What's Your Financial IQ?

How would you score your your financial IQ and the level of your financial education?

Do you ever find yourself afraid to take a particular action, particularly when it comes to your financial affairs, simply because you're don't know what to do?

You know what I mean. You're afraid of losing money and so you are indecisive about what to do with your money to make it grow.

And because you are afraid of losing it, you let the fear lead you to inaction. And so now you're stuck because nothing has changed.

You can relate, right? Most of us experience this at some point in our life.

So, what is it that can allow you to overcome those fears which are trapping you in a cycle of inaction?

The answer is education. Specifically, financial education.

Education is growth. And growth is the only evidence of life.

So why wouldn't you invest in your own growth? It's paramount to your success.

An excellent book that deals with the concept of financial education and why it is so important is Why We Want You To Be Rich, by Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki.

In their book, Trump and Kiyosaki talk about a number of trends and factors that are aligning into a "perfect storm" of sort that can have frightening implications to your financial future.

I believe it is your job to educate yourself about these trends and factors so that you can lead yourself with regard to your financial affairs.

Learn about things such as the growing trade deficit, the exponentially growing US debt, the declining US dollar, the fact that a huge number of baby boomers are on the verge of retirement without enough money to do so, the financial condition of our social programs, what's driving rising oil and energy prices, and so on.

This is what financial education is all about.

You see, the more I've learned over the years, the more I realize I just don't know.

But with an investment of a couple of hours a week, you can begin to position yourself so that you can have full responsibility and control over your financial life. You position yourself through some education.

Become informed enough that you can function as a generalist, directing the professionals or experts, with which you engage in your wealth building affairs.

It's your life, and your financial well being, so start driving your own car.

And it doesn't need to be anywhere as complicated as you've been led to believe.

There are a number of very informative books and newsletters to which you can subscribe that will give you tremendous guidance to assist with your financial education.

And a great place to start is to pick up Trump and Kiyosaki's book.

Click Here to Buy Why We Want You To Be Rich from Amazon.com Now


Visit my website at http://www.InspiredAbundance.com or feel free to email me any feedback or questions at info@inspiredabundance.com

Visualization As Part Of A Daily Success Regimen

Visualization is a very complementary activity to assisting you in achieving your goals.

So make a point of using it daily.

You've heard of the athlete in training using visualization as a part of their training routine.

Training for, say the 100 meter dash, one of the activities the athlete will undertake is a complete visualization of the entire race.

From the starting blocks right through to the finish line, the athlete visualizes every movement - the legs churning, the arms moving, the eyes focused straight ahead, the posture being maintained, the breathing, all of it.

By the time the race occurs, the athlete has run the race hundred or even thousands of time in his or her mind.

Now get this, you don't need to be an athlete to harness the power of visualization.

You can use this process in your personal life to assist you in achieving your personal goals.

The visualization process helps your goals become accessible to you. It's a technique which allows you to develop an emotional attachment around your goals.

And it helps create an expectation of success.

This expectation of success, in turn, will lead you to take actions that are in harmony with your goals. In this way, you increase the speed at which you are moving closer to your goals.

So harness the power of visualization as part of your daily routine.

Just as it is so powerful to review your goals for a few moments daily, so is it very powerful to spend 5 or 10 minutes visualizing yourself achieving and experiencing your goals.

Make it real, taste it, hear it, touch it, smell it. Allow yourself to actually become emotionally involved in the visualization of your achieving your goals.

You will be pleasantly surprised at the impact this will have in your life.

Visit my website at http://www.InspiredAbundance.com or feel free to email me with feedback or questions at info@inspiredabundance.com

How To Build Beliefs That Serve You

Your belief system is the key to your ability to create what you want out of life. And if you are dissatisfied with the results you've gotten so far, all that is required to change the outcome is to change your beliefs.

A change in beliefs is accomplished by practicing new habits of thinking.

Now that can be easier said than done.

First, let me back up for a minute. Beliefs are nothing more than a habit of thinking. Think a particular thought often enough and you will accept it to be true.

The challenge with your belief system is that few if any of the beliefs you hold are in fact yours. They are instead beliefs you were taught and adopted.

These came primarily from your parents, grandparents, school, church, government and the media through the messages you received during your formative years.

Hence, you carry beliefs (probably) such as “I must work hard to make end’s meat” or “I don’t deserve to be rich and successful”.

Well ... how well do you suppose these beliefs are serving you in your desire to live an easier life or to become rich and successful?

It’s though leveraging the Law of Attraction that you can create what you want out of life. You see, at a metaphysical level, everything is energy – including thought. And all energy carries a vibration at a particular frequency.

That which vibrates at a particular frequency tends to attract more of the same – like attracts like.

Simply put, you get what you focus on.

So let’s get back to beliefs.

Beliefs are a habit of thinking. They are thoughts we’ve adopted as a habit.

These thoughts lead to specific feelings, and it’s the feelings that then lead us to words and actions which lead to a particular outcome.

We can deliberately develop new habits of thinking that serve us more effectively in creating what we want by following a simple daily process.

Follow the process for about 30 days, and you’ve built new habits of thinking – specifically new beliefs.

A terrific little book that neatly lays out a simple process by which you can reshape your beliefs and deliberately apply the principles of the Law of Attraction is titled “Law of Attraction: The Science of Attracting More of What You Want and Less of What You Don't” by Michael Losier.

You can buy Law of Attraction: The Science of Attracting More of What You Want and Less of What You Don't from Amazon by clicking here.

I highly recommend the book as a great way to begin to practically apply the concepts of deliberate thought, beliefs and use of Law of Attraction in your life.

Visit my website at http://www.InspiredAbundance.com
And feel free to send me your feedback or questions by emailing me at info@inspiredabundance.com

The Truth About Home Based Businesses

Today, I'm going to share some stark truths about home based businesses.

Now I'm going to assert right up front that the secret to being successful – not only at a home based business, but at anything in life – is to get out of your own way.

With that having been said, here are some dirty secrets – the realities of home based business that the marketing masters will rarely if ever share with you. Most marketers won’t publicly talk about these truths. But they are vital to your understanding of how to be successful.

If anyone can truly be successful in a home business, then it stands to reason that most people must be successful, doesn’t it? Or, at the very least, a reasonable percentage of people must be successful – right?

Well … no, that’s not exactly the case.

Here's a harsh reality about home based businesses:

95% of people who start a home business fail – they don’t ever end up breaking even on the money they spend to launch and operate their business.

So how do you feel about starting a home business now?

Well, before you get too discouraged, let’s dig a little deeper. The truth is that statistic is pretty much the same as for any business. 95% of all businesses fail.

So what’s really going on? Why are most people failing at their home business? Why are most people failing at business?

I've learned that anyone – even you – can truly be successful with your own home based business.

Or rather, that is anyone can be successful if you learn to get out of your own way.

Here are a few additional realities for you to ponder.

1. The average person quits his or her business after being told “No” … get this … three times. Three times!
2. 80% of home business operators never end up calling their sales leads
3. 95% of businesses fail because they are under capitalized – that is they don’t line up and have enough money to fund their ongoing costs
4. Of the remaining businesses that fail, 95% fail because of a lack of proper systems and controls

Do you see how these points are all examples of people getting in their own way?

I want to be successful, but I can’t deal with rejection.

I want to be successful, but I can’t bring myself to call my leads.

I want to be successful, but I haven’t bothered to establish a budget and find proper financing.

I want to be successful, but I don’t know how to manage my time and business.

Each of these is a function of improper mindset, improper planning, or improper practices.

So, if you wish to be successful – and remember anyone can – then you first must learn to get out of your own way.

Visit my website at http://www.InspiredAbundance.com

Or feel free to email me with feedback or questions at info@inspiredabundance.com

The History of Network Marketing (Part 3)

Okay, so let's continue with our summary of the history of network marketing. This is the third and final part of this article.

Amway and its multi-level structure were targeted by the FTC partly in response to a proliferation of pyramid programs in the 1970s. In these illegal pyramids, money was the only commodity or “value” that moved through the program. There was no underlying product or service.

Schemes were developed whose only purpose was specifically to recruit others into the program. It was the emergence of several high profile schemes that led to a rash of regulatory requirements and the ultimate targeting of MLM as a structure. It also led to the clarification of speculative or fraudulent schemes and legitimate direct sales activities.

The Amway Safeguard Rule identifies three key points which ensure the validity of the opportunity. It was the existence of these three points as part of the Amway structure that led the court to conclude the business was not an illegal pyramid.

These therefore are important criteria with which to assess any network marketing or MLM opportunity and establish whether it is in fact legal as opposed to “one of those pyramid scams”.

1. Does the opportunity require the retail sale of products or services before one can qualify for any recruiting commissions or sales?
2. Does the opportunity have a mechanism in place to prevent the stockpiling of inventory of physical products with no intention of reselling?
3. Does the opportunity offer representatives who choose to leave a buy-back provision on unsold, unopened inventory or products?

The term “network marketing” became popular in the 1980s.

It was partly coined as a way of getting away from the stigma of MLM.

Ultimately, direct sales and multi-level marketing are distinct subsets within the overall network marketing industry. In simplistic terms, they can be defined this way:

Direct selling is where the profit or commission for a retail sale is paid to one person.

Multi-level marketing is where the profit or commission for a retail sale is shared with an up-line (or recruiter). Typically there are also bonuses paid based on recruiting activity, so long as the recruiting is accompanied with ongoing retail sales activity.

Finally, network marketing gained a strong degree of legitimacy in the 1990s and into the 21st century.

A number of very well known and respected authors and business people began to lend their public endorsement to the industry. People such as Brian Tracy, Robert Kiyosaki, Paul Zane Pilzer, Jim Rohn, and even Donald Trump began to openly talk about the merits of the industry and, in fact, encouraged people to consider it.

At the same time, network marketing morphed into a proven, preferred method of product distribution by some of the largest companies on the planet.

Corporations came to the conclusion that network marketing, as a distribution channel, offered many advantages, not the least of which is that it’s lower cost.

Commissions are only paid on the sale of product or services and the structure allows the companies to offload much of the time and training requirements onto its representatives, who are incented to train the new representative they recruit.

In particular for new product launches, network marketing distribution allowed companies to avoid costly traditional advertising campaigns.

Pretty soon telecommunications companies, travel companies, satellite providers, financial services companies, and many other industries joined the party. Today there are literally thousands upon thousands of network marketing based companies operating throughout the world.

Today, network marketing is a +$100 billion dollar industry.

So there you have it, we’ve come full circle. The history of network marketing in about 1700 words or so.

So now let me ask you this question. Do you still feel as though there is a reason to feel ashamed or embarrassed to admit you are involved in network marketing?

Visit my website at http://www.InspiredAbundance.com or feel free to email me at warrenhw@mts.net. if you'd like to hear more from me Subscribe to my weekly newsletter by clicking here now.

And as always, if you have questions about my posts or what I do, feel free to call me at +1-204-878-4564. I'm in the central time zone (GMT-6), so be nice about when you call!

The History Of Network Marketing (Part 2)

While we're talking about the hisory of network marketing, the term “network marketing” specifically is 20th century creation.

Its’ genesis lies in the post World War era of the late 40s and early 50s. This was the dawning of the era of the subdivision in which genuine neighborhoods flourished with their own circle of trusting relationships and backyard barbeques.

It is out of this trend that the term “belly to belly” marketing – or warm market as you may better recognize it – was coined.

A company named California Vitamins came to the realization that many of their new sales recruits were in fact friends and family of their existing sales force. These new recruits’ primary motivation to becoming a sales associate was that they wanted the products for themselves at the wholesale cost.

That led the company to recognize it was easier to build a sales force with a lot of people who sell a small amount of product, than it was to find a small number of top sellers who would move mountains of product.

And so California Vitamins designed a revolutionary sales compensation model encouraging their salespeople to invite new representatives from satisfied customers, most of whom were family and friends. Each of those new representatives in turn had the same right to offer the product and opportunity to become a representative to others.

This allowed the sales force to grow exponentially. The company rewarded its representatives for the sales produced by their entire group – or network – of sales representatives. And so multi-level marketing was born.

It was also during this time that the home party plan was introduced.

The original party plan was the Stanley Hostess Party Plan, by Stanley Home Products. The focus of the party plan was to demonstrate the myriad of uses and benefits of the products right in the home. Out of the original Stanley dealer roster came the founders of such future marketing program giants as Mary Kay and Tupperware.

The introduction of the multi-level, person-to-person sales program in the mid 1950s coincided with another pair of new giants arriving on the scene. First, Shaklee was launched. Then, a couple of years later, in 1959, came the birth of Amway.

The term multi-level marketing, or MLM, became a part of the industry lexicon.

And the direct selling industry would never be the same.

The popular notion that MLM companies really gained steam in the mid 1970s when the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charged that Amway and its multi-level marketing structure constituted an illegal pyramid.

This made lots of headlines in the mainstream press.

In fact, in 1979 the court sided with Amway and deemed its multi-level marketing structure valid and legal and that its model represented a legitimate business opportunity.

Out of that court decision, the “Amway Safeguard Rule” set the legal standard for direct selling, multi-level, and network marketing based companies going forward. And it became one of the most profound milestones in the recent history of network marketing.

However, the myth of all MLMs or network marketing opportunities being pyramids lives on.

Visit my website at http://www.InspiredAbundance.com or feel free to email me at warrenhw@mts.net. if you'd like to hear more from me Subscribe to my weekly newsletter by clicking here now.

And as always, if you have questions about my posts or what I do, feel free to call me at +1-204-878-4564. I'm in the central time zone (GMT-6), so be nice about when you call!

Sppiritual Selling

Folks, if you have not yet listened to the Joe Nunziata's recorded call in our "Bonus Audios section, I highly recommend you make it a priority. We have by now, all heard of the Secret and we are working at applying it in our lives...Well during this Ultimate Network Marketer session, Joe revealed to us why so few people actually get the desired results when promoting products or services. He spoke of what we need to do and just as importantly, what we need to stop doing. He spoke of how to Be the person folks will be attracted to doing business with. You see, it's really all about an inside job.

Too many folks are still trapped in the mentality of you can't make money and really enjoy what you are doing. We need to work on some of our false beliefs and vibrate from a different place. Furthermore, Joe made it very clear that people are FEELING us more than hearing us. What messages are we subconsciously putting out?

If you have not yet obtained your desired results, this is an important call to listen and relisten to.

Make it a great day!

Lynette Chartier

Visit my web site at http://www.thepowerisinyourhands.com

Should you have any questions or comments about my posts, or you simply want to know more about what I do, feel free to call me at 204-290-8802.

The History of Network Marketing (Part 1)

As participants in Liberty League International, we are a part of the network marketing industry, and the network marketing industry has quite a storied history. And being a part of network marketing can be a cause of some anxiety for people.

What about you?

Do you find yourself sometimes feeling embarrassed to admit you are in network marketing or, if you’re not in it yet, are you embarrassed to admit you are seriously considering it?

If so … why?

What is it about your beliefs around network marketing that lead you to have these feelings?

Network marketing today

Network marketing is a +$100 billion dollar per year industry which represents an accessible way for the average person to launch a legitimate business with the potential of generating very substantial income.

It offers the opportunity to launch a business on a part-time basis, and then growing that into a full-time (or more) income. And it requires the least amount of start-up capital and ongoing operating expense of virtually any legitimate business model.

It is responsible for enabling the creation of an untold number of millionaires.

Paul Zane Pilzer, a world renowned economist and college professor, goes so far as to predict that over 10 million new millionaires will be created through network marketing over the next 10 years.

If this is true, why on earth would you feel ashamed or embarrassed to be part of this industry?

Well, there’s a lot history behind network marketing. So let’s review that history for a few moments and perhaps it will shed some light on where a lot of your feelings and attitudes around the industry may have come from.

The History of Network Marketing

Network Marketing as a means of product distribution – which is really all that it is – has been around literally forever.

You can go back through history and the establishment of trade routes and find examples of traders who distributed goods, food, and fur, face-to-face, on behalf of various backers. Sometimes these backers were rulers of a country, sometimes they were powerful individuals, and sometimes they were large businesses or companies.

The North American history of the notion of direct selling can be traced back to the 1600’s. For example, the Voyageurs established fur trading routes and posts on behalf of the Hudson Bay Company. The Hudson Bay Company itself relied upon the influence of Prince Rupert, who was the cousin of King Charles II, to acquire the Royal Charter which, in May, 1670 granted the lands of the Hudson Bay watershed to "the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson Bay."

In New England, in the mid 1700’s, began the phenomenon of the Yankee Peddler, in which peddlers would travel in their cart home to home throughout the countryside, selling their wares.

From there evolved the concept of the door-to-door salesman. The Watkins Company was launched in 1868, selling a popular liniment. The late 1800s saw the spawning of new companies employing door-to-door salesmen to distribute bibles, books, spices, remedies, perfumes, tonics and the like. The California Perfume Company, which later became better known as Avon, was founded in the late 1800s.

The Fuller Brush Company debuted in the early 1900s and it was Alfred Fuller who is credited with transforming door-to-door direct selling into something different. Rather than positioning himself as a salesman who sold brushes and focusing on the features of the brushes, he instead focused his attention on selling the benefits of his brushes to the consumers.

This is referred to as “empowering the consumer”.

His entire company vision was crafted in the context of the service he was able to provide to his customer. The approach was revolutionary.

The early 1900’s also saw the emergence of vacuum cleaner and encyclopedia companies such as Electrolux, World Book and Britannica.

It was a new age.

And that's where we'll pick up the story in Part 2.

Visit my website at http://www.inspiredabundance.com or feel free to email me at info@inspiredabundance.com

If you have questions about my posts or what I do, feel free to call me at +1-204-878-4564. I'm in the central time zone (GMT-6), so be nice about when you call!