Feeds for Paulsen Marketing And Self Improvement [Home Business, MLM, Network Marketing, Agel, Jacob Paulsen Regional Director, Web Conferencing ]
1. Social Media & Personal Branding Tools
My purpose in Social Media is quite simple. To establish meaningful relationships, brand myself as a marketing professional, and to make a profit. My greatest fear in all of this is the general amount of time I can waste in all the social media networks. So, my purpose in this article is to share with you the best tools that I have found to accomplish these; my three goals without wasting time. Ping.fm – Twitter has shown us the power of connecting with large groups of people and sending out consistent updates with meaningful information. Ping.fm is a tool that allows you to send out a “Tweet” from the Ping.fm website that will be automatically posted into your update on your twitter profile, your facebook status, your myspace, plaxo, blogger, linkedin, yahoo, plurk, and 30 other services that you can choose from. This is a sort of one stop status update shop. Send the message once and all of your contacts on all of your social networks will get the update. TubeMogul – One of the Medias of Social Networking is Video. YouTube does get the most traffic of any video portal site but as long as you are going to put videos on YouTube why wouldn’t you submit them to other sites as well? TubeMogul is the one stop video upload stop. From here you can upload a video and have it submitted to youtube, dailymotion, yahoo, google video, myspace video, and many more. You can also track each video on each site to get feedback on their success. Mobile Internet – What I mean by mobile internet is internet from your mobile phone. This will be money well spent on a decent phone as well as an internet/data plan for it. There are three reasons why having legitimate (meaning a real browser) internet on your cell phone will increase your social media productivity. 1 It’s the way of the future and it’s also the path to creating time freedom. It’s hard to enjoy life when you are tied to your computer desk. Mobile Internet means a level of freedom! 2 You will always have access to your networks. You can reply to people’s requests & messages faster, you can send out updates from anywhere. Most social network sites have nice mobile versions of their website that make it easy to stay up to speed. Thus you will increase the amount of value you can provide to your networks while optimizing your usage of the value they provide you. 3 You are much less likely to waste time in the social media sites when browsing from your cell phone. It is not nearly as fun to play Facebook’s MobWars on your cell phone and therefore you won’t do it. Fring – Fring is one of several mobile IM applications that are available for Blackberry, WM, and iphone devices. Fring is my favorite thus far. (Should you not like it or prefer a different program I can also suggest Nimbuzz & Iskoot) If you have followed my advice above you will understand that I’m all about utilizing mobile devices. With that having been said I like to be available to my skype, google talk, msn, and other IM friends when they need me. So I take all of these messaging programs mobile on my cell. I can receive & send IM messages and receive call & make outgoing calls using my skype credit. All of this via the internet on my phone; not the cell minutes. This means that even when I travel internationally I can make calls from my cell anywhere I can get a wifi connection. That is cool! TweetLater – If you have a large following on Twitter or if you plan on it I would advise getting a free account at Tweetlater.com Their service has several cool features. Here are some of them: 1 Set it up to automatically follow people who follow you. I hate Twitter Snobs (people who want to be followed but aren’t willing to follow) and this way you will be guaranteed not to be one. 2 Schedule Tweets. If you know you are going to be unavailable you can schedule tweets for a certain time of a certain day. This can also be useful to tweet about a specific event such as a webcast that you want people to know about. 3 Auto-Reply. If you have a lot of people following you each day you can set up the service to send people a custom thanks for following me message. BudURL – If you like to provide value to people by sending them links to articles, services, and more than I suggest getting a free or paid account at budurl.com This service will shorten long urls (much like tinyurl.com) but it will also track the number and type of people that click on that url. Very Cool! Google Alerts – Want to keep track of your personal brand? Want to know what people are saying about your business, website, or service? Go to google.com/alerts and put in any keyword that you want to follow. Google will email you a list of all the new content that has appeared online with that keyword in the time period you a lot. (I do mine daily). Depending on what your purposes are in Social Media I would encourage you to take a look at the way you are utilizing these social networks and the way they are providing or consuming value in your life. Create a strategy to spend less time and be more effective in your Social Networking. Jacob S. Paulsen www.jacobspaulsen.com Jacob is a Network Marketing Professional in addition to being a successful business owner. Currently a Regional Director with Agel Enterprises, Jacob has built an organization of 12,000+ people over 32 countries around the world. Jacob’s other business ventures include a private security company, a promotional apparel business, and a small cash-flow consulting firm. Get more articles like this by following Jacob’s Marketing Blog.
2. Pay Less in Taxes Through Business Incorporation
Those who are (for all tax purposes) self-employed, fall into two categories: those who work for a marketing or sales organization (MLM, Real Estate, Insurance, Sales) as 10-99 contractors; and those who run a small business out of their home without any business license or business entity protection.
There is nothing illegal about these scenarios. The IRS is quite happy to allow people to operate a “business” without setting up a legal business entity. This is because the IRS will make more in taxes on that business income.
10-99 contractors have a great opportunity to pay less in taxes than any other group of people in society, but 85% pay more than 4 times what is necessary. Companies are finding it increasingly more convenient to hire 10-99 contractors in place of employees. It saves companies both money and hassle.
The government tries to collect approximately 15% in taxes from everyone. This covers Social Security, Medicare, and Federal Income Taxes. In addition to these taxes, 10-99 contractors and other self-employed business owners are charged a 15.3% SELF-EMPLOYMENT tax. That makes for a total of over 30% in taxes. That is far too much to spend. What can we do about this?
Creating a business entity such as an LLC or S-Corporation will eliminate that self-employment tax and create a situation to maximize deductions available to businesses only. 10-99 contractors have nothing to lose and everything to gain by setting up a business to pass their taxes through. It doesn’t take much time, energy, or effort. Most CPAs, accountants, and attorneys charge between $500 and $800 for the initial setup cost. JP Squared Consulting offers businesses residing in Utah this service for only $100.
Contact JP Squared Consulting at www.jpsquaredinc.com and click on the link for New Entities.
Jacob S. Paulsen
Jacob is a Network Marketing Professional in addition to being a successful business owner. Currently a Regional Director with Agel Enterprises, Jacob has built an organization of 12,000+ people over 30 countries around the world. Jacob’s other business ventures include a private security company, a promotional apparel business, and a small cash-flow consulting firm. Get more articles like this by following Jacob’s Marketing Blog.
3. The Importance of Re-Alignment
The Importance of Re-Alignment
Not to long ago someone explained to me how the auto-pilot system of an airplane functions. I have always been under the impression that the auto-pilot maintained all the system controls at a specified position keeping the plane going straight. I was mistaken. It seems that if a plane were to maintain constant controls such as speed it would eventually go off course because the elements working on and with the plane are not constant. The wind, pressure, air density, etc are always changing. For this reason the auto-pilot program is nothing more than a "constant correctional, re-alignment system." Every second as the plane moves against gravity and the elements the auto-pilot system makes adjustments in the controls in order to maintain the correct course.
In our spiritual, mental, emotional, physical, and professional lives we are also beat upon by the elements. If we continue to maintain the same course by doing the exact same things all the time we will over time be beat off course by the elements of the world. We must each create an auto-pilot program which in effect is a lifelong "constant correctional, re-alignment system." A series of rituals and habits that help us re-commit, re-align, and re-focus ourselves on our own goals.
Here are a series of ideas that I would suggest can help each of us stay on the straight and narrow path leading to our goals.
- Reflect on the past. When we remember the lessons we have learned in the past it tends to strengthen our commitment to the future. The key to reflecting on the past is in record keeping. We must first keep a record of the now so we will have something to reflect on later. Traditionally we tend to think of record keeping in the form of a written journal. While I believe in the importance of keeping a written journal I have tried to teach the importance of all types of records. Picture albums, home videos, blogs, school projects, emails, family newsletters and many other forms of record keeping can play an important role in keeping track of the past if organized in such a way that allows for it to be reviewed in the future. In addition to keeping the record we must also reflect upon it. I know many people who keep a separate journal just for more emotional and special events. This facilitates future reflection upon the events that shape our lives.
- Plan for the future. The greatest reason why most fail to reach their goals is because of the lack of a plan of action. Reaching your goals will never come any closer to reality until you establish the necessary steps required to achieve them. On a very regular basis you need to sit down and look at where you are in relation to your goals. You need to set weekly, and daily action steps that will take you closer. I recommend a strong weekly planning session in which you plan for the following week's activities. Such a planning session if done correctly should last at least an hour. Short daily planning sessions will also help you stay on track during the week.
- Participate in regular renewal activities. Search out activities that remind you why you are doing what you are doing. Religious worship tends to help you re-align with your deepest purpose. Company & industry conventions and parties help you remember the best practices in your business. Seminars, vacations, business trips, and other events that break up routine always help you "wake up" from the elements that have been dragging you off course.
After you have decided on your purpose & goals, and have committed yourself to success, remember to consistently put yourself in an auto pilot program of constant recommitment. While rituals are important they can bring you down if you don’t search out ways of bringing yourself back to the center line.
Jacob S. Paulsen
Jacob is a Network Marketing Professional in addition to being a successful business owner. Currently a Regional Director with Agel Enterprises, Jacob has built an organization of 12,000+ people over 32 countries around the world. Jacob's other business ventures include a private security company, a promotional apparel business, and a small cash-flow consulting firm. Get more articles like this by following Jacob's Marketing Blog.
4. Owning Your Own Business is the Path to Freedom
Owning Your Own Business Is the Path to Freedom
What do you want? Most of America is satisfied with the 40 by 40 plan, which is 40 hours per week for 40 years. In choosing a career, you see, we pick between two different factors: freedom and security. At first these two are opposites. If you choose security you will never achieve true freedom. If you choose freedom you will likely begin with no security at all and only achieve it after time. That is why the first decision you must make is Freedom; freedom over your time, your resources, and your property both material and intellectual.
As
long as you trade your time for money you cannot achieve freedom. Some people
argue that being paid salary or being self-employed doesn’t constitute trading
time for money but I disagree. Ask yourself this question: If you don’t do any
work for the next two weeks would your paychecks still arrive? If you answer no
than you are still trading your time for money. The only way to stop this cycle
is to own your own business system. See the Diagram:
Owning your own business system provides an opportunity for freedom because by employing others in a predictable pattern of activities you can achieve greater results than you could alone. If you get paid on the efforts of other people you begin to have leverage, and leverage is the key to financial freedom. Kiyosaki’s diagram shows us that only in the “B” & “I” quadrant can you achieve big results. You must make the conscious decision to move to the “B” quadrant and become the owner of a duplicable business system that doesn’t require your daily involvement.
Notice I said a business system that doesn’t require your daily involvement. Having your own business isn’t enough. Most business owners in reality only own a job. You must create or buy a business system that doesn’t require you coming into work every day, every week, every month, or even every year. This may not be possible during the first 6 months to a year of your business but it must be the end goal and your system must allow for it.
Only by making the conscious decision to desire freedom, own your own business, and create a true leverage based business system can you achieve your goals.
Jacob S. Paulsen
Jacob Paulsen is a Network Marketing Professional in addition to being a great business owner. To subscribe to Jacob's articles about Marketing & Personal development please visit his blog. To learn more about the fastest growing Innovator in the industry check out Agel!
5. 8 Keys to Financial Success Cont.
This article is a continuation of my previous post: "8 Keys to Financial Success." If you haven't read the previous post I suggest visiting http://mblog.jacobspaulsen.com and catching up on it now. The 8 Keys to Financial Success are designed to help people with an existing stream of monthly income to achieve wealth and financial freedom. In the previous article I outlined keys 1-4. Here I will outline 5-8.
- Let Money Work For You. Now that you have began to build your emergency fund and have paid off any credit card debt you will begin to have excess cash-flow. This "excess" cash-flow can now be channeled towards investing. How much? No less than 5% of your monthly income should be put toward investments and after your rainy day fund is built and your credit card debt is gone you should be contributing between 10-15% of your income every month toward investments. Where & What? You need to purchase assets. Assets are investments that put money back into your pocket. Your job is to find assets that will increase your monthly cash-flow and bring you closer to financial freedom. If you are wondering which investments are safe, the answer is that only the investments you are totally familiar with and comfortable with are safe. The risk of the investment is based on your own knowledge of it.
- Multiple Streams of Income. No one source of income in this world is 100% solid. You could loose your job or main source of income at any time and it therefor becomes necessary to have a back up stream of income. It also goes to reason that the only way to come closer to financial freedom is to work harder at your current job or to get a second income source. I am an advocate for owning your own business instead of getting a second job. Only by owning your own business are you creating leverage and potential residual income which is the base of true financial freedom. Look for opportunities or ideas that will allow you to build a side-income. Don't be afraid to invest some cash and some time into the success of a side business since it may become your greatest asset.
- Automate Your Finances. The reason a lot of people don't achieve their financial goals is due to a lack of discipline. Even after you begin to track your finances and set goals it can take a lot of work and discipline to carry them out. Learn to automate everything possible about your money to guarantee achieving your goals. If you can set up an automatic transfer from your checking each month to your rainy day fund, or a auto-pay on all your bills do it. Take human error out of the picture as much as possible to ensure achieving your goals.
- Educate Yourself. The last key to your own wealth is education. In order to be worth more you must first become more and in your financial stewardship this can only be done by increasing your financial education. Read business and investing books. Study the industry of your side-business and seek out advice from successful people in your family and in your industry. Learn everything you can about different investment strategies such as stocks, bonds, real estate, hard money, etc. Attend local seminars about wealth building and investing. Teach what you learn to all those around you.
If you can harness these 8 keys of financial prosperity you can achieve any financial goal you choose. You aren't limited by your income but by your own financial intelligence and skills. Learn, Plan, Do.
Jacob Paulsen
801-494-3672
www.jacobspaulsen.com
All rights to this article are reserved. Any duplication must be a complete duplicate of this article including the author's signature and a return link to mblog.jacobspaulsen.com
6. 8 Keys to Financial Success
Now for the purpose of this article I want to assume that you currently have a steady stream of monthly income. I am going to discuss the Paulsen 8 Keys to Financial Success but in order for these 8 keys to truly bring you success it is necessary that you already have a consistent income. For 95% of America financial problems do not come from the lack of a strong income but the lack of skills necessary to manage thier income. You see we spend the first 25 years of our lives being taught how to go into the workplace and make money, but nobody ever teaches us what to do with money once we have it. That is where the 8 keys of financial success come into play.
A quick disclaimer: I did not invent these 8 ideas and I don't lay claim to any of this content. From all my study I have simply organized my favorite and key concepts into these 8 Keys. In this article I'm going to discuss the first 4 of the 8 keys to success. Stay tuned for the last 4 keys in a future article.
- Track Your Finances. This is the first step because it makes everything else possible. What is measured can be improved and studies have shown that even corporate executives who look at financial statements everyday tend not to know their own financial situation. You must know where your money comes from and where it goes, what assets and liabilities you own, and how your current performance lines up with your financial goals. Very few people have the accountant like skills necessary to do it themselves and so to those I recommend hiring someone to do their book-keeping. In my home state Utah I highly recommend JP2Consulting. Once you have a handle on your own finances the true work can begin.
- Have a Cash-Flow Budget. This is a two sided coin. First you need a budget which is a simple idea of where you want your money to go. How much do you want/expect to spend each month in dining, gasoline, groceries, etc. Second is to work on your cash-flow. How much is left over each month? How much do you spend vs bring in? This is called your Profit vs Loss in the business world and knowing that number should be your life. The other part of your cash-flow is your Assets vs Liabilites/Expenses. This number will show how close you are to retirement. Assets are things that bring you income without any work on your part. Liabilities and Expenses are everything that take your money away from you. Once your assets bring in enough each month to cover all your expenses and liabilities you can stop working your day job and retire. Making that number positive is your number one goal. To start working on your cash-flow now download this sheet from JP2.
- Create a Rainy Day Fund. Before you begin investing your money into assets or toys your number one priority is to put some cash away into a 100% liquid account with the highest interest rate return possible. MMA, or money market accounts offer the best solution. In this account you need to have enough cash to cover a minimum of 3 months of expenses and liabilites. Get this account filled as quickly as possible. You shouldn't be sleeping well at night if you don't have this cash set aside. Once you hit the 3 month goal continue to contribute a little each month until you reach at least the one year mark. As your expenses go up in the future you need to make on going adjustments to this fund. One year may seem extreme but this cash fund is vital to your long term financial stability and success.
- Use Credit Cards like Debit Cards. Credit Cards were designed to hurt you. If used properly however they will bring you more freedom and success. Credit card debt is never, never, never acceptable. The interest rates are way to high to justify carrying any balance at all. Many people will tell you that it is necessary to carry a balance in order to build credit but that is a only myth. If you think of a credit card the same way you do a debit card you can win the game. Never charge your card unless the cash is already in the account to cover the charge. By paying off your card each month you will slowly build strong credit over time. Also if you get a good rewards card you can accumulate points and cash back rewards that will put extra in your pocket.
Jacob Paulsen
www.ageljacob.com
business.jacobspaulsen.com
skype: jacob.paulsen
7. You Must Become More to Get More!
Ultimately you must become more if you want to earn more. In the insurance industry there is a term called "Human Life Value." It seems almost wrong that anyone can assign an actual dollar value to our lives but this is necessary in when determining what kind of life insurance policies you can buy.
For purposes of this article when I refer to your "Human Life Value" I'm not talking about your insurance life value, but instead how much value you create for the world. As you work hard to become more, you in turn are able if you chose to contribute more to the world. As you actively create value for those around you, your true Human Life Value increases. Your human life value is tied directly to your wealth. As your Human life value increases your wealth must also increase. Understand that the term wealth doesn't always apply to money. Wealth can be a great number of things including strong & fulfilling relationships, inner peace & satisfaction, etc.
There are three distinct lessons we must take from this truth:
1. Our skills and knowledge alone do not create value for anyone. Only the application of skills and knowledge with correct direction can begin to create value for those around us. Therefore our Human Life Value only increases when we create value for others.
2. It is only in creating value for others that we can increase our own wealth. Since all our wealth is a direct reflection of what we receive from others and from society it is only in creating value for others that we can experience an increase.
3. Only through exchange can value be created. When you sell a good or service both parties become wealthier for having made the exchange even though the amount of goods or services exchanged remained the same. If you hug your 2 year old child both of you are wealthier for the exchange even though the hug was constant.
Understanding these principles, we can begin a discussion about how your Human Life Value affects you in Marketing. The first applied lesson to learn is that if you want to sell more goods or services you must become more. This is true both because your overall attractiveness affects your ability to sell and because your ability to create value in the life of your client is increased. Of course when speaking of attractiveness we aren't referring to your physical attraction, but the overall impression that you carry with you everywhere you go.
How do we become more? Allow us to separate your person into 4 common categories. Physical, Mental, Emotional, & Spiritual. To become more physically we must exercise and eat well. To become more mentally we must expose ourselves to new ideas and concepts. We must study and strive to learn more about more. To become more emotionally we must interact with people. We must understand people. To become more spiritually we connect with an inner purpose and divine potential ever striving to follow our creator.
All four of these categories are inseparably connected. As you grow in one you must grow in the other. This isn't to say that we are all balanced all the time but simply put they are connected and how you grow or don't grow in one area will have an impact on the other four.
Becoming more is the end purpose of everything we do. As you increase your ability to serve your fellow man, or put differently create more value for society you in turn increase your own wealth. Ironically it is the only way to do so!
Jacob Paulsen
www.ageljacob.com
business.jacobspaulsen.com
skype: jacob.paulsen
8. Recent Reads
Recent Reads
In the last month I have been able to read (actually listen) several new books that I have enjoyed. I wanted to take this post to talk a little about each of these recent reads.
"His Excelency George Washington" really blew me away. I always knew George Washington had to be a powerful and unique person but this really got me pumped. I learned a lot about this amazing man and it inspired me to memorize all the U.S. presidents and eventually I would like to read a biography about all the US presidents. George was a unique and powerful hero. He was the very first person to put his life on the line of American Independence and he knew it. His general lack of military experience and general failure in warfare during the war go to prove that his success was due to the principles he lived by and "providence itself."
"The 5 Lessons A Millionaire Taught Me" had great, but unoriginal content. I was dissapointed in how obviously copy-cat the material is. I realize that there is only so much content to be taught in reference to wealth principles but Richard Paul Evans even goes so far to quote George Clason's "Richest Man in Babylon" in almost every chapter it seems. I'm super glad I read it just the same because we all need on going reminders of what we need to be doing and how true wealth is created. Richard Paul Evans is a great author and it show in this work. It was very easy to read and he is a great teacher.
I have always been a fan of Robert Allen as a person but his book Nothing Down turned me away a little because it was just hard for me to get through. I enjoy real estate but I'm not super passionate and toward the end I just wanted to be done. This book on the other hand really held my attention. Both Authors do a good job of teaching principles of business, investing, and wealth. They laid it out in two different formats which helps different types of people who learn differently and that is something I really liked.
If you want to see my other book reviews please visit my profile on goodreads.com
Jacob Paulsen
www.ageljacob.com
skype: jacob.paulsen
9. Biggest Mistakes made by Network Marketing Amateurs
1. Hoping for a free ride. Too often people think that by signing up one or two "key" people they will be all but done and enjoy a big bonus check forever. The other free ride lie is when you are told by your upline that you will inherit a huge organization or downline from them. While the comp plan may allow your upline to build underneath you that won't make it free money. It is going to take work and time to build a profitable organization and any thought that you can get around that is nothing more than a lie.
2. Ashamed to be a Network Marketer. In order to have Huge Break through income in this business you must make it a part of your life and who you are. All too often people see the earning potential and decide to get involved but they are never truly committed, only interested. The products, and the business need to become a part of your lifestyle if you want to have the BIG residual income. That doesn't mean this has to be the only thing you do for 40 hours a week, but it must become a part of your lifestyle.
3. Forgetting this is your own business. Unlike a 401K or Mutual fund your Network Marketing business requires attention. You would not buy a fast food franchise and expect it to send you a paycheck if you hadn't done any work. Your Network Marketing business is a business and like all other business ventures it requires: 1. An initial investment. 2. Ongoing Overhead 3. Training by Experts 4. Time & Energy (equal to the rate of growth you desire) 5. Branding & Advertising. If you aren't willing to treat it like a business don't expect to be successful.
4. Not Patient Enough. Getting out of the business in less than 6 months is always a mistake. There are four phases to this business and the first is the investment stage. Just like any other business venture in the first 6 months are so you will invest more time, money, and energy into your business than you will get out. That is normal and to be expected. If you are in the right company and working the system correctly after 6 months you should enter the Momentum stage and begin to get paid well for what you are doing.
5. Looking for people who need your business. A big mistake that many people make is to look for the people who need your business/product and forget to look for the people who your business needs. A CEO of a mouthwash company would not recruit employees based on the criteria of having bad breath. It would be important to tell all people with bad breath about your product but as the CEO of your own Network Marketing business you need to look for the people who will help your business grow. The people with the international contacts, existing network, business sense, track record of success, etc.
6. Massive Pro-Activity without Massive Training. In this business you need a strong concentrated but balanced dosage of both Pro-Activity and Effectiveness. Pro-Activity only takes committment and can be done by anyone. Being effective on the other hand requires going through the trianing material and finding a coach/mentor within the business to hold your hand. One without the other will prove your doom. Both together will make you un-stopable.
Jacob Paulsen
www.ageljacob.com
business.jacobspaulsen.com
skype: jacob.paulsen
10. Analyze the Companies in Network Marketing
If you have read my post about why the principles that govern Network Marketing are superior to those that govern traditional business then this post is the next logical step in understanding the industry. If you haven’t yet read it I would encourage you to do so at mblog.jacobspaulsen.com
Now, I’m assuming that you have read my article about Principles of the Network Marketing model and that you are across that bridge. I am assuming that you have reached that logical conclusion that the network marketing business model is indeed superior. The next step then is the ability to analyze the companies and opportunities within the industry and determine what factors make some better than others. The logical conclusion is that if some companies are better than others at any given moment there must be consistent factors that we could recognize that determine which are the better companies and opportunities. This article’s purpose is to find those factors and without applying them to any specific company or opportunity.
If you truly understand the business model than you can agree with me that the number one factor that separates the true “opportunity” that exists in a company is it’s timing in the marketplace. It is the Golden Law of this industry and it lays the foundation for the rest of this article. 70% of the fortunes created in this industry are generated by people who get involved in the foundation of a company. What is the foundation? All business go through three standard cycles of business. Foundation, Hyper-Growth, & Maturity. Big money can be made in the Hyper-Growth stage and even perhaps in the Maturity, but History and logic tell us that the big financial opportunities exist for people that get into the foundation of a company.
Ok, that’s the first law of the industry. Get into the beginning of a company. How do you know if it’s the beginning? Generally if a company hasn’t hit hyper-growth by its 8th or 9th year it isn’t going to happen. When the business has a stronger focus on finding new team members you might be in the foundation. Generally as a company begins to hit hyper-growth the products become popularized and a larger portion of the volume of sales come from customers and return customers instead of new team members.
If we accept that the best thing you can do is get into the beginning than we also have to understand the number one risk involved is that your company being so young could tank, fail, and crash. Most businesses do in our industry just like every other industry. How do you manage that risk and at the same time find a company that has the potential to become a huge giant.
Lets start by talking about the history of the industry and what we can learn from companies that have already come along and become substantial players. To the best of my knowledge there have only ever been 7 companies in the history of this industry to achieve what we call Billion Dollar status. Billion dollar status means they have reached a point in which they are doing over one billion dollars or more in sales within one year and have sustained it. Seven isn’t many for a 60 year old industry. In fact history has shown that a new Billion Dollar company only comes around every 6 to 10 years or so.
So, lets dive into the meat. What are those factors that minimize the risk of failure and maximize the potential of hitting Billion Dollar status? These are the factors that create the “perfect storm” in this industry once the timing requirement of being in the foundation is met.
1. Experienced Management
2. Financial Backing
3. Global Vision
4. Product Line
5. Compensation Plan
6. Training/Coaching – Duplication
- Experienced Management. It takes more than a couple of rookies to really have huge success in this industry. You have to have a team of executives that have massive experience and success in the industry. They have to know how to ship product on time, pay on time, open international markets, and create a profitable payplan.
- Financial Backing. Companies fail most of the time because they are under managed and under capitalized. In our industry the under capitalized is the bigger killer. It takes big money to create a product line, open markets, and attract the big leaders that we talked about in number one. Some companies may have enough money to survive those first few years until they are profitable but you are looking for a company that has the big money necessary to go global, attract leadership, and launch products.
- Global Vision. If you really want to have massive financial success logic dictates that you need to go international. More market share means more money and the earlier in the company that international markets open the better. This can create an international frenzy when other markets also have a ground floor international opportunity. This is so super rare that I have only seen it happen once or twice.
- Product Line. For most people they think this is the only factor. While it is super important it isn’t alone. There are many “sub-factors” to the product line that determine it’s long term success.
- First to Market. Copy-Cat products will never make Billion Status. Pepsi will never be bigger than Coke, Wendy’s will never surpass McDonalds and the Microsoft Zune will never beat out the IPod. First to Market worldwide products are a must.
- Universal Appeal. This is about Target Market. Can children & seniors use the product? Is it limited to one per household? Will it sell in every international market?
- Consumable. Repeat Business is important so the product has to be consumable.
- Marketability. Can you give out samples, show results? Is the product tangible to the person looking at the business? Can they understand it inside of a 5 minute presentation?
- Comp. Plan. Can you be profitable quickly? Do you have strong incentive to help others be successful? Is there a such thing as a bad position?
- Training/Coaching & Duplication. You can have all the perfect factors in place but if you don’t have training and support than what difference does it make? It is necessary for a company to attract BIG Field Leadership from other companies. These big leaders who have a track record of success not only have to be a part of the organization but they need to create simple systems of duplication. The success in this industry is in duplication. How easy is it for anyone to do it? Big leaders create training and action programs that are duplicable and follow-able for anyone.
I hope that this has been helpful. These are the factors that you can use to look at the companies that exist in this industry. Choosing the best company for you is the number one decision you can make if you want to have huge financial success. By taking the “Outside In” look at the industry you are doing what most don’t. Most people learn about the industry via a company that gets them involved. They then have the unfortunate “Inside Out” look at the industry and don’t understand why they aren’t having the success they want and why one company might be better than others.
Jacob Paulsen
www.ageljacob.com
business.jacobspaulsen.com
11. The Principles that Govern Network Marketing are Superior to those that Govern Traditional Business
Are you remotely curious about Multi-Level Marketing? The Network Marketing Industry or MLM industry has been around for over 60 years and while the general public often regards the industry with great contempt recent studies have shown that the industry is stronger than ever. Now with companies such as General Electric, Verizon, GM Motors marketing some or all of their products via the network marketing business model a lot of consumers are begining to take this industry serious. Great economists such as Paul Zane Pilzer and wealthly men/authors like Robert Kiyosaki & Donald Trump have also spoken out in great extent recently about the amazing opportunities that exist for average people in Network Marketing.
The title of this post is "The Principles that Govern Network Marketing are Superior to those that Govern Traditional Business."
Why Network Marketing? What makes it so unique? White traditional business delivers products to end consumers via a variety of third party steps such as distributors, wholesalers, and retailers the network marketing business model delivers products directly to the end consumer's doorstep from the manufacturing facilty. Taking out all the middle men brings down total cost. Also by removing the middle men you remove geographic barriers allowing you to do business anywhere people are willing to listen, look, and buy. Are you starting to understand why the principles that govern this business model are superior. Lets keep going.
Lets talk about opportunity in business. A traditional company is built in the shape of a pyramid with CEOs and presidents at the top all the way down through management and eventually to the large group of employees. The people at the top make most of the money and the people at the bottom do most the work. This is not a the bad part; on the contrary it is natural. The bad part is the lack of opportunity. The bottom line staff/employees don't have the same opportunity to make money as the top level management. In fact there is a scarity of money. The more money the staff makes the less there is left for the Management. True scarcity with no opportunity at all.
The next step up is the Commission pay model. This model is superior because the upper level management has an incentive in the successful of the regular bottom level salesman. The more sales they make the more money it makes both parties. Everyone is paid based on their actual production and so nobody can break the principle and therefore people are rewarded correctly. Opportunity is much stronger because of two things. First, abundance is much more present because the people at the top want the people to succeed even though there can still be a strong feeling of scarcity between same level salesreps. Second, Each person is resposible for their own results and so by working harder you can make more money. However there is still a fundamental flaw. Though opportunity exists for success it is not equal. A real-estate agent does not have the same opportunity as a real-estate broker because the realtor can not hire other realtors. The same is true for the insurance agent and for every other commision paid sales rep. Though there may be an opportunity for advancement and management positions, the opportunity will never be equal to the people at the top. What will eventually happen to the successful sales rep? He/she will go out and start their own company in order to have that equal opportunity. Now the salesrep has become the competition to the company that trained & coached him.
Network marketing is the answer to all these problems. Abundance is real because the marketplace is endless (or at least infinity larger than the traditional marketplace). Opportunity not only exists because you get paid on your own efforts but it is also equal because the compensation plans that exist in this industry allow for equal opportunity for everyone. People at the bottom of the pyramid can make more than the people at the top. In fact it happens a lot. I sometimes explain it to people this way:
- Imagine buying a franchise.
- Now imagine that your franchise could sell it's product in every country around the world.
- Now imagine that your franchise had no employees at all.
- Now imagine that your franchise didn't handle any customer service at all.
- Now imagine that the complete upfront cost of your franchise is only between $500 to $1500 one time.
- Now imagine that the ongoing overhead expense of your franchise is only between $100 to $300 each month.
- Now imagine that you got a cut out of the prodution of every other franchise the company sells.
- Now imagine that you could stop working anytime after only your first 6 months to a year and not only would you continue to get a check but it continues to get bigger each month even without you.
- Now what you have is a Network Marketing Business.
www.ageljacob.com
wwweb.vereconference.com
12. Favorite Web Services 2
In continuation from my previous post "Favorite Web Services 1" I would like to show you a couple more awesome webservices that everyone should be aware of.
Geni is an online
revolutionary geneology service. Its modern design helps you catolog
your ancestory but in addition you will be able to keep track of
birthdays and other recent news shared by family members. Search for
long lost relatives and even add friends not related to you.
Google
now has a new Website
Creator. The genius of this new google program is that unlike
many company website design programs google will also host your site
for free. You can have as many pages as you would like and can
integrate images and links etc. The one downside may be that the domain
for your site will be http://yourgoogleid.googlepages.com This can be
quickly solved though by purchasing a domain from somewhere like GoDaddy.com and
forwarding your domain to your google page. When you do the forward be
sure to mask it.Google
has also developed an elaborate SMS
information system. You can send a text message from your
phone to googl (46645) with an inquiry such as a phonebook request,
weather info, sports scores, etc. The service is amazingly fast. It
never takes more than 10 seconds to get a text message back with the
requested info. If you are looking for the phone number or address for
the local Staples just text "staples denver, co" to 46645 and in
seconds you have all the info you want. There is no cost in addition to
the normal cost to send and receive the text message. 
Woot.com
is an amazing site that offers exactly one product each day. You can
often buy multiple of the one item but watch out because they have
stellar deals. The webmasters are very creative and even if you don't
want the item of the day it might be worth reading about it anyway. Jacob Paulsen
www.ageljacob.com
wwweb.vereconference.com
13. Favorite Web Services 1
So when it comes to home based business owners like myself, we really tend to feed on the coolest of the internet services. Especially the free ones. Today I just wanted to highlight a few of those. (No surprise any of these are google services).
IGoogle: Customized Home pages aren't anything new but Google has made a huge innovation in personalized home pages. With bazillions of different "widgets" you can add to your site there is almost little need to even leave you home page anymore.
Google Reader: Now that I'm into blogging and more importantly keeping up on other people's blogs I love this program that alerts me every time anyone on my list posts a new blog entry. Because I have a Google reader "widget" on my Igoogle home page I know immediately when family and friends post. I love it.
Skype: Instant Messaging isn't really new either but Skype has changed the way we do this. They have integrated a full feature video VOIP phone. Fancy way of saying you can make phone calls for free via the internet to anyone anywhere in the world who also has the free software installed. Turning on the video is an option and we generally only use it for family who want to see the baby but still... Super Cool.
Plaxo: Plaxo does a lot of things but the coolest is its ability to synchronize your contacts and calendar between your Google, Yahoo, MSM, Hotmail, excite, email services in addition to MAC, Outlook, Express, etc. HOLY COW this is amazing. The premium services are cool too, but the free account does about everything I need it to do.
Ok. I'll stop for now. No doubt I will rave about more programs in the future.
Jacob Paulsen
www.ageljacob.com
wwweb.vereconference.com
skype: jacob.paulsen
14. The Power of Blogging
For those of us who are interested in Internet Marketing there are few things as powerful as blogging. At first the word blog may make you think about stay at home mom's posting pictures of their children to a webpage, but blogging is much more than that. Blogs have a special ability to be crawled by search engines and their content reaches a very large audience. Search engines work off of many things but one of them is keywords. Reaccuring keywords in a blog are likely to make it very visible. Search engines also like changing content. Because blogs have a tendancy to have new content added almost daily they are extra "crawled" by the search engines. Also because blogs strongly resemble forums because posts to a blog can be commented on by visitors to the blog this can also increase the tendancy to be found by search engines.
Also blogs can have a tremendous impact on the increased visibility of your other marketing sites because of the RSS technology. Let me give you an example. This very post that you are reading right now will automatically be inserted into over 40 different sites today when I hit the "Post" button. Blogs can be subscribed to via an RSS feed. This allows me to automatically embed new posts into whatever website I choose. This allows my marketing sites to also have a constant change of content every time I post a new blog entry even though the general content of the site never changes. It also feeds a constant new set of key words into my marketing sites also making them more search engine friendly. The obvious key word in this post is Blog and if it weren't such a common key word it might get some of my pages listed in the top 20 results of some search engines.
What service should you use to Blog? If you are interested in a social climate where you can have your friends read and remark to your blog I would suggest google's very own Blogspot. They allow a lot of customization to your blog and because they are hosted by google they are crawled fairly regularily by the search engine. You can opt to have a non public blog if you choose.
If you are interested in creating an ongoing stream of new RSS content for your marketing website(s) I would suggest a service called BlogFather. Blog Father was created by the internet marketing company Veretekk and their system is optomized for both search engine customization as well as RSS feeding.
Both of these services are free of charge so go to it! Start blogging today!
Jacob Paulsen
www.ageljacob.com
wwweb.vereconference.com
skype: jacob.paulsen
15. The Advantage of Online Conferencing
Technology is changing the way business is done in many ways. One of those is conferencing. The old days of flying all of your team into one location and paying for a hotel conference room are over. The expenses of leasing a conference room, travel, etc are just to much, and frankly not necessary.
Web conferencing has created a more practical solution. Now your team can join you in an online webcast room from anywhere in the world where they have an internet connection. This means that nobody needs to get dressed up or travel anywhere. There are various web conferencing software options available. I have tried at least a trial of all of them and I have found that the Vereconference system designed by Ivocalize is by far the most stable and the most versatile. Also, I found it to be the least expensive option out there.
Here are some advantages to the VereConference webcast system.
- All you need is a computer with an Internet connection of any kind.
- You can use it to provide live, online support for your existing customers and website visitors.
- Perform live onling training sessions for your team.
- Clean interface. Extremely easy to use! Just click the link and you're in!
- Rich, quality sound. All you need is a headset and speakers!
- Text chat for your guests without a microphone!
- Private text chat conversations on the side of the main presentation!
- Keyboard commands for visually impaired users!
- Synchronized web browsing allows you to push web pages for 1000's of viewers to see.
- Superior white board features!
- Supports IFRAMES in html web pages.
- 100% Internet based - no phone line or teleconference needed.
- Recording feature - archive your meetings and post them on the web! (not included with free rooms)
- Unlimited monthly web conferencing!
- Customize the look and feel of your room.
- Live customer support - just when you need it!
Jacob Paulsen
www.ageljacob.com
www.onlineconference.info
skype: jacob.paulsen
16. Personal Development Books to read Every Year
There are certain books that I try to read/listen to every year. These would be my all stars of personal development and business. Though you may not choose to read these books every year I do highly recommend reading them at least once and creating your own list of "every year" books. To see all my book reviews visit my iread list on my facebook or myspace profile.
- 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Stephen R. Covey is a genius without question but this book is still very applicable even 25 years after it was written. It seems like every time I read it a different habit really sticks out to me.
- Rich Dad Poor Dad. Robert Kiyosaki is an amazing author in addition to being an investing genius. This number one best seller teaches the basic principles of business & money that I believe govern our financial world. He does a great job of teaching these principles along with telling a personal story.
- 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. John Maxwell is a great teacher. In this book he outlines the governing principles that dictate leadership. By mastering these laws you begin to lead, like it or not:)
- Who Took My Money. Robert Kiyosaki does it again for me. Here he continues the Rich Dad story and teaches the basic principles in regards to cash flow and investing. An absolute must.
- Think & Grow Rich. Napolean Hill sacrificed many years of his life to put together this book of governing principles. He interviewed the most influencial and richest people in America and this is what he learned.
- How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie
- The Greatest Salesman in the World - Og Mandino
- 1776 - David McCullough
- Good to Great - Jim Collins
- Speed of Trust - Stephen M. R. Covey
- Raving Fans - Ken Blanchard
Jacob Paulsen
www.ageljacob.com
wwweb.vereconference.com
skype: jacob.paulsen
17. Mac VS PC, Iphone VS Windows Mobile, Ipod VS ?
So 5 years ago I never would have believed that Apple could make such a come back. PCs had such a hold on the market place. Although Mac has been making huge innovations for sometime nobody cared or noticed until the Ipod was launched. Since the Ipod has or at least had no competition people were forced to look at Mac. Well about a month ago I converted to a Mac book laptop and now I feel the pressure to convert to the Iphone. Since I'm not the only one out there feeling torn in two directions I thought I would take this opportunity to share my two cents comparing these two platforms and their simple pros and cons.
Mac VS PC
* Easier: Once you are accustomed I think the mac is easier
* Safer: Anyone who knows anything would concur that the Mac is safer from viruses and crashes
* Customizable: Thought mac is very easy to customize I think the PC is still more customizable because there is a lot more freeware (free software) out there for PCs.
* Software: Once again the PC wins. Developers make their programs for PCs first and macs second. There is just more out there for PCs. On a sidenote you can get a windows terminal on your mac to run pc programs.
Iphone VS Windows Mobile - Thinking of getting a iphone or a smartphone?
* Easier: If you use a PC that a windows mobile smartphone will be easier. Works the same like with a start menu etc.
* Business Use: Windows Mobile wins again. Iphone can convert word & excell files but they are read only. Windows Mobile can edit and save word, excell, and powerpoint files. Also the Iphone has a haphazard sync possibility with outlook but its really not that good.
* Trendy: Here is where the Iphone shines. It just looks cool.
* Music/Video: Windows Mobile comes with windows media which plays music and video very well. But since anymore most of us use itunes and not windows media the Iphone is easier to use and comes with a lot more built in memory to hold more songs and movies.
* Keyboard/Input: Though all the Iphone users I know defend the touch screen keyboard to the death I just can't believe that its easier/quicker/more accurate than a full sized keyboard available on many windows mobile phones.
* Availability: Windows mobile is a common platform that every cell phone carrier will have. Iphones are only made for Cingular. Though you can unlock them for other GSM carriers (T-mobile) you could never use them on TDMA/PCS carriers (Verizon, Cricket, Sprint, Nextel, etc).
* Customizablitiy: Once again there is so much more software out there for windows mobile because it is a pc platform. Iphones come with more cool stuff stock, but the windows mobile can do so much more
* Summary: Show me something that an Iphone can do that my Windows Mobile can't and I'll switch :)
IPod VS ??? OK honestly though there are some knock-offs on the market I've never given any of them any consideration.
Jacob Paulsen
www.ageljacob.com
wwweb.vereconference.com
skype: jacob.paulsen
