As we get ready to begin 2010, it’s the perfect time for reflection on our choices that made 2009 … what it was. It was certainly the year of change for us, as I’m sure it was for many others. Looking back over 2009 – it was truly challenging, wonderful, and exciting, all at the same time.
2009 was the year Marty & I threw our ego’s completely out the door and became teachable and coachable, with a true desire to help others in an attempt to achieve greatness through gratitude.

It’s important that as we roll into the New Year, we continue our pledge and practice of Gratitude & Appreciation. In our business, we teach “Appreciation wins out over Self-Promotion every single time.” Now don’t you think, if everyone lived their life by such a creed that we’d be in a much better place? How might your outlook on life improve if you spent just five minutes in the morning looking around and reflecting on all your grateful for in your life.

We are grateful for things that cannot be measured and even down to life’s little indulgences like warm coffee with vanilla creamer on a wintry Florida day. Each and every morning, start your day off with love and appreciation “I am so happy and grateful that…” …You’d be surprised where that will lead you.

During this time of year I can’t help but reflect on the things that I believe in. I’d like to share with you some of my beliefs, and challenge you to take a moment to write your own list, along with the daily commitment to take time to reflect life’s blessings.

I believe the one thing in your life that you, and you alone, control is your mind. I believe that you can do anything you set your mind to.
I believe that we all have something to contribute to the world and have a choice to greatness.
I believe what you send out you get back. I believe that Gratitude is Attitude, and Attitude is everything. I believe an Attitude of appreciation trumps out an attitude of entitlement.
I believe that the written word is powerful and can change lives.
I believe it’s important to act on our promptings.
I believe that you must live each day as if it’s your last. And to ask yourself, where am I going after this is all gone?
I believe that we’re changing the world one card at a time.
I believe in paying cash for just about anything and not having any debt.
I believe that you can create anything as long as you have desire.
I believe that 2010 will bring more hardship for those who are mediocre and opportunity for those who are extraordinary innovative.
I believe in Jesus Christ and I cherish the annual celebration of his birth. I believe that changing the inner attitudes of our minds can change the outer aspects of our lives.
I believe in focusing on the core belief that we all have the desire to love and be loved.

God bless everyone!

Have a Great day, unless you have other plans !
~MB

All the people that are out and about yesterday and through this weekend are looking for the next ‘hot gift’ to give.  People are chasing sales, and fleeting trends trying to find a gift.  Well if guys are looking to get the ladies a timeless gift that doesn’t have to worry about trends or anything like that, check out H&H Jewelry Design in Grand Ledge.  They can help the ladies fill out their wish list of jewelry that they would like to see, and then the guys come in and just pick of their lady’s list.  It’s that simple.  Or you can go in together and design a perfect ring, or whatever else you have in mind.

The two owners have both been goldsmiths for 25-30 years and I’ve seen the on site shop where they do repairs before.  It’s impressive.  You name a jeweler’s tool, and i bet you it’s back there.  Plus, once you buy some nice diamond ring, you can always trust them to reset the diamond if you ever knocked it loose, or just clean up the ring and have it looking like new for special events etc.  Check them out!

Their website is: http://www.hhjewelrydesign.com/index.php

Perfect Traffic Storm is a new site that says it guarantees more web visitors and online advertising with very little effort or cost. More importantly, it promises higher CONVERSIONS–signups and sales. So I decided to put it to the test…

My first impression was the site looks professional and clean, with an attractive look and feel. It is easy to read and understand. Joining the site was easy and painless–they do offer 2 upgrade options but they are not required to gain the benefits.

The Members Area is very well laid out and intuitive–I could figure out what to do after only a few minutes and was able to get up and running in less than 5 minutes. Inside the site, you create links and ads–the links you simply enter any URL links you use into the generator and it transforms them into “Perfect Traffic Storm” links. You create ads for anything you want to promote using the Perfect Traffic Storm Ad Generator, which is very easy to use. You can create as many links and as many ads as you like. And they are organized in a logical way–links are displayed in the order you create them but also your 5 most recent links appear on the main page for quick reference. Also, since the link generator is the tool you’ll use most, it is also right at the top of the main page when you login. Very smart!

After you’ve created at least 1 link and 1 ad you can start to generate traffic. Just use and promote the new Perfect Traffic Storm link instead of the original source link you had. Every time the Perfect Traffic Storm link is clicked, the page loads followed by a small ad window in the lower right corner. It displays 3 ads PLUS an image with your affiliate link that goes back to Perfect Traffic Storm. So if anyone clicks the Perfect Traffic Storm image they see the site, and if they signup they become your referral. It’s a great viral feature because you can build referrals without even trying to just by using the site.

Now every time the ad window displays (your Perfect Traffic Storm links get clicked) you earn credits that get YOUR ad displayed in the ad windows when other members’ links get clicked. So the more clicks, the more times your ads get displayed.

And this works virally–meaning as you make referrals into Perfect Traffic Storm (either by promoting it or just using it and visitors click the Perfect Traffic Storm image on the ad window to join) you also earn ad credits on THEIR link clicks. And this works up to 5 levels deep. So you can create a massive amount of free ad views and web traffic by referring others to Perfect Traffic Storm also.

I didn’t get to test the full effect of a big downline yet (I just got the tool) but I can tell you the rest of the site works exactly as stated–my links got clicked, I earned credits, and my ads got displayed. Perfect Traffic Storm even tracked my results so I know how many clicks and how many ad displays. That was an impressive unadvertised extra feature.

There is one more benefit and feature which might be the best of them all–downline emailing. You can email your downline with offers, promotions, or whatever you like, and here is where Perfect Traffic Storm really shines. They took time to make the emailing often enough that it’s valuable as a user, but no so often that it’s a burden to your downline. But the best part about this feature (and actually the credit earning too) is that it tells you exactly how long until you can mail again. Now THAT’s cool.

Overall I have to say I am impressed with Perfect Traffic Storm. It is simple yet powerful, and delivers on its promises. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to increase traffic and advertising.

See it and join here:
Perdect Traffic Storm

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  I enjoy bright sunny days with a crisp chill in the air, being warm and cozy at home with family.  This is also a time of year where we think about all that which we are thankful.

Gratitude is a key factor when in business; however why does it always have to be shown in the form of Thank You?  How much do you GIVE this time of year?

Do you have employees?  What are some ideas for giving to them?  Depending on your business and your employees needs you can give them extra paid time off to spend with their families or a gift card to the local market to help them with their holiday meal.  Better yet, ask each one how you can make this year’s Thanksgiving the best ever?  Listen to their answers and do your best to follow through – you may hear some simple requests that are easy to accomplish.

What about your customers?  How can you give to them?  For the rest of the year, make a genuine offer to help.  You can say something like, “Jim, what are you struggling with the most in your business right now?  I would love to see how I can help you overcome this”.  It may not even be related to your business but you may have knowledge, resources and/or referral partners who can really be of benefit.

How can you give back to your referral partners?  Have a similar conversation with them that you have with your customers.  How can you help them move their business forward from now until the end of the year?  What do they need to accomplish?  Offer to have a brainstorming session to help them get to those goals.

During these days of gratitude, I find fulfillment and pleasure when I know I have selflessly given to help others.   How can I help you?

Today I am looking forward to getting adjusted tomorrow. So today’s referral is going to be Dr. Sylvester and Dr. Beth at HealthZone Chiropractic in Haslett. They are great! I really do enjoy whenever I am in their office to get adjusted. They both love the work they do, and truely care for their paitents. I would gladly recommend that even if you’ve never given chiropractic a try before that you checkthem out. They will educate you until you feel like you should be awarded a D.C. If you want them to. They are great people, and on top of that you get all the health benefits from being adjusted.

You can find them athttp://www.hlchiro.com/

For me, I find solo ads to be one of the best forms of online advertising I use to promote my online business. If I send out a good solo ad to say a membership of 1000 people I may get 30 or 40 people join my mailing list right away. Is that good? I dunno! It’s good for me.

You can join text ad exchanges for free and lots of them will give you free incentives just for joining like free pro memberships or free ad credits or my favorite free solo ads. Sometimes when their just starting out you can buy extra advertising for a really good price too.

When you join a text ad exchange use a gmail account that you don’t use for the rest of your stuff. You’re going to end up getting a lot of emails from the other members. That’s a good thing, I’ll tell ya why. When you click on the link in their email you earn credits to use in your advertising. When they click your’s they get credits. Get it? Everybody wants credits that’s why solo ads work so well.

The most important part of the solo ad (other than the credit link) is your headline. If someone has a ton of solo ads in their email box they may just skip over them and look for emails that interest them. If you’ve got a good headline they may read yours.Use the personalization html code too if you can. It looks something like ~fname~ or {firstname} or whatever the text ad exchange uses. People like that kind of thing.

Next is the body of the solo ad. For heaven sakes you’re not trying to write a novel here. I can hardly get you to finish reading this blog and this is good stuff!

Keep it short, remember why their reading your solo ad. They want credits so they can advertise, they really don’t want what you’re selling. Well… they don’t thing they do but we’ll show them!  Give them two maybe three short lines, get to the point, then place your link where it’s supposed to go and that’s it.

Let your website do it’s job. The solo ad is just a way to get them to look at the website, it’s upto the website to “sell” the program.

This is only part of the story. There’s a lot more to know about how to write good ads, tracking ads, using capture pages, having an autoresponder and so on but for now practice sending out ads and have fun with it. We’ll get to the other stuff later.

You’ll find a list of text ad exchanges you can join for free at

http://wecanallget2.com/freetextads.html

and you’ll even find some more useful info on that page. If you want to promote this team go to this page http://wecanallget2.com/soloads.html and you’ll find some solo ads I wrote. Use them anytime  you want, just remember no spam please.

Brian Downie

WeCanAllGet2.com

There’s a lot of controversy surrounding Examiner.com. I author two topics on Examiner: LARP and Irish American culture. Here’s the concise scoop on Examiner in my opinion:

• Examiner does everything possible to support their writers.
• Examiner is ideal for new writers, writers looking to compile clips in new niches and anyone looking to gather a devoted following.
• The site does not mind minor promotion of the writer’s business interest.
• Page views are lower on Examiner than on comparable sites, but from what I can tell, the hits that do come through are more valuable–both in terms of advertising for the site and for writers looking to develop followers.
• I have made significantly more money in referrals than in writing: a 6:1 ratio.
• Post more, make more.
• Short posts can make as much as long posts.
• They are upfront about what they pay.
• Examiner currently offers bonuses and contest winnings (I would rather just be paid more for views).
• There is no upfront payment for articles on Examiner; they are worth page view only.

I am happy to answer questions about my positive experience writing for Examiner here.

Tired of a very low ‘paid per view’ rate? Would you like to write for a more professional, nationally recognized organization? Do you have experience as a writer and/or know a bit about SEO content? What about journalism experience? Do you know a niche topic and enjoy writing about it? Do you lack experience, but want an opportunity to prove yourself as a reporter?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you could have a lot of success as an online writer for The Examiner. Local and national examiners get to report on niche topics and locations, bringing in-depth perspectives that mainstream media just can’t cover.

If you’re interested, please go here to apply. When asked for a referral ID, please give my name (Tara Clapper) and ID (1458). Thanks and best of luck!

By Stephanie Young, Vice President BNI Success Connection

What are you passionate enough to fight for?  Do you have what it takes to stay the course?  My first inclination when asked to write this BlogSpot was to turn tail and run in the other direction.  Why, you ask? Here’s why, because I have never been asked to write a darn thing before and how could my director possibly know that I had it in me to do this? She does however, have an uncanny way or sense of seeing past the hard shell of insecurity to the soft, sweet, gooey center that represents triumph in the end.  Today, during our monthly leadership team meeting, our team was reflecting on the chapter’s current condition and how we might move into a new season of growth. Matter of fact, during our exchange, I threw out the old cliché coined by Mark Twain (which has become the title of this piece) “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” After hearing this, it prompted my director to ask me (yikes!) to write a blog around the saying.

This brings me back again to the question, “What are you passionate enough to fight for?” What the heck is so important in life that you will risk embarrassing yourself for, being transparent for, risking fear, shame, or humiliation for?

Depending on your sphere of influence or circle of friends, the prior comments may not even be an issue for you.  You may be so secure with yourself that you have no fear of rejection, have never felt fear or humiliation, but even for you; the question that still needs an answer is “What are you passionate enough to fight for?” Or better yet, stick your neck out for? Are you the tough big dog that’s all bark or are you the scruffy little fella who wants to take on the world!  I say, be the scruffy little fella.  While onlookers are saying “awwww, look at the scruffy little fella, how cute!” you’ve got your teeth in the big dog’s tushie and you’ve overtaken him (metaphorically speaking, of course).  Do you, big dog, have the tenacity of the little dog? Are you willing to give of your time, energy and resources to help other little dogs (and big dogs) move forward and become successful in their endeavors no matter what? There are some that will take up the little dog mantle. They will help them conquer their fear of speaking in front of others, they will become selfless, and they will want to share in the greater good. They will become “passionate” about helping others in any way they can. They will participate in activities without fear of looking silly.

What does all this have to do with BNI?
BNI is an organization for the person that’s willing to fight through the visibility stage, fight their way through the credibility stage, all while managing to learn about other members and their businesses. They bite off and give big referrals and expect nothing in return. They participate in chapter growth. They are ambitious, welcome challenges and offer solutions. In turn, they are victorious (and prosperous)!

Thea Westra (Forward Steps) says: “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. When you are seeking to bring big plans to fruition, it is important with whom you regularly associate. Hang out with friends who are like-minded and who are also designing purpose-filled lives. Similarly, be that kind of a friend for your friends”. (Birds of a feather? … another topic for another time?)
So…How did I do?

Stephanie Young of Ecoquest International is a proud member of BNI Success Connection. She can be reached at 213 221-0811 pr via email at: singzhzprzs@live.com

I’m often asked why I don’t advocate using incentives to influence clients and prospects to give referrals.  My reasoning is two fold:  first, if your referral generation process is effective and you execute it correctly, you don’t need to give incentives; and second, if done correctly, incentives can be very effective—but most salespeople find giving effective incentives to be cumbersome and time consuming.

Let me explain.

I coach and train clients who use incentives very effectively.  They are a key part of their referral generation process.  They follow the PWWR Referral Generation System™ to the letter—with the exception of their explanation of why it is in the client’s best interest to give them referrals.  Instead of explaining to the client how their being referral-based is an asset to the client and why giving referrals insures the client receives the purchasing experience they want, these salespeople prefer giving incentives.

The difference between the incentives they give and those most salespeople give is the secret to why their incentive program is so successful—and why it is so cumbersome.

Typically, salespeople will make one of three mistakes when giving incentives:

• The incentive is not an incentive, it’s a bribe—a sizable chunk of money, at least in relation to the cost/value of their product or service, in the hopes of getting referrals.
• The incentive is not an incentive, it’s a come-on—it is nothing more than a discount for their own products or services which many clients see as nothing more than another way for the salesperson to get more business from the client.
• The incentive has limited appeal.  For instance, they’ll give a $10 gift card to Starbucks or coupon for a car wash.  That is, an incentive given to everyone but with limited appeal.

Incentives need to be just that—an incentive, something that encourages people to give referrals, not a reward, not a bounty. 

What does an effective and reasonable incentive look like?

Let me give an example from one of my clients.

I have a small IT client who uses incentives very effectively.  As a matter of fact, prior to working with me, they gave cash incentives believing money would motivate clients.  Although they initially resisted changing their incentive program, since changing they’ve increased their referrals by over 1,700%.  Much of that change is due to implementing the PWWR Referral Generation System, but the incentive they provide is their reason referrals are in their client’s best interest to give.  Not only have they saved a small fortune by not giving large cash incentives, the incentive itself is far more effective.

They focus mainly on installation and service work for small to mid-size companies.  They, of course, are constantly looking for other small to mid-size companies that don’t have an IT department that they can help with both their installation and performance issues. 

They use incentives as their reason that it is in their client’s best interest to give referrals.  But their incentive isn’t a discount nor is it dollars.  Rather, they get to know their clients very, very well.  They get to know their clients so well that they can focus their incentive to meet that individual client’s personality and interests. 

For instance, one of their clients is a small publishing company.  The company publishes cookbooks.  The owner of the company collects antique and rare cookbooks.  Although her collection is quite large, she is still constantly looking to add to her collection.  Every time she refers someone to her IT service company, they go to a used and rare bookstore and purchase her—you guessed it, an antique cookbook.

They never spend more than 25 or 35 dollars.  The incentive is small—nothing compared to what she will spend with them over the course of the year—or what they would have given her in the past.  But she will kill to find new referrals that she can make because she appreciates the attention they give her.  Obviously, they aren’t giving every client who refers someone to them a cookbook.  They go out of their way to show their appreciation to her by doing something unique just for her.

Another of their clients is a minor league baseball team.  This team has been around since the 50’s.  Over the years, they’ve had hundreds of players come through their team and eventually go on to the majors, some for only a few days, others have become stars.  What do they do for this client?  Every time the team gives them a referral they find and purchase a baseball artifact associated with one of the players that had played for the team who eventually went on to the majors.  The team has started a “museum” (read trophy case) based on the artifacts they’ve received from their referrals.  Again, they only spend a few dollars on each item.  The dollars they spend isn’t what gets the client’s attention—it’s the attention to detail and the uniquely personal nature of the incentive.  Like the publisher above, the baseball team is always looking for referrals to give—and new artifacts to include in their display.

Obviously, this incentive system requires getting to know the client well.  That’s actually the easy part.  The tough part is finding the incentive item.  The IT company above may spend weeks looking for the appropriate incentive gift for their minor league client.  Instead of investing money in the client’s incentive, they invest their time, their effort, and their creativity.  Most importantly, they invest their attention and their sincere interest in the client.

Using incentives can be very effective and need not be costly if done correctly.  Avoid costly bribes.  Don’t give money; give personal attention.  Certainly, don’t give a discount coupon or any other “incentive” to spend more money with you.  And avoid blanket incentives that are easy to give and have little impact.

The key to an effective incentive program isn’t the dollar value—it’s the personal value.

Social Media

Twitter, LinkedIn Groups, the blogosphere, Business First, and even the Columbus Dispatach have published numerous articles about the new order faced by business professionals who will be successful. Down goes the traditional marketing with mega advertising budgets and the A, B, C’s of selling (Always Be Closing). No longer is mass mailing thousands of strangers good enough (or wise enough) to put companies near the top of the heap. Now, we have umpteen ways of connecting with people, and getting them to know us, like us, and trust us. Twitter’s micro-blogs enable links to important and informative tidbits about us, our products and our brands while giving followers insights to us as ‘real people,’ not just our ‘Tweeple,’ personae. Blogging (umm, like this. . . ) is a larger stage for us to elaborate the points we want to make while staying on brand and message (as appropriate for our businesses) and inspiring readers to click through to our web sites to gather great tidbits as they move their way down our qualification funnels. Striving to have the most valuable answer on LinkedIn Questions is another way to get visible and credible, and let’s not forget the score of other social media sites liek Digg, Myspace, YouTube, Delicious, Stumbleupon, Technorati, and others that support online social media marketing efforts.

And . . . face to face contact is still the most vital element to develop deep, meaningful relationships that lead to long-lasting, fulfilling, and yes, even profitable referrals. I truly believe social media and face to face networking are strongest when used in the same strategy. I have a personal story that’s a super example of how social media can bring people together. A couple of weeks ago I was at a conference, and I happened to Tweet about one of the sponsors as they were mentioned in the keynote address. The next day, I was searching the exhibitor area for the sponsor, and couldn’t find them. I walked up to another exhibitor whom I knew, and asked if he knew where I could find the other sponsor. He laughed, and introduced me to the business owner, standing right next to him. The sponsor had received a Google Alert about my tweet, and asked the exhibitor if he knew me, just a few seconds before I showed up! His ability to track my tweet put him in a position to meet me, so we can continue to develop a mutually fulfilling relationship.

Santa Claus

Last week I was working the room at a large networking event, when what to my wondering eyes should appear, but an elf with a big belly of lard, and in his left hand was his business card! Yes, Santa Claus (remember him from the title of this blog?) was networking the mixer, eager to discuss how he could help the real Santa (after all, networking is about helping, right?) speak with kids at parties and shopping centers.

According to the Entrepreneur magazine article,  He’s really big this year,  Santa’s popularity with retailers is driving demand for Santa’s helpers to new heights. Shopping center and mall managers realize that people come to their establishments for more than shopping. People are looking for more ways to connect and feel connected with other people, and having one of Santa’s helpers on-hand is drawing visitors to their establishments.

So, the Santa helper I met is being a wise old elf. (Ummm, more like mid-30’s, so not so old). He’s extending his network of contacts, so he can help others find more ways to make connections, while he (hopefully) increases his revenues.

Happy Monday Everyone! Hopefull you are in the start of a productive AND short week, before a filling day of being thankful. My Monday has been way too full, so you are getting this update a little late…Sorry!

My Referral for today is Hart-Davidson Design. Located in Holt MI, Hart-Davidson Designs will help you decide what to do with any home design project. It could be as big and complicated as a huge funky commercial space with themes and variations, or as simple as deciding what color should you paint the spare bedroom.

The best part about their process is that You (yes you) actually get a say in how things will turn out! They work WITH you to design your space. They don’t just swoop in, take over, and leave, with you in the background looking sad and lost.

They can be found online at Hart-Davidson Designs

Leslie (the owner) is also very passionate about educating people about design and freely sharing her expertise through community seminars, and educational talks at home shows. Be sure to look (on their web page) where they are heading next!

They are great and they are my referral for today! Go forth and design!

I grew up listening to sage words of advice; like the best way to grow a business is by word of mouth. Never once did I hear about the correct way to give a referral of business. Years later as an entrepreneur I have learned the truth of that saying and more importantly how to give a business referral and yes, even what to do with one once you get it.

I have also learned that not all referrals are actually referrals. It isn’t beneficial for example, for a client to recommend us to their friend in order to secure a clown for their child’s birthday party. It would be much simpler for our client to ask us who we would recommend and then pass that referral on to their friend.

A good referral should be one that matches your skill set or the person’s to whom you are giving the referral. As an example, if you know someone who is a great real estate agent specializing in commercial property you probably don’t want to refer them someone who is interested in buying their first house. Refer them to a real estate agent who specializes in first time home buyers instead. Using my industry as another example, even though I am a corporate event planner it doesn’t mean that I specialize in non-profit fundraisers. There are event planners out there that make their entire living from those kinds of events.

When you give a referral give the person you are referring as much information as possible. We all know to give the standard name, address, email, phone and address but stop and think about what other information you can provide. How long have you known them? How much do you know about what they are looking for? What kind of person are they? What is the best way to communicate or work with them from your experience?

Once you have gotten the referral it is just as important how you follow up with it. Make sure when you contact the referral that you tell them who referred you and offer up why. Document the progress of the referral and send the referee updates on the referral. If the referral doesn’t pan out thank both the referral and the referee for the opportunity. If the referral does pan out and become a solid piece of business make sure to send a personal, handwritten note of thanks to the referee. A small gift relevant to the amount of business would also be a nice touch.

Referrals are the best form of advertising so it is important to not lose out on this vital piece of your business because you mishandle the situation when it appears.

When I was a kid spam came in a can and you ate it in a sandwich. Now it’s a name used to describe a nasty Internet practice.

Spam is unsolicited advertising, ussually in the form of unwanted emails. Don’t do it, it’s illegal and it’s not nice. Most good affiliate programs will ask you to leave their program if you’re caught spaming ’cause they don’t want trouble with the law.

If you see an email address in a list that isn’t yours and you copy it to use in your marketing campagn that’s called harvesting. That’s not a nice thing to do either.

Watch out for ad blasters too. You want to be really sure that the recipients of the emails gave permission to the blaster. It’s not likely.

What about spam coming at you? You’re an online marketer and you’re trying to build a business right? You want your customers to know how to find you so you put your email address out there. So what can you do?

First, get a free gmail account, it’s the number one choice in Internet marketing. It has a good spam filter but you still get to see the email so you can decide if the email was spam or not. Gmail will also allow you to create filters so that repeated emails, even from sources you allowed to contact you, can be filed before they hit your inbox. Pretty handy.

Oh, and this is important. Use one email for personal emails and don’t let it get messed up with your business mail.

If a spam email is really offensive you can always report it as spam and the spammer’s email provider will be contacted by your email provider. They’ll get a cease and desist order.

Hmmm, I’ve gotten those and I wasn’t even spamming anyone. Like I said get a gmail account, lots of the other providers like to decide what’s spam without your input. Even if you wanted the email they’ll block it!

If the spammer happens to be another marketer I just love emailing them back with my program or offer. This sort of thing works well…

Hi So-and-so, thanks for this great offer. I just don’t have time to promote another program right now. Have you ever tried promoting your business using (put your favorite ad source here), it’s off the hook. I get qualified leads everyday!

Or how about this one…

Hey So-and-so, thanks for this amazing offer but I have to tell you, if I make any more money online I won’t know what to do with it! hehahe You should join me at the (put your biz here) it’s awesome. I can’t get over how much money I’m making.

You may be skeptical but I really do get leads this way.

Last but not least…hit delete and move onto the next email. Just don’t delete mine okay? )

Brian Downie

WeCanAllGet2.com

It’s pretty easy really.

Someone visits our team capture page.   If they like what they see they join our mailing list and they get an invite to our website, WeCanAllGet2.com.

Most of the programs that are featured on our website are advertising companies. Every online marketer needs advertising. So if they see a program they like and can use in their online business they’ll find easy to follow instructions asking them to send me an email that tells me they’d like to join. I send them the referral url that belongs to one of our team members that needs referrals. They join and send me their new referral url so I can include it as part of the team build.

There’s no guarantee that anyone will ever get a referral or if they do how long it will take but so far people are having good results and their downlines are growing.

For most people it sure beats going it alone. If you haven’t already joined our team why not join us right now? We can start building your downline right away.

Brian Downie

WeCanAllGet2.com

If we want to be good marketers and have success online we better think about changing some of our bad habits.

It takes time to build a good, profitable online business. There is no such thing as get rich quick. Sorry if you’ve been mislead but it’s time for the truth. If you don’t have what it takes to stick with it, it  just ain’t gonna happen for you.

One of the biggest mistakes we ALL make is program hopping. Program hopping is jumping from one program to the next hoping for a bit of good luck. Maybe it should be called program hoping?

You’re surfing for credits and you see an amazing opportunity that looks way better than the one you’re promoting. I mean, you’ve been running a whole bunch of ads and no one wants to join your stuff. This new one is way better, you should be able to get people to join it for sure.

Forget about it!

The problem isn’t the program you’re promoting, it’s the way you’re promoting it. Here’s a dose of reality for ya. If you can’t promote your program what makes you think you can promote the next one?

I’ve even been told by tons of people that they were scammed by this program or that because “it didn’t work” or they were cheated because everyone knows it’s only the “guy at the top” that’s gonna get anything out of it.

The fact is you weren’t scammed  (well sometimes you are) and the reason the guy at the top did well is because he knows how. That’s what’s stopping you form doing well, you just need to learn how and it takes time.

One of the real benefits to the Fa$tCa$h-System is the training videos. It’s worth every penny of the $12 it cost you to join the Fa$tfCa$h-System even if the only thing you ever do with it is watch the training videos. The first 3 videos are by a guy named Tim Sales. Watch them and if you don’t get what he’s telling you watch them as many times as you need to. Tim is about to tell you the truth that we all need to hear.

Please, for your own good, stop program hopping and learn to promote the program you already joined. You liked it when you joined so will a lot of other people. You just need to know where to find them.

Brian Downie

WeCanAllGet2.com

If you’re reading this blog you probably joined one or more of the affiliate programs listed on our team website at WeCanAllGet2.com… welcome to our team!

You’re wondering what to do next right?

You have choices. You can promote the programs you joined as stand alone programs  or you can promote our team. Promoting our team makes the team stronger and benefits all of the members, we always share new referrals as fairly as possible. That means if someone new joins us they may be placed in your downline even if you didn’t invite them to the team!

If you want to promote the team you can use these capture pages. Just copy and paste the url anywhere you need to use it. Just don’t spam please, it’s illegal and it’s just not nice.

http://1942165.webbizzoffers.com or

http://1942165.webbizzoffers.com/primarybusiness.html

When people put  their information into our capture page they’ll be invited to our autoresponder and I can email them about the team from time to time. That’s a really effective way to market our team and our affiliate programs.

You can join our team forum by following this link WeCanAllGet2 and you can even follow us on twitter by going here WeCanAllGet2. I’m looking forward to you joining us there.

If you got to this page and you haven’t enrolled in our mailing list at WeCanAllGet2 I recommend doing that now. It’s a great way to get updates about this team.

It doesn’t matter if  you promote your programs or this team or both… every new member that joins you in one of our affiliate programs is welcome to become a member of this team and we will gladly help them build their business. Just send them an invitation, we’re happy to help.

Brian Downie

WeCanAllGet2.com

I’m Brian Downie the creator of WeCanAllGet2.com

I’ve been a part time online marketer for a little over three years. I had some success as a marketer but not what I was hoping for. It seemed like no matter how hard I worked I just couldn’t get my head above water. I sure wasn’t seeing the mind numbing massive income that most affiliate programs claim is possible.

I worked hard, I tried to learn new skills, I figured I was making all the right moves, I even made it onto the leader board in a few different affiliate programs… so why wasn’t it working?  Lack of duplication!

I could do it but the people I introduced to the affiliate programs  just weren’t duplicating my efforts. Without duplication there was no progress and there never would be.

So I started a marketing team.

I created a website, WeCanAllGet2.com. I made capture pages that everyone on the team could use, I started a forum so we can all get together to share ideas and strategies and now I’m writing this blog so I can share marketing ideas with my team members.

I looked for people that want what I want. People that will put forth effort and have the drive to succeed. People that are willing to learn and are open to new ideas. People that know success doesn’t happen over night. People that want to help others and will work as a team.

This is WeCanAllGet2.com and it works!

Why don’t you join our team? We’d be happy to have you.

Brian Downie

WeCanAllGet2.com

Ivan Misner, Guest Author –

When I ask people what they think the #1 trait of a master networker is, most people think it’s that master networkers, above all, give referrals to others.

However, according to a survey of more than two thousand business people from four countries that was published in Masters of Networking, a book I co-wrote with Don Morgan, the number one trait of master networkers is that they follow up on the referrals they are given. “Giving referrals” didn’t even make the top five!

The reason for this top ranking is that if you present opportunities to someone who consistently fails to follow up successfully – whether it’s a simple piece of information, a special contact, or a qualified business referral – it’s no secret that you’ll eventually stop wasting your time on that person. He’s an embarrassment to you, as the referral giver, and to the prospect, who ends up wondering if he did something wrong.

So, if you strive to be a master networker, always remember: when it comes to business referrals, following up is not an option; it’s a life-or-death requirement.

Copyright © 2009 – Ivan Misner. Reprinted with permission. Called the father of modern networking, Dr. Ivan Misner is the Founder of BNI and the senior partner for the Referral Institute. He has written nine books, including his recently released New York Times best seller, Truth or Delusion? Busting Networking’s Biggest Myths. Adapted from the article, “Attending Networking Events.”

So apparently Swagbucks is pretty well known out there but I just stumbled across it the other day and set my account up today. It’s a really cool site that gives you “swagbucks” (hence, the name) for doing things online that you already do- searching, shopping, etc. When you earn enough swagbucks (SB), you can trade them in for prizes like gift cards, DVDs, etc. I posted a link on my sidebar with my referral info so if you’re planning on checking the site out (which I highly recommend doing!) you should use my link to get there so that I get some bucks! My current goal is to earn 130 SB to get a $10 starbucks gift card to put in a gift basket for my mom for Christmas. :]