified prospects that are already 95% sold on your product or service.

It's as easy as that.

If you want to see a demo of the PoweredByCards.com system then visit http://www.SendOutCardsvideo.com and push the "Play" button.

If you have any questions about PoweredByCards, feel free to contact me.

P.S. This method might sound like a lot of work, but it's actually pretty simple to do and can bring you an IMMENSE amount of super high quality referrals.

Now go out and have a Successful Day!

Success is Something YOU Attract!

While browsing YouTube I came across this great video
containing some wonderful advice from Jim Rohn, the well-known motivational speaker.

Enjoy!



“Success is something you attract by becoming an attractive person”
-Jim Rohn

I'm DELETING, Deleting, deleting Links!

Time to clean house... I spent way too much time focusing on time wasters in the past. I had signed up for numerous money making schemes and affiliate programs. If you're a regular reader, I'm sure that you noticed all of the banners and buttons that had accumulated in my sidebar. I regret that I spent so much time applying for and adding those links a few months ago when I first started this blog.
I originally wanted this to be a place where you could find legitimate ways to earn a living from the comfort of your home. And that's exactly what I am going to continue doing. But I want this blog to contain nothing more than quality information that you can rely on. In the next few days you are going to notice many more banners disappearing. I am taking the time to log into each account, and if I haven't earned any money or gotten any referrals, that button will be gone! My focus will be entirely on educating you on things that are working for me.
So, I'm hoping to have this site cleaned up by the end of the week. No more clutter! No more waiting for this site to load because of all the data! This blog will undergo a total makeover... and I would love to hear from you to see what you think about the new look. So check back soon... Until then... I would like to leave you with some food for thought with one of my favorite new quotes:
"Appreciation wins over self-promotion every time!"

The One True Secret to Referral Success!

Your success in your business life will depend largely on your network of people that know you.

It was once asked of President Bush Sr. what single factor he could attribute to him becoming president of the United States.

His response was that he had taken note of every one he ever met and made it a point to stay in touch with them over the years.

If you want to predict a person's future income, just look at the size of their rolodex!

And To Take that One Step Further...

It's not about who you know, or who knows you, it's more about how WELL they know you!

So basically, your success boils down to two simple success factors...

Success Factor # 1 -> The number of people who know you.

Success Factor # 2 -> How well each person knows you.

The bottom line is if you have a large amount of people who know you, like you, and trust you, you'll always have all the business you can handle.

Here's the Secret Key to Having It All...

The key to putting these success factors into action lies right in your contact manager.

There's millions of dollars lying there in your contact manager and you probably don't even know it.

The secret to extracting that money and success from your rolodex and contact manager is to see it as a source for GIVING!

When you give, you'll always get.

Or as Zig Ziglar once said, "If you help enough people get what they want, you'll get everything you want."

Some Action Steps for Success.

Now that you understand the principles of success, I want to give you some very specific ACTION STEPS that you can immediately start using to attract success into your life.

Action Step # 1
Put one new quality person into your contact manager every day.

Make it a goal to meet one or two new quality people every single day and add them to your contact manager.

Action Step # 2
View your contact manager as an opportunity to give back.

Scan your contacts and ask yourself, "What can I do for someone today that will make the world a better place?" Look at your contact manager as a resource not just for
getting something, but for giving back.

Here are some suggestions for using your contact manager to give back to people.

Suggestion -> Give a referral to someone.

Suggestion -> Send a "thank you" card.

Suggestion -> Send a "thinking of you" card.

Suggestion -> Send a "I'd like to get to know you better" card.

Suggestion -> Send a compliment card.

Suggestion -> Make a phone call to "check in" with a person.

Suggestion -> Introduce a person in your network to another person in your network who you think ought to meet each other.

Suggestion -> Sponsor a networking luncheon with people in your contact manager. Send them an invitation card.

Suggestion -> Send an invitation to a person for an early "coffee meeting" to see how you can help that person.

The key is to add value to people in your contact manager without expecting anything in return.

Action Step # 3
Educate people about what you do.

Cold calling for new prospects is not necessary. You'll have access to all the resources and new
prospects you'll ever need simply using your contact manager.

Your objective is not to "sell" them, it's to get to know them better so that you can be a better resource for them.

Also, you want to "educate" them about what it is that you do and what a good referral looks like for you so when the time is right, they will be able to spot a good referral candidate for you.

Action Step # 4
Make notes in the notes section of each contact.

In your contact manager, you'll want to keep good notes about each person so that you can use that information to enhance your contact's lives.

Some of the notes that you'll want to write down are...

a. Important dates

b. Notes from past conversations.

c. Important people in their lives.

d. The date you met them.

e. What they like to do in their spare time.

Four Important Questions You Need to Ask Yourself...
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you want to improve the quality of the relationships with people in your network, and you don't know what to do, ask yourself these four important questions.

These questions will guide you as to what to specifically do to improve your relationship with them.

Here are the four questions...

Question # 1 - Do they know you?
Are there people in your contact manager that you've only met one time who probably don't know what you do? Have you explained what it is you do to them?

Question # 2 - Do they trust you?
Would they call you for advice or for ideas? Do they consider you a valuable resource? What have you provided to them that would prove to them your value?

Question # 3 - Do they consider you a friend?
Let's face it, people love to do business with friends. So as you go through your contact manager you should ask yourself, "What can I do to become better friends with that person?"

Question # 4 - Can they depend on you?
Do they know that you are rock solid and that you'll be there for them when they need your help?

The Big Mistake!
Too many people look at others as "people they need to sell" when they meet them, rather than NEW FRIENDS.

When you meet a person, your first inclination will be to see them as a sales opportunity. When you do that, you are basically treating them as an object.

Friends don't treat friends like objects!

Friends get to know each other. Friends build trust. Friends do things for each other. Friends have fun together.

If your friendship does turn into a "sale," then it should only be one small step in a lifelong
relationship with that person.

Summary: You Want to Focus on Five Things...
1. Adding people to your network every day.

2. Getting to know the people in your network.

3. Making sure people in your network know you and what you do.

4. Adding value to your network each day.

5. Viewing your network as an opportunity to give, rather than to get.

One Final Thought...
Harvey McKay, the author of the bestselling book, "Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive" has said, "If I were being mugged and I had to make a choice of giving up my wallet or my rolodex file, I would rather lose my wallet. It would be scary, expensive, and a hassle to lose my wallet. But losing my rolodex would be devastating. I can replace all my credit cards and I can live without a few dollars, but the information and contacts I've gathered over the years is irreplaceable."

A Simple Tool for Putting This Strategy Into Action...
Creating relationships is all about touching people's lives in a meaningful way - - on a consistent basis.

I've never seen a tool that does this better, faster, cheaper and easier than SendOutCards

SendOutCards allows you to...

1. Automate your relationship building efforts.

2. Keeps track of birthdays and special occasions.

3. Act on your promptings to make someone feel special.

4. Create memorable cards that touch people's hearts.

5. Stay in touch for pennies a day!

Want to see how it works?

To take a tour of the system, just go to...

http://www.soclink.com/poweredbycards

After visiting the site, if you have questions, feel
free to contact me!

I hope you have a successful day!

MLM Spoof... from Todd Falcone (it's hilarious!)

I just received the funniest video via e-mail from Todd Falcone today. It read as follows:

"When something this good comes down the pipeline, how can you possibly resist getting involved?

Seriously though, whatever you do, look at this video.
It's at least worth a good belly laugh! It's my latest creation!

Seriously...if you don't laugh your rear end off at this one, I'm gonna have to go to comedy school again. Watch it. It is going to make you smile!"



+++++++++++++++++++
TRAINING TIP OF THE DAY
Have FUN in your Business!!
+++++++++++++++++++

You've got to watch the 4-minute video above to tap into what Todd is about to say in this short training section. I've quoted him below:

"For years, I took my business very seriously...as I still do today. But, I also learned many moons ago that it was important to 'lighten up' and have a good time while going about building your enterprise.

When I began to combine my "intensity" with being light-hearted and "fun", THAT is when my business began to explode.

Remember this. People want to be surrounded by individuals who are a pleasure to be around. If you get too serious, you'll find yourself not having fun.

Enjoy the journey on your way to success. Smile and laugh a lot. It is good medicine. And...please, watch this video if you haven't already!

Now, after watching this...you might understand why I have so many people who attend my live trainings and my weekly conference calls. Feel free to forward that video to any of your network marketing friends for a good laugh. They deserve it!"

Thanks for sharing this hilarious video Todd!

Get More Referrals Using the "Rule of 250!"

If you are struggling to generate referrals because you don't have a network of people that know you and will refer business to you, then you need to carefully read ALL of this.
_______________________
A Common Complaint...
_______________________
99% of your referrals will come from your "network" of people that know who you are and what you do.
So it's critical that you stay in touch with your network on a continual basis.
But I often hear the same common complaints from professionals who are just starting out.
I hear comments like...
"I don't know anyone, so I don't have a network."
or...
"I don't get out too much so hardly anyone knows me."
or...
"Other than my family and a few friends, I really don't know a lot of people."
Have you ever felt this way?
_____________________________________
There Is a Common Misconception...
_____________________________________
...that you don't know a lot of people.
But in fact, if you asked yourself the right questions, you would be surprised to discover that, in fact, you DO know a LOT more people than you realize.
And those people are just waiting to send you referrals, you just don't realize it ....yet.
You see, if you really thought about it, I don't care who you are, you DO KNOW a LOT of people.
___________________
The Rule of 250
___________________
In his famous book "How To Sell Anything To Anybody" Joe Girard, talks about his "Rule of 250."
The "Rule of 250" says that the average person knows around 250 people.
Joe, says that If you ask yourself questions like...
1. Who do you go to church with?
2. Who do you know at the local gym?
3. Who does your hair?
4. Who did you go to school with?
5. Who lives on your street?
6. Who are the parents of your children's friends?
7. Who were the last 20 people you sent an email to?
8. Who works at your bank?
9. Who you worked with in previous jobs?
10. Who were some of your college friends?
...you will start to discover that you DO know a LOT more people than you ever thought.
Now...
Just because you create a list of people that know you, doesn't mean that it will instantly create referrals.
But your list can become your "Golden Goose!"
________________________________________________
How to Produce Gold from Your List of Friends
________________________________________________
Ivan Misner, the Founder of BNI International has a great quote. He says...
"It's not what you know and it's not who you know, it's how well you know them."
You see, the gold is in the RELATIONSHIP you have with your list.
In many instances, it's not necessarily the size of your list that's important, it's how well you know the people on your list.
The better the relationship you have with them, the more referrals you'll receive from them.
So after you've created your list, you need to re-warm it back up and the best way I know to do that is to contact each of them and let them know how much you appreciate them.
________________________________________________
Appreciation Wins Out Over Self-Promotion Every Time!________________________________________________
It's true.
People are tired of all the self-promotion, hype, in-your-face marketing stuff.
They want to know that someone cares about them.
That's why I use PoweredByCards.com every single day in my own business.
With the simple push of a button, PoweredByCards.com allows me to express my feelings of appreciation, in a personal and heartfelt way, with my entire list of friends and associates.
How good is that?
Every day, I wake up and send out at least 2 unexpected cards to people that I care about.
That one habit has reaped great rewards for me, both personally and professionally.
If you're not using PoweredByCards.com yet, why?
_____________________________
What Is Holding You Back?
_____________________________
If it's the cost, then you need to think about how much money you're LOSING right now, by not building relationships of trust with people using this simple system.
I can guarantee you...
...what you'll gain in referrals will massively outweigh what you'll invest for a license to use the PoweredByCards.com system.
Isn't it time you made the move and invested in PoweredByCards.com?
Thanks for taking the time to read all of this... If you're still with me, I'd love to give you a free trial so that you can send a couple of cards out for free on me! Try it out for yourself before you decide to invest! Just send me a message and I'll set you up with a FREE gift account right away!

Have a successful day!

P.S. Here's a video that shows you how to sign up with PoweredByCards.com
--> http://www.signupoptionsvideo.com/
When asked to submit your sponsor's ID, enter # 50634
You will need that ID number to join...

Grow Your Business with Greeting Cards

Sending Greeting Cards

WILL
Increase Your Profits
Retain Your Customers
Get Referrals

Greeting cards are a great way to stay in touch with your customers and an excellent way to expand your business. Like any other business, home-based business entrepreneurs also need to develop strong relationships with their customers and referrers to grow a thriving business.

Remember the 80/20 rule?

80% of your business will come from 20% of your customers.

The most effective group to market to are the customers that you already have. Your existing clients are your marketing goldmine. The trouble is you don’t know which clients will fall into that 20%. The key is to treat them all like friends of the family. And one of the most effective ways is to stay in touch with your customers by sending greeting cards! Show them just how much you appreciate their loyalty and business!

Greeting cards will help you:

• Build your business
• Retain more existing customers
• Expand your referral network
• Have more free time for your family, yourself and your other interests
• Protect your business from competition

Make your greeting card marketing work

Keep the overt marketing to a minimum. You don't EVER want your customer to feel like the greeting card is a sales pitch.

Sending greeting cards is an effective way to strengthen the relationships you already have with your customers, which will ultimately grow your business!

"Offer your customers a long-term Relationship,
then do everything possible to build and maintain it."
-Brian Tracy

Fact: 66% of all prospects come from word-of-mouth referrals.

That's two thirds of your business!

How do YOU make sure your clients are singing your praises?

Does that client you serviced two years ago remember you fondly?

If you would like to know more about how Greeting Cards can work for you, please visit my website: http://www.socreview.com/PoweredByCards

You'll create waves of excitement and opportunity with our Greeting Cards!

Win Cash from John Chow!

John took a go at grabbing some cold hard cash while inside the Cashinator at the Market Leverage booth. He's going to be giving all of his winnings to one of his lucky readers. Check him out in action below and find out just how much you could win!



Now head on over to his blog and leave him a comment for your chance to win! Here's the link to his post: Affiliate Summit East - Win Cash Money
Leave me a comment while you're at it! I'd love to see how many people I actually send to his site... and good luck!

Don't ever quit on a bad day!

If you are new to building a network marketing business, here are a few things to realize:

1. Don't forget, YOUR BUSINESS RUNS IN CYCLES (like the seasons). You will have up cycles and down cycles. When it seems that no one is working, stay in motion and your business will re-emerge stronger than ever before. Don't ever quit on a bad day! A good day is always just around the corner!

2. Typically, it's only ONE PERSON that WILL BREAK YOU LOOSE - You will learn of people that will sign up anywhere from 3 months to as much as 2 years after hearing about it and will go on to build groups of thousands of people! You will never know who that one person might be. So, make sure you are working and active when they come back . . . if not they will sign up under someone else!

I have a UNIQUE opportunity to share with you! Here's a little background on it:

* We're entering into the momentum phase (explosive expansion)
* We have a cutting edge compensation structure
* A very Unique Product
* There's absolutely No Competition (this is the only company of it's kind in network marketing)
* ANYONE can find a use for this, regardless of your current profession!
* It's not just a paycheck, It's a movement!

If you'd like to learn more about this amazing opportunity, just click on the image below!

Referral Marketing - The Most Powerful Form of Advertising

Practice these referral marketing techniques and your business will explode with new customers
By John Jantsch


Business owners tell me everyday that the way they generate the most new business is through referral marketing. Yet they don't seem to grasp the power of this statement. Few if any businesses harness the true power of referrals by making the receiving of systematic referrals a cornerstone of their marketing efforts.

First let me tell you why you need to do this.

1. Referrals are credible right from the start. When a trusted friend tells you about a business you transfer that trust to this company...even if you've never heard of them before.

2. People who are referred to a business tend to spend more money. Research has proven this beyond the shadow of a doubt and it is likely because people tend to refer other who are highly qualified and not just tire kickers or price shoppers.

3. Referrals are very cost-effective. In some cases free or a fraction of what you might pay in advertising costs.

In some industries, like consulting and professional services most companies are chosen solely on the recommendation of a friend.

Are you getting your referrals...if not consider these little ideas.

1. Expect to get referrals but don't assume you will. Talk about them early and often and build them into your sales and marketing efforts...don't wait for people to offer them.

2. Create a system. It can be as simple as advertising $20 for every referral.

3. Follow-up by phone or mail asking for referrals

4. Give every client 3 business cards. Look in your drawer you've got hundreds. Give them out to clients and they may just pass them along.

Referrals are essential to your business so don't overlook them chasing the newest trend in marketing in your industry.

~~~~~

John Jantsch is the owner of Jantsch Communications, a marketing consulting firm located in Kansas City, Mo. He is the creator of Duct Tape Marketing, a fully-customizable turn-key marketing system. You can reach him at 816-561-3931 or john@ducttapemarketing.com

Meeting Jerry Yang: CEO and Chief Yahoo!

Meeting CEO Jerry Yang

my son Brandon, Me, Jerry Yang, my husband, and my daughter Caitlin

I had the privilege of meeting the CEO and Founder of Yahoo! Inc., Jerry Yang, yesterday at Camp Yahoo! 2008 (the company's annual summer picnic). Yahoo! is the reason that we transplanted out here to Silicon Valley in January. My husband accepted an offered position with the company last year. It has been a big adjustment for us, leaving friends behind in the Chicago area, but the Bay Area is wonderful! And Yahoo! is taking good care of us while I'm pursuing my entrepreneurial dreams as well!

Business Card Swap

I've decided to host a business card swap. (If I can get enough people interested in participating) Please leave a comment here with your email address and I'll send you a message to let you know where to ship your cards to.

All you'll do is send me around 150 business cards + $4 (for return shipping back to you), I'll sort them all and send you back an assortment of all the participants business cards. The distribution is up to you! Be creative! When you ship out an order, you include a handful of everyone's business cards, or pass them around at networking meetings, post them on bulletin boards, the possibilities are endless... It's an easy way to promote each others businesses and to gain new customers that we would never meet otherwise! Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts and/or suggestions on making this work! I can't wait to network with you all!

Dream, Share, & Lead!

To become a successful builder, you must be able to do 3 things consistently. That is to be able to Dream, Share, and Lead... Doing these 3 things will dramatically improve the quality of your life!

Dreaming is where it starts! You must exercise your dream muscles daily and realize that the dreams we have, create the framework for everything we desire. It's also important to understand that it doesn't really matter if we believe our dreams to be true or not. The mind doesn't know the difference between what's real and what's not. So write down your dreams! The bigger the better!

The next step is Sharing! As you share your dreams with others, your dreams will grow in intensity, building momentum! The movement and direction of your dreams will have much more intensity when you share them with others. This applies to any business and any dream!

Last but not least, Lead! As leaders we take responsibility for our teams. If you don't see yourself as a leader, this may be the reason that you haven't achieved what you want in your life! You must see yourself as a Leader first! Whether you lead your family, business or team, declaring yourself as a leader is essential to building your success. Leaders take responsibility for where they are and where they're going. Leaders dream and shape their own destiny! Leaders are creative and resourceful! Leaders share their vision!

So in conclusion... Dream, Share, and Lead!

- Credit goes to Jordan Adler for sharing this info.

Tony Robbins On Motivation In A Slump

TODAY’s Matt Lauer talks to motivational coach Tony Robbins about ways to change your outlook if you are depressed by the troubled economy. Check out this TV Interview with Tony Robbins. Its a short video. You'll love it!

Finally, Your Easy-to-Manage Prosperous Blog

If you’re like me, you created a blog because you heard it was a great way to promote your business. The trouble is, without a system in place it can be tough to keep up with your blog and to expertly use your blog as a sales tool that doesn’t alienate your interested readers. Boy, do I know all about that trouble.

The good news is that there IS a way to stay active with your blog, develop a tight relationship with your readers AND have your readers turn into buyers – without losing your mind in the process.

In fact, Alice Seba & Lynette Chandler (two of my favorite blogging for business authorities) have put together an intensive 4-week bootcamp to help you clear all the hurdles in having a prosperous blog.

The bootcamp includes one-on-one customized help as you complete the weekly lessons and is a MUST for anyone looking for better results from their blogging.

I hope you’ll join me in connecting with your own audience!

Enroll by Clicking HERE now!

A Safe, Green & Clean Home Business Opportunity

photo credit: Women's Voices for the Earth

Did you know that the levels of pollutants in our indoor air is 5 times more than the level you’ll find outside? It's also a fact that women who work at home have a 54% higher death rate from cancer than women who work outside the home. (This can be specifically attributed to the contact they have with household cleaning products).
There are 73 million homes with children under the age of 18. Poison Control reports that 121,197 children under the age of six were poisoned by household cleaners just last year. The other issue with household cleaners today is that asthma rates are also escalating far beyond what any scientists can explain. Scientist believe that asthmatic reactions can be exacerbated by the kinds of cleaning products that people have in their homes.
So, there are all kinds of health issues and problems that involve our little ones that are crawling around on our floors and breathing in the fumes from the products we are using. I believe it's our responsibility to really share this information with other moms out there, because most consumers have no idea that the things they're using in their homes can actually cause them harm. People assume that most products that they buy should be totally fine for them to use in their homes, and that's simply not the case.
I would love to share a safe, "green" cleaning alternative with you... Changing the products you use can really change your life as well as being safer for our planet. Please take a moment to visit my safe, "green" cleaning site.
I say "green" because, just one of our household cleaning Starter Kits does the equivalent of these 3 things:

• eliminating 108 pounds of packaging waste
• eliminating 248 pounds of greenhouse gas
• ...and the equivalent to planting 10 trees

You can also listen to a 3 minute recorded message that gives you an overview on our products. Just dial 1-925-924-3000
Won't you consider joining my team, or at least just buying a product that is safer for you, your home and our planet! Contact me for more info!

Please take 30 seconds to get involved...

If you know anyone who has had a Mastectomy, you may know that there is a lot of discomfort and pain afterwards. Infact, a dear friend of mine back home had to have a double mastectomy just last year. Although hard to believe, insurance companies are trying to make mastectomies an outpatient procedure. Let's give women the chance to recover properly in the hospital for at least 2 days after surgery. Please take the time to make a difference! Please copy this to your blogs and/or send this to everyone in your address book. If there was ever a time when our voices and choices should be heard, this is one of those times. If you're still reading this, I hope you'll take 30 seconds to vote on this issue and pass it on to others you know who will do the same. There's a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require insurance companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It's about eliminating the 'drive-through' Mastectomy where women are forced to go home just a few hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached. Lifetime Television has put this bill on their Web page with a petition drive to show support. Last year over half the House signed on. Please Sign the petition by clicking on the link below. You need not give more than your name, state, and zip code.

Sign The Petition Here

PLEASE PASS THIS ON to your friends and family, and on behalf of ALL women, THANK-YOU!