Training Archives - Kathleen Deggelman | Network Marketing Leader

How To Achieve A Summer Time Work-Life Balance

July 7, 2017/0 Comments/in Business, Entrepreneurship, Health & Nutrition, Personal, Success, Training /by Kathleen Deggelman

For many of us, the summer months can be the busiest (and most fun) time of the year. It is certainly my favorite season! As the demand for work and personal time increases, you may be finding yourself struggling to maintain a good balance between managing your business and having time to enjoy those summer nights. (It doesn’t get dark till 10 pm where I spend most of my summer….) While being busy with work can possibly mean committing upwards of 40+ hours a week, the dedication you show to your business still warrants a few July and August weekends for yourself.

As summer has arrived with it’s long days, it’s important for all of us to find ways to manage our workload so that our work days don’t fill up all that extra sunshine. Here are a few ways that have helped me to achieve a healthier work-life balance during the summer months:

Manage Your Time

Easy to say right! Although organization is essential to time management, and I’ll touch on that later, being able to delegate responsibilities is also key to managing a healthy work-life balance. Administrative tasks, such as answering calls and emails, can typically carve out a large portion of your day. It’s important to set aside time for those administrative duties so you can focus on other aspects of your business. Set aside a 60 minute slot per day and dedicate it solely to messages and emails instead of trying to stay on top of them throughout the day. If you do it all day, guess what you have gotten done at the end of the day – email and messages and probably not the big rocks or the really important projects. If you devote 60 minutes only each day you work to email and messages, you will find yourself saving time that could be better used doing other tasks, be more productive and get to the actually more important parts of running your business. I worked at IBM years ago and I can remember management talking about how email was going to save us time. Not so much…If you still find that you need assistance in managing communications, consider hiring a seasonal employee to help you get through the summer season and give yourself a much needed break. A family friend or neighbor could be ideal. Maybe they aren’t helping you with emails, but they are helping you get to some of the other projects on your place. Sometimes we just have to get those things (like cleaning out the garage, my husband’s personal favorite) off our plate and off our list!

Plan & Prep

Being able to prepare ahead of time for the expected ebbs and flows of summer will help you settle into a better work-life balance. Review your business’s past performances so you can plan ahead and set strategies for a smoother transition and one that will free up some time for you! The ability to forecast expected performance can help your business transition from off-seasons to peak seasons. Taking into account possible contingencies like a slow season or surge in business can help you achieve that healthy work-life balance. My company is launching India right now so you can imagine how fun and exciting that is. We are taking advantage of this during the summer AND finding time to enjoy family and sun and beach too.

Organize

One of the easiest methods to free up your time and enjoy summer is by being organized. While this may seem to be the most obvious, many of us find it a struggle to manage the workload as peak seasons demand increases. To maintain a seamless operation and, even better, maximize your valuable time, be sure to update your calendar, schedule every meeting, and keep all of your paperwork in order. You may not be able to plan everything and there will be unexpected meetings or issues that will surface and demand your immediate attention; however, creating a detailed day-to-day schedule can help you remain on track and get you out of the office and out by the pool! Focus on the 3 to 5 most important things every day. I love lists but I am learning to use lists less and focus more on the big stuff. Life is too short to be tied to a list of 100 things to do everyday. Many of those things don’t really need to be done and sometimes we use those lists to get the simple stuff done and not the most important. I use a priority list: What are the 5 most important things to get done this week? And then I schedule them out during the week.

Me Time

Taking time for yourself, both physically and mentally, is important to enjoying the summer and it helps you to be happier, and more focused at work when you do work. It’s quite possible that you’re faced with new responsibilities daily. Managing your business may guarantee a certain level of stress, and it’s always important to take steps to help ease workplace stress so that you remain focused on your business. Being able to create a space away from your business is also important because reclaiming those weekends or at least part of the day, lets you recharge, reconnect with loved ones and friends, and remember your “why” for working as hard as you do. If you feel the need to check emails on a Saturday or Sunday, limit it to one or two times a day. We aren’t meant to be attached to technology and our to do’s 24/7. That isn’t how I want to live my life. Your passion for work shouldn’t come at the expense of having a personal life. Work should be used as a way to bring new vibrancy to your life and to help you grow as an individual AND allow you to create the life and lifestyle you wish with the family and friends that you adore.

Operating your own business does, however, mean that there will be some personal sacrifices. If summer is your favorite time of year, make sure you are enjoying the sunshine too. I am going kayaking later today…Growing any kind of business needs time and dedication but it’s also important to find those ways that can help you manage a healthier work-life balance. It will never be perfect and it will always be something to work on – but it is definitely worth it!

P.S. I hope you found my article helpful on How To Achieve A Work-Life Balance. If you liked this blog post, I think you will love my blog post on 5 Ways To Stay Focused During The Summer.

How Journaling Keeps You Moving Forward

April 20, 2017/0 Comments/in Business, Entrepreneurship, Training /by Kathleen Deggelman

As the first quarter of the year has ended, now is a great time to reflect on all that has occurred, both personally and professionally, in your life. Are there any changes you wish you had made earlier? Have you made progress on the goals that you set for yourself? How are you keeping track of the goals and your progress? A great way to keep it all contained is by journaling your efforts.

By keeping a journal, you can track your growth and it gives you little moments each day for self-reflection. There can be a lot of events throughout the day and it can be a challenge to keep everything in your head and journaling provides a great method to capture those events and process them on a daily basis. Some of the items you write down may just be random thoughts, they could be your perspective on events or they can be a way to check on your progression and challenges you may need to overcome. I have been journaling for years! Too many to count and I can say it has been therapeutic, meditative AND empowering all at the same time. I journal several times a week and it always helps me with perspective and positivity.

If you haven’t started a journal before, it can be tough to get started and to find a cadence in which to write entries. Here are a few tips I found that helped me and still do that will help you to get started on the right foot:

Select A Medium: Where you choose to write your journal won’t have an effect on the content of it. Every medium will have pros and cons so be sure that you pick something that works best for you. I love using a beautiful notebook. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate. By using a notebook, it gives you time to disconnect from the online world and from any other distractions that can arise by using a computer. It is also fun to see the journals from previous years begin to stack up on the bookshelf. Your own personal history. 🙂

Set Limitations: There are going to be times where your journal entries will come very naturally and it may be hard to keep up with all your thoughts and goals. Other days may prove to be a struggle to get anything written down. You can try to either limit the amount of words or pages that you write per entry or you can set a timer for how much time per day you dedicate. In the beginning, I think it is important to write your thoughts and ideas every day or almost every day. I now write several times a week but not every day. It is a time I definitely look forward to!

Dedicate Time: The ability to keep a journal can be an impactful activity for yourself so it’s important that you make it a part of your daily routine. I usually sit down with my journal first thing in the morning. It helps me start a great day. Set the same time each day to take a break from the world and write in your journal. It can be about your thoughts or your goals but the important thing is to make the time to do it. Mornings can allow you to start with a clear head and evenings can be good to utilize the entry about the events of the day. Pick a suitable time and follow through with it. Believe me, this process helps with gratitude too!

Keep Focused on Goals: If you haven’t considered it, I suggest that you keep your goals for the year at the back of your journal so you can refer to them easily. Journaling is a wonderful way to keep track and remind yourself of any goals you have set. This will help you stay on track in your pursuit to achieve them and any progress you have made towards them. Focus on what you have accomplished too. This isn’t the place to moan about what you haven’t gotten to but to gently remind yourself that these are things you really set out to do this year.

Be Open & Honest: One of the best aspects about keeping a journal is that you have the ability to be open and honest with yourself with each and every entry you write. All those thoughts and ideas that you may have been hesitant to share with others can be contained in your journal so utilize it as the outlet it is. If you’re concerned that unintended parties may see it, this may hinder your ability to truly be open. (Maybe you remember your childhood diary being found?) Keep your journal in a private place just for you.

The process of keeping a journal is one of the easiest ways to keep us engaged on our goals and how we spend our time. By taking just 10-15 minutes a day to write down the events, your thoughts and your progress can provide you with a creative outlet! I really do look forward to writing in my journal and it is also the place where I keep my travel dream boards. I travel so much that I created 5 x 7 dream boards that I can enjoy and ponder too while I journal. One stop shopping so to speak!

Another bonus is that by acknowledging every goal we have achieved, we begin to build confidence in ourselves. Journaling just makes us feel good. There really is a therapeutic and meditative component to it. Every entry you write is a snapshot of that day and, years from now, as you look back on the entries you’ve written, it will be interesting to see how much progress you’ve really made. Even if you never look at the entries again, it is comforting to know they are there. Have a great day and hope you start or love journaling as much as I do.

P.S. I hope you found my article insightful on How Journaling Keeps You Moving Forward. If you liked this blog post, I think you will love my blog post on Productivity and Happiness Tips for Network Marketers.

Inspiring Ways To Be A Great Leader

April 2, 2017/0 Comments/in Business, Success, Training /by Kathleen Deggelman

Leaders aren’t only found in Fortune 500 companies or (gasp) political parties, they can be found anywhere. Everyone has the capacity to show the qualities needed to make a great leader. It is just whether we develop these leadership muscles or not. Being liked is always nice but it’s certainly not a requirement to be respected. Regardless of your position or your title, leadership traits have the ability to influence others towards achieving their goals and creating a work environment where people can really enjoy working together. Becoming a leader can be difficult as there are some organic qualities you need that can take time to develop. If you really desire to step into bigger shoes and to become a leader, these recommendations will help get you on your way to being a great one.

Building Trust: Teammates and employees need to know that you will support them in the decisions they make and that you show a genuine interest in their well-being. This helps show that, not only do you care about them, but you are also willing to protect them. Building trust helps show your team that their goals will never take a back seat to your own interests or motives. What kind of methods can you use to build trust?

Take the time to learn something about them, not work related. Build rapport with your teammates.
Involve them with decisions to show that their input is valued.
Make yourself available to them. Reach out to them!
Recognize and appreciate the contributions they make.

Coach Instead of Manage: Being a great leader means you’ll need to be a great coach. Coaches can be seen as people who can provide adjustments and feedback without people feeling hostility towards them. Leaders will help present the possibility of a future that can inspire people and coaches help inspire those people to take action. Your role as a coach is to be encouraging and motivating and to build confidence in your team. Be sure to reinforce any positive behaviors that are demonstrated with recognition. It can go a long way. In our network marketing businesses, remember this is a “Volunteer Army”. We aren’t anyone’s bosses in this business and sometimes you need to let people do things their way. Remember, they are stretching their leadership muscles too.

Open Communication: As with any relationship, personal or business, a key part to building trust is through an environment that allows for open communication. Allowing your team to be able to speak honestly and candidly without repercussion can firmly establish a bond. Be sure to have your team ask questions and bring any concerns to you. If they feel they can’t, it can be detrimental to achieving success and reduces any chance of establishing trust. You will be able to increase credibility if you’re willing to accept feedback and provide solutions to any worries or concerns they may have. Listening to your teammates is key. Sometimes they just need to vent and then will be able to move on. Sometimes you have to encourage them to set a timer for how long they are going to vent before they move on. 🙂

Utilize a Mentor: It’s always helpful to have someone that YOU can go to that already possesses strong leadership skills. It won’t be too often that someone will just come out and offer to mentor you, so you will most likely need to seek one out yourself. Try to find someone that shares similar values with you and select one that you get along well with. Someone that is different than you and that has what you are looking for. Then when you are faced with those tough decisions, try to picture how your mentor would approach the scenario and arrive at a decision. This can often help put you on the right path. Act like they would and you will soon become more like what are you seeking to be!

Show Confidence & Take Responsibility: As a leader, you will need to make some big decisions and stick by them. You will need to be confident that the decisions you make are the right ones. There’s no room for you to waiver on tough calls. The decision could end up being wrong, but it needs to be decisive. The worst decision is NO decision. You can always adjust and you will know soon enough if it isn’t the right decision. Always stay ethical and honest. We only have one reputation and one bad decision can take that away from you in a heartbeat. The golden rule applies in network marketing too! If you make a mistake, ensure that you own up to that responsibility. Make sure that you are willing to discuss with your team and the decisions they make when you know something is going on that shouldn’t be. It’s important to support and assist your team but to also give them the confidence to make decisions, take risks and speak up. Encourage your teammates to create great relationships with their own teams, with their uplines, and with the corporate management. These relationships are worth their weight in gold in our business!

By helping to clear obstacles for your team, you clear a path for them towards creativity, innovation, and empowerment. You need to be sure to get their input. Make you are providing your team with what they need to achieve success. If they’re already meeting or exceeding their own expectations, make sure to encourage them and guide them as necessary, always recognizing their contributions and positive aspects!

We are all a work in progress. If you focus on the positive, so will they! Here is to your leadership style and success!

P.S. I hope you found my article insightful on Inspiring Ways To Be A Great Leader. If you liked this blog post, I think you will love my blog post on Creating Personal Presence.

Taking Better Care of Yourself

February 22, 2017/2 Comments/in Business, Health & Nutrition, Personal, Success, Training /by Kathleen Deggelman

We have all been there before. That feeling of guilt when you take a day off or just take some time to disconnect from the world. After our annual convention in Las Vegas last week I was definitely tired! Don’t worry. Most people feel that way when they feel the need to make time for themselves. There’s no need to feel guilty. Guilty is rarely a useful emotion. It’s important to know how to take care of others but just as important for you to take care of yourself. If you don’t hesitate to help friends and family, you shouldn’t feel guilty when it comes to helping yourself. The idea of self-caring can sometimes have a bad stigma attached to it and it shouldn’t. There’s no need to view yourself as weak if you find yourself needing a “mental vacation” or a real vacation. Here are a few items to keep in mind if your stress levels are on the rise.

Learn to recognize the signs of distress in your mood and your behavior: It’s okay to admit that everyone has signs that tell them they’re either close to, or at, their breaking point. It could be fatigue or anxiousness. Maybe your behavior is off and you could be having mood swings or just irritable. If you feel you’re at this point, stop and take some time to regroup and look into what may be causing you to act out of character. Sometimes it is too much work and not enough fun, or a lack of exercise, or not enough sleep or even not enough of healthy food. There is a reason for that new term called “hangry”.

Try to maintain your sense of humor: Humor can often be overlooked to help ease your stress levels. It’s important for our well-being that we laugh and laugh often. I have even set it as a goal for me this year to laugh more, to be silly more. It can also have a way to help put things into perspective. Laughing at your favorite movie or TV show or even personal situations can help improve your mood and release some stress. My Mother has a very funny sense of humor and I am sure that it helped her every day with the raising of 9 children! My Dad always enjoyed my Mom’s sense of humor too. We still do. If you can lighten a mood with a smile, a giggle, a tickle, a silly moment – everyone will be better for it.

Balance your personal needs and work: It won’t do you any good if you recognize your stress but fail to do anything to remedy it. Be sure to limit your work life so it doesn’t take over with your home life. Doing so will allow you to go back to work with a clearer mind and invigorated attitude with just that small extra mental break. The key is to take this time prior to reaching your breaking point, take time to reset yourself by going for a walk or just sitting down and taking a much deserved moment with yourself. We are all addicted to too busy. I know I certainly am!

Find a workplace that encourages self-care: This may not be feasible in all cases but if your workplace environment is causing much of your stress it may be time to find one that won’t. There are some workplaces that encourage stress-free cultures. If you are an employee, try to find a place where they help employees celebrate successes, insist on a work-life balance and provide them with positive feedback. If you are building a home based business full-time, make sure that your office in your home is inviting and easier said than done, set office hours. Treat your home office like you would if you were getting paid by an employer. In our network marketing business, we are both the boss and the employee. When we like our office surroundings, we all work better and more happily!

Spend plenty of time with friends & family: Spending time away from work can be an effective way to help restore you and reestablish a sense of being yourself. Try to surround yourself with people that fill you up, that complement you, that get you and love you and that you can laugh with. The saying we are the sum total of the 5 people we spend all our time with is so true. Think about the 5 people you spend all your time with – is it moving you towards the life you dream about? Do the people you associate with help you meet the needs of others? Just being in the presence of those that you love and admire and that feel the same way about you can help take the stress off as they provide a sense of familiarity which helps most people feel more content in our lives.

Remember if you fail to take care of yourself, this may cause you to make some decisions that could put yourself and others at risk. It could be as small as an email sent to the wrong person or being distracted when your attention was needed or losing some of what makes you vital and healthy. It is actually unselfish to take the time to care for yourself. When we are at our best is when we can give our best to others too. Enjoy your well-being!

P.S. I hope you found my article insightful on Taking Better Care of Yourself. If you liked this blog post, I think you will love my blog post on Managing Overwhelm and Creating Success in your Business.

Lessons We Learn The Hard Way

January 18, 2017/0 Comments/in Business, Personal, Training /by Kathleen Deggelman

Happy January 2017! I hope 2017 has gotten off to a great start for you! Today, I am sharing a blog post that really hit me with some great nuggets when I read it. All about lessons learned the hard way. Some of us like to learn the hard way and some of us (please let me be one of them…) like to learn from others. I think you will enjoy this short article by Susie Moore containing some great words of wisdom from Arianna Huffington, James Altucher, and Gabrielle Bernstein.

http://greatist.com/live/life-lessons-i-learned-the-hard-way

It will help you put things in perspective for the new year and help you focus on the things that truly matter to you. Indeed, our resumes are not our eulogies and money is never the point and Queens rule with authentic power. Check out their great words of wisdom. I am glad I did. If you need to learn about not overworking yourself, or letting money not be your main motivation and to stop letting outside influences control your life, read on.

I hope you enjoy the article and be sure to leave comments on how the article changes your perspectives. I am working on getting more sleep in the New Year! Have a great day.

P.S. I hope you found my article useful on welcoming 2017. If you liked this blog post, I think you will love my blog post on Having Fun with your Network Marketing Business.

Building on Gratitude for 2017

December 22, 2016/4 Comments/in Business, Entrepreneurship, Personal, Success, Training /by Kathleen Deggelman

It’s the most wonderful time of year where gratitude is on display for all to see. Why is gratitude such a GREAT thing? Gratitude above anything else puts all of us in a state of grace to feel good about what we already have in our life. The holiday season if we choose, gives us the opportunity to express gratitude in so many ways. Gratitude can be magical at this time of year. Maybe that is a big part of what makes this time of year what it is and without it we can feel lonely or lost. We all have things to be grateful for – even when we have to look for them or dig for them. At this time of year, we put ourselves in a bigger state of grace when we give gifts of appreciation and love to our family and friends, when we make more donations to people who need our help and when we take extra time to write special notes in holiday cards, just to name a couple.

Unfortunately, sometimes showing gratitude ends after Auld Lang Syne. Imagine if more of us decided to keep practicing gratitude and sharing optimism for the entire year? What kind of effect could that have, not just on others, but on yourself? The impact it has on your own well-being can be overwhelming. I know this from experience. Some of the positive effects that showing gratitude on a regular basis can have on our being include:

Increased feelings of optimism, joy and happiness. We are happiest when we are grateful!
Strengthened immune system. We are healthier when we are grateful!
Lower feeling of loneliness. We feel more connected when we are grateful!
We sleep better with less anxiety. Even our Z’s are better when we are grateful!

By practicing gratitude and thankfulness daily, even weekly, it can help better our perspective. We will attract more of what it is we want! I practice gratitude almost every day. If I think I don’t have time to write in my gratitude journal, then while I am walking or driving I will list out 10 things I am grateful for. When I go to sleep at night, I fall asleep thinking about the good things that happened that day that I am grateful for. Which means I fall asleep smiling.

Improve Your Optimism

If you are looking to improve your level of optimism and increase your overall well-being, try a few of these exercises:

Sit down and write a letter to someone (not necessarily someone you know) and thank them for something they have done. This can make quite the impact on their lives and can increase their level of happiness, and yours. Even if you don’t send it (which I hope you will), it will increase the level of grace you feel inside.
Reach out to 3 of the people you love and tell them how much you value them and what they mean to you. Too many people forget to do this and it can do wonders for the relationships you have with them, especially at this time of year. You never know how someone is really feeling until you peel back the layers and be with them.
At the end of each week, find a quiet spot and reflect on the prior week. Write down five things that happened during the week that you’re grateful for. This little exercise can increase your optimism and your happiness right away!

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”

John F. Kennedy

Ways to Build Gratitude

Make a list of everything you are grateful for. Write till you exhaust the ideas that come to you.
Every morning, when you wake up, have a sentence that you say out loud. Mine is “This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Keep a gratitude journal and write 10 things you love in your life every time you can.
Disrupt a stressful moment with a smile and remember what is good that is happening.
Balance out your complaints with positive thoughts. Rein the negativity back in.

I recently heard a word that I had never heard before: brutiful. The combination of life is brutal and life is beautiful. Life is truly both things and when we embrace both there is a peace within us that happens. We are living in uncertain times and now, more than ever, it’s important to be optimistic for a joyful and positive 2017.

I wish you all the happiest last days of 2016 and from my family to yours, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and the Happiest of New Years!

P.S. I hope you found my article useful on building gratitude for 2017. If you liked this blog post, I think you will love my blog post on How Being Grateful Leads to Success.

How Blending a Family is like Building a Network Marketing Business

December 12, 2016/1 Comment/in Business, Network Marketing, Personal, Training /by Kathleen Deggelman

In today’s world, many of us find ourselves blending families together. In fact, approximately 1 out of every 3 Americans are either a step-parent, a step-child or belong to some form of a blended family meaning over 100 million people.

In network marketing, there are over 100 million people worldwide involved so there must be some overlap between the two. If you’re involved in this cross section then this blog post is for you! It’s also for anyone who wants to build a bigger business and still have fun interacting with their families and teams.

Blending families, or building your team, is not always easy but it can be one of the best things that you’ve ever done. I know it was for me! So, I was thinking about how many of the personality traits that are needed to blend a family are similar, and handy, for building our business and I thought I would share these.

First, there’s patience. Patience with your extended new family and with your new distributors. Our daughter asked me recently how I stay so calm. I’ve been through a lot in my life and have learned that the little things, and most things, are just not big enough or worth stressing or fighting over. I’ve also learned to think before speaking and that sometimes not saying anything is best. Then there are those occasions that call for a simple count to ten and exhale. 1, 2, 3, 4,…

Meet people where they are. This doesn’t necessarily mean physically but meet them where they are in their life and lessons. This can happen in two ways:

Don’t set an agenda for who people should be or where they need to be. See them for where they are right now.
Don’t sacrifice or adapt yourself in order to accommodate others.

By meeting people where they stand, and being authentic, it will pave the way for honest conversations and true connections.

Celebrate people’s strengths and downplay their weaknesses. Children need to know that you understand and like them. It doesn’t do any good if you’re always asking them to clean their rooms or empty the dishwasher. You have to focus on what is working and what is positive too. I can’t stand feeling like a nag and nobody likes to be on the receiving end of that either. This is the same for your teams. Focus on what people are doing well and look for those wins. A simple “good job” or “nice work” or “we appreciate you” can go a long way.

Consistency. Be consistent with your actions when you’re either talking to your teenager about cleaning up the family room or speaking with prospects about the products or opportunity: consistency is key. When things are inconsistent, people can find situations difficult to predict and have a sense of lack of control. When you’re consistent in your behavior with people, this will create trust with them.

Last, but certainly not least, if you care about a person, let them know how much. Whether it’s your kids, your mom, your prospects, or your team. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much it is you care and now during the holidays is a perfect time to take a little extra time to let people know they matter to you. I wish you all the best during the holiday month!

P.S. I hope you found my article useful on how blending a family is like building a network marketing business. If you liked this blog post, I think you will love my blog post on How to Stay Focused During the Holidays.

Top Qualities To Look For In A Prospect

December 1, 2016/1 Comment/in Business, Entrepreneurship, Network Marketing, Prospecting, Success, Training /by Kathleen Deggelman

As you begin to build your MLM business, you will not be able to avoid the task of recruiting new prospects. Sometimes you may want to, but it won’t work…:) So how can you best maximize your time to focus on those that have the potential to be great MLM leaders? Over the last ten years, I have figured out there are a few key traits that you should be aware of as you go through your recruiting techniques.

Previous Success: The chances of you being able to convince a fairly successful prospect to leave their current MLM network to join yours is highly unlikely. However, people who have success in another field are exactly the kind of prospect you should pursue. I was that prospect. 10 years ago I was brand new to network marketing but I brought with me my previous success in business and real estate. Any prospect who has some success in a previous field could be classified as a greater fit for MLM than someone who has dropped out of school and hasn’t had great employment history. We aren’t looking for the couch potatoes…Working hard and the desire to obtain goals are traits your MLM prospects must have.

Ambition: Successful people tend to share this common trait. We are hungry, driven, and are just plain looking for more out of life. The status quo just won’t do and we tend to be visionaries, looking for the next steps to making a better life and how to achieve it. The prospects that possess this trait are a hot commodity so try to add as many people with ambition as you can. I have always been driven to succeed whether it was UC Berkeley, IBM, cooking school or investing in real estate. Look for people who have that drive. It will be so much more fun for you to work with them. And if you aren’t that ambitious person yet, then really think about what your vision for your life is and make a decision to go for it.

Willingness to Learn: Regardless of where the prospect may be starting from, there’s a decent chance that there will be things that they’ll need to learn and be coached through so they have the tools to be successful. The prospect’s willingness to be coached and taught is a crucial element. As you discuss the opportunity with your prospect, are they cutting you off during the conversation? Do they seem to know everything there is to know about MLM? Keep in the back of your mind “Are they coachable?”. If they aren’t willing to learn anything or take your advice, then chances are they may not be the great prospect you were looking for. Keep that in mind for yourself too – none of us have all the answers and the more open we are to learning, the faster we and our businesses will grow.

Entrepreneurial Mindset: As you first begin to interact with a prospect is when you should start to assess them and figure out what their motivations are. The important part is determining their mindset about finances and money. Do they think that making money is about having a job and getting paid or is it reflected more in an investment and profits sort of way? Don’t get me wrong. Wage earners play an important role in society but the hourly earning approach may not necessarily make them into the MLM leaders of tomorrow. It might but it might not. A person who has knowledge about owning a business or investments may be more likely to possess entrepreneurial qualities and have a better understanding of the startup costs that are required to begin and know that building a business doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time and the entrepreneur knows that and is willing to put the time in. If you have limited time for prospecting, then focus on small business owners. It is the best use of your time!

Upbeat Attitude: You won’t like being around or be willing to coach prospects with a negative attitude. It can be difficult to be around people that have a constant pessimistic outlook on life. Our MLM business works so much better with people that are upbeat and positive. Those negative people will need to have a huge change in their mindset in order to make it work. Make sure to pursue the prospects that possess that positive outlook already because it’s those people that will potentially have an easier time prospecting themselves and won’t be discouraged at the first signs of difficulty. And if you have a debbie downer attitude, get to work on seeing the cup is half full instead of half empty. At least half full.

Self Starter: These are the type of people who will go out there and get things done. Having people that are self-motivated as part of your team will prove to be a great asset as they are capable of identifying their own strengths and weaknesses. Self-starters aren’t waiting to be told by anyone on what their next steps should be. They recognize what paths are needed to be taken and take action. These prospects will typically show the most enthusiasm. I was a self-starter in this business 10 years ago. I didn’t know what I was doing but I didn’t wait for someone else to tell me. I figured it out. If you have a great upline and training system to tap into, then by all means that is a great place to start but don’t tell yourself you won’t make it if you don’t. It is amazing what we can achieve when we decide to. I am so glad I decided!

Communication Skills: Prospects that have the ability to communicate clearly are a bonus to any downline. Communication is more than being able to relay the messages they’re trying to convey but listening as well. We want to listen twice as much as we talk. Ask great questions. Draw people out. Show interest in what they are saying and being able to effectively express your own thoughts through verbal and non-verbal cues is a skill that can help grow any MLM business. Look for people who are good at talking to people and care about communicating in a positive way.

These are what I consider the most important traits to look for during your prospecting time. Keeping them in mind as you speak with people will steer your efforts and time towards those who can help you get where you want to go faster and with more fun!

P.S. I hope you found my article useful on the Top Qualities to Look for in a Prospect. If you liked this blog post, I think you will love my blog post on How to be a Better Sponsor.

Why Being The Worst Person In The Band Is A Good Idea

November 1, 2016/1 Comment/in Business, Success, Training /by Kathleen Deggelman

Were you ever in a band with someone that was a much better musician than you? Or played tennis with someone that was a much better tennis player? My Father was a tennis teacher and my brother is a tennis pro. When I played tennis with them, it was amazing how much better I was. I wasn’t in a band but the same principle applies. When we surround ourselves with people that are more successful than we are in the very thing we want to be successful in, then we improve too! This is true for everything – tennis, music, cooking, relationships, and network marketing too. We all know that one of the best ways to learn is by experience. Whether it’s a good experience or a bad experience, it will help teach us either way. However, as beneficial as it is to learn from what you have experienced, it can be far more efficient to learn from the experiences of others.

Personal experiences are a great learning tool but learning from others is faster and can save us a few headaches. Lots of people have traveled down the same road you’re about to go down and, although it may not be exactly the same road, there’s a good chance that they’ve already experienced the same problems you’re facing and their knowledge is a fantastic resource for either solving them or avoiding them.

Figuring things out on your own does have its merits but ignoring the experiences of others can waste time and what you may experience may be unnecessary frustration. We learn from those with prior knowledge and discoveries when we attend school but as we get older, we tend to attempt to figure things out by ourselves. Anybody relate to that? Remember, there are lots of ways that we are able to learn from another’s experience.

The first place to start is by reading. The internet and books are great resources for researching others experiences. Biographies are a great way to see how people you admire or wish to be, have handled certain scenarios that they’ve faced. In our business, you can read network marketing leaders blog posts. And there are lots of free training videos available on youtube. Here are some of my favorite books on our profession. (If using the internet as your primary resource, be sure the information is provided from a reliable source since some of it can be inaccurate.)

Search for a mentor within your company. Reach up to your sponsor and upline and make sure they know who you are. Your relationships with your upline and leaders within your company and our profession are worth their weight in gold. There are two ways to build our business – fast and fun or slow and painful. If you want more of the former, seek out a mentor to help you learn what you need to know faster!

Be sure to attend your company functions. This is a great place to meet and introduce yourself to the leaders and to start the process of connecting with the people that can make a difference in what you learn and how fast you learn it. After my first few conferences, I really began to understand how important they were to my success. Build friendships with your mentors. Not in a self-serving way but in a genuine, caring and reciprocal way. The old saying that “people don’t care what you know till they know how much you care.” Be sure to ask questions and attend as many functions as possible to continuously expand your own knowledge and network. Don’t worry about being the “worst person in the band”. I completely believe we really are the sum total of the 5 people we spend the most time with. Be sure that your five are helping you to get what you want in life.

I encourage you to try something new every day. By increasing your experiences, you will gain a great amount of knowledge that you will be able to apply in the future. What we want is just outside our comfort zone and by continuously trying new things and doing the things that make us nervous, the faster we will get where we want to go. The more you surround yourself with great mentors and leaders, the faster you will be able to find your greatness. The only way that all the new knowledge you learn will be effective is by using it daily. You know you are on to something, when as your experiences grow, others will come to you for advice and how to handle the very same scenarios that you once faced. Move forward every day, even if it seems like just a bit!

P.S. I hope you found my tips useful on why being the worst is not such a bad thing. If you liked this blog post, I think you will love my blog post on 7 Steps to Help Deal with Life when it Throws You a Curveball.

How You Can Start Recruiting Before You’ve Achieved Success

November 1, 2016/2 Comments/in Business, Recruiting, Success, Training /by Kathleen Deggelman

I know that recruiting can be a rewarding AND frustrating experience. Trying to expand your team takes a tremendous amount of effort and you may not be seeing the results you expected or think you deserve. You may find that you are doing some of these things below. If it sounds familiar or if the advice makes sense to you, now is the time to correct. Correcting and adjusting will go a long way to turn your recruiting success around.

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Partner Up: If you have a smaller team, you should look at partnering with a member and help motivate each other. Don’t go it alone. Once you get going, just keep talking with people. Network Marketing is a sift and sort business. You will encounter a lot of people that will be attracted to what you and your products have to offer. From these people, pursue the ones that have great people skills and connect with others easily. As the process gains momentum, keep adding people to your motivational pack. Keep your foot on the gas. Imagine a group of like-minded people all pushing, all enthusiastic, and all supportive together. You may have to talk to 200 people to enroll 40 people. When you sponsor 40 to 60 people, the way the law of averages usually works, you will have your first handful to run with. You can change your lives and many others with that very handful of partners.

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Overeagerness: Seeing an opportunity is great but it’s your approach to the opportunity that will set the tone. Recruiting is like hosting job interviews. Think how it shifts for you when you read that. Read it again. You don’t necessarily want to work with everyone. You have the golden ticket. People need what you have to offer them. Being too eager and offering too much too soon may make some people hesitant and uncomfortable. Be sure to ask your prospects questions to get familiar with them and a chance for them to get familiar with you. Take it slow. They don’t need to know everything all at once. Let them ask questions too.

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Learning a New Language: Recruiting can be similar to learning a language. The best way to learn a new language is to jump in and immerse yourself and don’t worry about taking any test. There’s one thing that I see a lot of people do and it’s attempt to learn everything possible and study before going out and speaking with people. It is kind of like getting ready to get ready. You can stay in that position way too long. It’s perfectly acceptable to start talking to people just minutes after learning about it yourself. That is what happened to me – my sponsor 10 years ago didn’t know anything either. We just got excited together and went for it. One approach is to say to the person, “I just came across this and I am really excited about this. Are you open to learning about it?” And then point them to that tool that tells the story that you may not even know yet.

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Saying Too Much: If you’re speaking with a fair amount of prospects but the recruiting results just aren’t there, this may be the reason. You want to extend an invitation to join your team. You may run into over talking if you’re attempting to explain, or worse, try to convince people. If you feel the conversation gearing towards explanations and convincing, you may want to ask a few questions to get them speaking more and gear the talk towards their inquiries. Find out what they are looking for and let that help you move the conversation to providing a solution for what they need or want in their life.

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Stance: Your own stance on Network Marketing may be an indicator for why your recruitment activities result in successes or failures. If the recruitment attempt turns into a defense of what our industry does and the person you are talking to thinks “that it doesn’t work”, then your conversion rate will be low. You need to believe in what you’re doing and not be deterred or get defensive. Don’t try to convince someone or bully them into thinking the way you do. Sometimes taking something away from people and saying “You’re right. This probably isn’t for you. Glad it is for me though.” Build up your confidence by surrounding yourself with others that have had success and do attend networking events. This is a work in progress. You will always get better. We were all terrible at our first home parties or presentations. Some funny memories of those first ones! But you know what, our guests didn’t know any better and we knew more than they did. Which wasn’t much!

Consistency: Being consistent is key. Attempt to work consistently for at least 5 to 10 hours each week. Picture the employee that you would want; are you the employee you would give a raise to or are you the employee you think you should let go? Would you hire yourself? Going in and out of your business is a terrible and painful way to get this going. Do you want to build steady and have fun? Then be consistent!

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Follow Up: The saying is the fortune is in the follow up. It is so true! This will make or break your Network Marketing success. You will be speaking with a lot of people while attempting to recruit new members but don’t forget to follow up with the people you have already spoken with. Allow time each day for follow up and follow through. Follow up immediately but also keep in mind to follow up down the road as well. A lot of people say no meaning not right now but you won’t know that if you don’t call them back numerous times. Have fun with it. When you call them back say with a smile on your face “It’s your monthly call from me – anything changed yet?” Today, take a look at some of the leads you have talked to over the last six months and call them to tell them about a success story or a great personal experience with your products. Keep your follow up organized. If it is a mess and all over the place, you are much less likely to make the calls. And it could be that one call to that one person that makes all the difference!

I truly love the lifestyle of network marketing. In the corporate world, we are trained to leave our personal life at home. In this industry the more personal and genuine we are, the more successful we will be. Last tip here: Bring your unique and shining personality to your network marketing business!

P.S. I hope you found my tips useful on how you can start recruiting before achieving your own success. If you liked this blog post, I think you will love my blog post on is Your Kindness A Weakness?.