What Makes A Good Leader?
As I was getting some stuff done on my computer a Tweet popped up on my screen from Lynn Terry from ClickNewz.com. The Tweet commented that a certain “Guru” had paid her site a visit, so I thought I would check it out. You can see for yourself here:
After reading Lynn’s post and seeing all the comments, I was left with mixed feelings. It got me to thinking about the leaders in our Industry and what makes them a leader. I have never been a big fan of this particular marketer, he has some great marketing advice, but never really cared for the way he comes across. Not putting the guy down, just not my style I guess.
Anyways, as I was thinking about what makes a good leader I thought about people like Lynn Terry, there is much you can learn from her. I appreciate her integrity and her caring for those in the Clicknewz community. I also thought about Mike Dillard of Magnetic Sponsoring, who has played a huge impact on how I do business. There are others I could mention such as, Eben Pagan, Yanik Silver, etc. But what makes them leaders? Or maybe I should say, what makes them “good” leaders in the Industry?
It is said that “birds of a feather flock together” and I have found this to be true in many different situations. People who have rejection issues, seems to always find friends with the same issues. People with an entrepreneurial mindset don’t normally make it a huge habit to hang out with people that have a “poverty mentality”. What I am trying to get as is, people always seem to flock to others with the same issues, beliefs, mindsets, etc.
I believe Mike Dillard provides a great answer to what makes a good leader in his book Magnetic Sponsoring. He gives a list of qualities that makes a good “Alpha” or Leader.
Here are some tidbits of what Mike says in his book:
“Alphas are the people whom others want to be like. They know exactly what they want and focus their energies on achieving their goals. They offer tremendous amounts of value to others, they truly love themselves. They love and protect those who matter to them. They respect themselves, and their bodies, dressing with style, and living healthy lifestyles.”
You may disagree, but Mike brings out some great points. I see those kinds of traits in Mike, Lynn, Eben and Yanik. Which brought me to another question, is it smart to follow “leaders” who don’t show those kinds of traits?
This is where people start getting uncomfortable. 
Just because someone is successful in business, does that qualify them to be worthy of your time and/or money? Personally, I don’t believe so. Why is it we show more respect to someone with a lot of money compared to someone who may know a lot, but not have millions? Is that right or fair? When I choose people that I want to learn from, they have to qualify for my time. And I do look at how they live when they are not in the spot light. You may think that is irrelevant and that’s fine if you do. That’s just not how I roll. I’m not talking about being judgmental of that person, nobody is perfect. But I would rather learn marketing from someone who lives with integrity rather than someone who promotes drugs. See what I’m saying? Talking about drug or cussing does not show me they are professionals. In fact it shows the opposite.
I have found in all areas of life, when you have leaders and followers, the followers usually start acting like the leaders and adopting their attitudes and beliefs. Since that is true, it makes sense to be a little more picky about whom you follow and learn from.
Now let me turn this around a little. I encourage you whether you agree or disagree with what I have said. Be the best leader you can be for your down line. Be the person who leads the way to success for those team members who don’t have a clue what to do. Show them how to become better people and that they are worth more than just settling for second best. Because you know what? Whether you know it or not, there are people looking up to you to lead the way and they might want to be just like you. Are you the leader you want to be?
My thanks go out to the leaders out there who are leading the way in the Industry.
Thank you Lynn Terry, Mike Dillard, Eben Pagan and all the others out there that are doing such a great job.
Who’s the Boss? The Alpha War in Network Marketing
For those of you have read Mike Dillard’s book Magnetic Sponsoring, you understand the Alpha concept. With that concept in mind, have you even been in an alpha war?
Have you ever been talking with a prospect and they start making the demands, they start telling you what you are going to do for them? They control the conversation. Well, that’s not good when that happens. I am a firm believer we need to be professionals and leaders and when someone challenges our leadership, we don’t back down. Now let me make this clear, I’m not talking about being an egotistical jerk, what I am talking about is, holding your ground and raising the standard in the MLM Industry.
When you have a prospect sizing you up over the phone or in person, don’t sweat it. Be yourself and be what you are to your team, if that’s a leader, then be a leader.
There are always going to be other people out there that are true “alphas” and alpha wannabes. Either way this is great motivation to hone your skills and add value to yourself. The more you can offer to others that many other people can’t offer to their team, the more valuable you become. I talk to many people who have no clue about how to use the Internet to promote their business, so I become valuable in their eyes because I can help them with that. See what I mean? This is where a lot of people start getting puffed up on pride, then they become jerks. You don’t want that to happen to you, so watch out!
In the heat of an alpha war, you need to remember to keep your cool, don’t get mad, leave that for the other guy to do. If you start talking in a bad way, you just lost.
As you continue to position yourself as a professional, there will be people out there to challenge you. Good, you will grow from that too!
I remember talking with a guy who had contacted me about my opportunity; this guy had been in Network Marketing for many years and had done a pretty good job from what he said. The second time we talked on the phone he said he was debating between signing up with me and another guy. He then went on to talk about me signing a contract with him stating I would do such and such for him. Well, that was the end for me. I politely told him the choice was his to make, that he needed to go with the person who would be the best support for him. I also went on to tell him that I didn’t need him to succeed. The call was ended soon after that.
The point, yeah he probably could have brought many into my team, but it’s not worth the headache dealing with someone who is going to demand you to do things that are his job to do! My success does not rely on that guy and neither does yours, so don’t get desperate and sign up someone who is going to suck the life out of you.
Once again, that could have been taken as egotistical, but it’s not. Alphas protect what’s valuable to them, their time, their family, their team, etc. They are not going to compromise that for some demanding guy. It’s all a part of the alpha war.
So continue to sharpen your skills and become the leader you need to be. If you would like more information on being an Alpha, I recommend picking up a copy of Magnetic Sponsoring. You won’t regret it.
Paul Cooley Radio for Entrepreneurs
Just wanted to give everyone an update on my radio show…
We are now live at: PaulCooleyRadio.com
I welcome you to join me live on Saturdays at 12:30 p.m. PST.
I am very excited about the guests I have lined up for you. We are covering some awesome marketing topics to boost your business!
Look forward to seeing you there!
Investing In Your Home Based Business
When it comes to investing in your Home Based Business, it really comes down to, investing in yourself…
Creating value in yourself through teachings, training and knowledge is how you are going to get your business to the next level. Please don’t get me wrong though either, once you have that knowledge you need to put it into action. You can spend twenty years learning something and not be productive and bring in any income at all. There is no point in that at all!
I would like to take you through my world of learning for a moment and show you how I invest in myself. I have been through many courses and teaching series, but I want to focus on newsletters I am subscribed to that I think you would benefit from.
First and foremost, is the Bible… I believe you have to know that you can’t do it on your own and God is bigger than you and your business. The Bible also teaches a LOT about money and how to wisely use it, which is very important for you and your business.
The second, thing I read is Mike Dillard’s “Inner Circle” monthly newsletter. There is a lot of good content in this newsletter for beginners and advanced marketers. There has been some awesome info on split testing lately, which is a big deal. I would say if you are in MLM and ready to step it up a notch, you should check this out. You can subscribe to the Inner Circle newsletter by purchasing Magnetic Sponsoring or Building On A Budget. Both very good books and well worth the money.
The third publication I am very excited about is the just released, “The Net Effect” from StomperNet. I just received my second issue today and I can’t say enough about this publication. It covers everything from where your customer’s eyes go when looking at your site, to SEO (Search Engine Optimization), to Social Media, email marketing and much more! I highly recommend subscribing to this one! Very good quality!
The third newsletter I subscribe to is Joel Comm’s Top 1% Report. This is a great newsletter that covers a lot of different aspects to business. From iPhone Applications, to way to be productive and so on. You can check it out and get a Free copy at the following link or you can get a Free copy of it by clicking on this Google Adsense link. If you get Joel’s Adsense Book for Free, which also comes with a whole bunch of MP3 files you will also get a copy of his Top 1%. So that’s the way I recommend you go for that one.
Now the newest Newsletter that just came out and that I’m excited about is Yanik Silver’s The Maverick Business Insider. At the moment, Yanik is giving away a Maverick Insider package for Free! All you have to do is pay shipping. I don’t know how long that will last though. After ordering the package, I received it in just a couple days. I have to say I love it! I received CD’s, a DVD, a 34 Rules For Maverick Entrepreneurs poster, a book and the newsletter. All VERY GOOD! I don’t plan on canceling my subscription anytime soon. What Yanik has done is found a whole bunch of “self-made millionaires” that no one has heard of and interviews them. I was very happy with this first issue and learned some things that I am putting into action at the coffee shop my wife and I own. Once again, I highly recommend this one as well! Be sure to get your package for Free while you can! You won’t be sorry!
I hope you have enjoyed the look into the newsletter that I read. Please understand, you have to invest in your Home Based Business and you do it by investing in yourself with teachings and newsletters that are relevant to your niche. I do encourage you to check out all of the newsletters I have mentioned here, I think you will defiantly like them.
Until next time…
I wish you the best of Success!
The following is a list of other material that I have invested in:
Yanik Silver’s Maverick Business Insider Package For Free!
I normally don’t go around just promoting anything, but I’m going to go out on a limb with this one. For those of you that know Yanik Silver, he always over delivers on all of his products.
Well, he just came out with an awesome and very surprising offer called the Maverick Business Insider. If you remember a while back on a blog post I mentioned a blog post Yanik did called “The 34 Rules Of Maverick Entrepreneurs”.
This stuff was just a big hit, Yanik is offer a whole bunch of cool Maverick content for Free! All you have to do is pay shipping!
There is also a new Maverick Business Insider newsletter included for free for the first month. In this newsletter will cover many awesome Entrepreneur training and many stories of many millionaires you have never heard of and how they got to where they are. There will be very good info in these newsletters without a doubt!
In fact, I am so confident you will like what is in this package…
If you buy from this link below and you don’t like what you receive, I have a special bonus for you. You just let me know 
Anyways, I hope you enjoy everything that is included in this Maverick Business Insider package.
Outsourcing Fastfood?!
Believe it or not, there is really a McDonalds that is doing this! lol
Outsourcing - The Missing Puzzle Piece?
In my previous post, we talked about being laser focused in order to be productive. Now I want to cover how to get done all the non-profit tasks that need to be done, without taking away from you getting the “money making” tasks compete.
As we all eventually learn, it’s impossible for you to do all the tasks it takes to run a successful business by yourself. But, it’s not impossible for all that tasks to get done. Here is the secret all the “big dogs” do with their businesses…
Outsourcing is the secret and if you have never thought about it, I strongly recommend you do so. Outsourcing is where you hire someone else to do a task for you. The goal is to outsource all the tasks you are either not good at doing and/or the small tasks that need to be done, allowing you to stay laser focused on the income making tasks.
If you take a look at most of the pros out there, that’s what they do. They focus on the most important tasks and they manage other people to do the rest.
It is said in Jeff Mills’ free Outsourcing eBook that “outsourcing is delegating tasks, talents, and abilities of others so that you can work less and make more money”.
You can outsource many things and it isn’t as hard or scary as you might think. You can outsource blogs, web designs, copywriting, graphics, and just about anything else you can think of. Now I should also mention that you can also look into getting a VA or a Virtual Assistant. You may look at a VA as either a full-time or part-time employee, or just someone you hire for some specific tasks.
Outsourcing is pretty much the same thing; I guess it’s all in the way you look at it. There are many places on the web you can go to find some good outsourcing sites, like:
www.elance.com
www.guru.com
www.rentacoder.com
www.getafreelancer.com
www.ifreelance.com
And many others…
I recently tried out www.Need-an-Article.com for something I didn’t want to write myself, so I could focus on more important projects.
Outsourcing is also a great way to provide jobs for others, for example www.HireMyMom.com is a site where moms who left their corporate careers to stay at home with their kids, yet still make some extra money providing services that need to be outsourced.
I truly believe outsourcing is the missing puzzle piece for many hard working entrepreneurs. I see so many business owners working countless hours and still failing miserably, just think what your business would be like if you could outsource some of your projects…
So fire yourself from the things you aren’t good at and hire someone else to do them. And it’s not as expensive as you might think it is. Also, don’t be scared of outsourcing, the first time is probably the hardest… But very worth it!
Happy Outsourcing!
Want to talk more about Outsourcing, register at our Discussion Forum for Free!
Aweber and Twitter Combined Forces!
Just wanted to let all of you know about some breaking news! For those of you that are using Aweber as your auto responder provider, you will be happy to hear you can now use your Aweber newsletters with Twitter! You can find out more info here.
This is going to be huge! I can see this boosting your subscriber numbers in huge amounts!
Enjoy your new readers!
Join Us Live At Success Talk Radio
Join us live for the Success Talk Radio Show! I am doing my best to do this every Saturday at 12:30 p.m. PST.
We are covering all different topics to help you grow a successful business. And I am very sure you will enjoy the guests I have lined up for you.
Hope to see you there!
Laser Fosused on Your Building Your Business
I want to share with all of you something that was talked about this past weekend at the Illuminate Conference. It’s something I needed to hear without a doubt! I don’t know about you, but I am the kind of guy who comes up with TONS of ideas and most of them are pretty darn good I might add!
But the thing about that is, it can become very distracting from focusing on your primary project. A big mistake I have made is, having more than one “primary” projects! The other thing with good ideas are, they really don’t mean a whole lot if they aren’t bringing in income or helping people. I recommend, if you come up with the next million dollar idea, write it down and keep on moving forward with your current project.
With so many ideas floating around combined with all the tasks it takes to build a successful business, it’s REALLY easy to never get anything productive done.
This is where being “laser focused” instead of spotlight focused is crucial. For example, when a sniper uses a laser when aiming at his target, he is focused on just that, his target. He knows what that target is and he knows what it looks like. He also knows what it will take to get the job done. If that sniper used a maglight instead of the laser, there would be many more distractions in his view, making it harder to achieve his primary task.
We must stay laser focused with the primary tasks that brings in the income.
But you ask, what about all the other things that need to get done? Good question! But before I answer that, examine your work routine and the tasks you are spending your time on. Figure out which project you are going to laser in on and decide what tasks need to happen in order to get that project done.
In my next post I will share with you the way to stay laser focused and still get all your tasks done.
I Just Got Back From The Illuminate Conference!
Well, I just got back from San Francisco where the first ever Christian Internet Marketing Conference called Illuminate 2008 was held. I can truly say it was an awesome experience! It was great to be able to meet and shake hands with Alejandro Reyes, who put this conference together and guys like Joel Comm, as well as many who I had never heard of until the conference, but deserve recognition! Guys like Eric Ferewell, Paul Counts, Jeff Mills, Wade Tokin, Jermaine Griggs, Ruddy Ortiz and many others who were very knowledgeable.
It was great to be able to hang around fellow Christians and be able to talk about the Lord and marketing. During some after dinner brainstorming, a few of us are partnering up for a couple different projects, which is exciting!
I will also mention, the content that the speakers gave was amazing, there was no one person there who didn’t learn something. Truly there were some amazing strategies taught! I took a lot away with me and looking forward to putting these new tips and strategies to work.
It was pretty cool being able to get down to business, but then go and have fun. As you will see in the following video, I am revealing the BIG secret to what Internet Marketers really do at conferences
(Here are some pics of the secret too)
I highly recommend coming next year, you won’t be sorry! And I can’t forget to say thank you to Alejandro for being obedient and putting the Illuminate Conference together… So thank you Alejandro!
I hope to see all of you there next year in 2009!
Robert Kiyosaki Speaks About The Recession
I just got done with a conference call with Mike Dillard and Robert Kiyosaki. This was a call like no other calls Mike has done before. It was all about the economy and how Robert said these things were going to happen about twenty years ago.
This call was a good wakeup call and I’m sure it threw off a lot of the Network Marketers on the call. I have to mention as well, I thought Mike did a great job taking care of all the “wanna be” professionals that were shouting out their business URLs before the call. I have always respected Mike to not putting up with that kind of stuff.
Anyways, there is going to be a three day conference that Robert is putting on, where he will be teaching others how to stay ahead of everyone else when it comes to knowing where the economy is going.
A really cool thing is, Robert says that getting involved in a Home Based Business is the only way to go. If you are not in one, you should be NOW! Things aren’t getting better, but it’s no reason to stress. It just means it’s time to get a battle plan and that consists of getting involved in a home based business, where you are not only selling products people need, but also able to help others generate an income.
If you would like more info on choosing the right business for you, check out this article I wrote over at MLM Empire Training.
I am currently in the process of writing out a “Recession Proofing Business Battle Plan”. If you would like to be the first to read it, please fill out your name and email address in the blue box on the right >>>
Once again, the way the economy is going doesn’t mean it’s time to stress. It means it’s time to make your own economy! Which we will be covering in more detail here and inside The Fusion Formula.
I wish you all the best of success!
IFrame Generator - Link Cloaker
During a time of brainstorming with Cenay Nailor, it was brought up about something she had come up with. An awesome program for affiliate marketers called the IFrame Generator. Which is really a link cloaker and tracker. This is an awesome program and the amazing thing is, at the moment it’s Free! Grab yours while as soon as you can! You can down load it and watch a movie about it by going to Cenay’s site.
Hope you enjoy!
Protecting What’s Valuable in Your Business
When it comes to building and growing a successful business, you must take the time to pinpoint what are the biggest assets in the productivity of your business. I believe one of the most valuable things you have as an entrepreneur is your time. How you spend your time will determine what you get done and what you get done determines how much money you bring in.
A major problem I see that most people have is distractions and time killers. We waste so much time doing non-productive things. How many times in an hour do you check your email, answer the phone, Tweet, or get a cup of coffee? All those things take away from focusing on the tasks that bring in the income.
Interruptions are everywhere…
In fact, just in writing this post, I have had 5 interruptions!
Those that are in the Home Based Business Industry, we usually have a few extra distractions that many don’t understand. We have kids knocking on our doors (which is a blessing). We have the home phone ringing and the biggest one that bugs me is…
People don’t understand the fact that just because you are working from home, doesn’t mean you don’t do anything all day. You are a real business owner, so you will need time to do what needs to be done in your business. I recommend setting aside certain amounts of time that are for productivity tasks… Not talking on the phone or checking emails.
We have an awesome opportunity to have more time to spend with family and we should take advantage of that. Many of us started working from home to have more time and freedom. Yet, I heard a scary statistic by Rich Schefren, he said that they found that a lot of entrepreneurs spend more time with their email than they do their family. Thats crazy! That doesn’t sound like freedom to me.
I found some statistics on the web:
-The average person gets 1 interruption every 8 minutes, or approximately 7 an hour, or 50-60 per day. The average interruption takes 5 minutes, totaling about 4 hours or 50% of the average workday. 80% of those interruptions are typically rated as “little value” or “no value” creating approximately 3 hours of wasted time per day.
-The average worker sends and receives 190 messages per day.
I believe those statistics were from 1999, can you imagine what they are now!? With technology today, even though it has made things easier, it has also made it easier to get interrupted with all those text messages, instant messanger, Tweets, etc.
I say all of this to make you aware that there are many time killers that you have to protect you and your business from. So when friends are calling and you are in the middle of a project (and it’s not an emergency) call them back when you are done. Those kinds of interruptions can easily derail you from the tracks you are on.
I also want to mention there is a great article by Lynn Terry titled, “Get Your Focus! How to Beat Distraction”. I recommend you check it out.
So as you move forward in your productivity of your business, I wish you the best of success.
Target Marketing and Over Delivering
Recently Yanik Silver posted an article titled “34 Rules for Maverick Entrepreneurs”. Not only was this post one of his most popular posts, but also these 34 rules are awesome! I want to focus on rule “2”: Strive to create 10x – 100x in value for any price you charge. Your rewards are always proportionate to the value you provide.
This “rule” is something I have always respected about Yanik, he truly lives by this principle. Just buy one of his copywriting courses, it feels like a box of bricks when it shows up at your door!
I believe this “rule” of over delivering is such a huge, yet overlooked concept. Over delivering is not something that is often taught in the Home Based Business arena, so many don’t even think about it.
But just imagine what our businesses would be like if we did our business with that principle…
People would know you for your quality of content and in doing so, your business would explode. But far too often when we think of creating value above what we are charging for it, we think of a LOT of hard work… uh yeah! I do want to point out, that you are now a business owner, not an employee! Congratulations! So now it’s time to think like a business owner and brand you is the best way possible. One of the ways you do this is, to offer content that is so awesome people will be amazed at how little they paid for such valuable training, products, services, etc. Now notice, I’m not saying sell cheap, I’m saying provided content that is 10x-100x times its value. You will notice in Yanik’s list that rule #3 is charging a premium price. So it’s not about underselling, it’s about over delivering.
Since we are talking about Yanik Silver, I will also mention that in one of his “Underground Secret Society Reports”, he talks about how many people get turned off by cheaply priced stuff. It then comes down to perceived value. It could be an eBook with $1000.00 worth of info, yet selling for $12.00. People might pass it off as book not worth even checking out even though it’s very affordable.
I suppose it comes down to this…
Who your target audience is and what they can afford. Many go for the “premium buyers” because they can make much more in one sale. Compared to someone targeting “non-premium buyers” that would have to sell 100 or even a 1000 sales just to even that one “premium buyers” sale.
The thought behind selling at cheaper prices is that many more people will buy, compared to selling at high prices. The point comes down to this…
No matter what you are selling and who your target market is, offer premium content. If you adapt that concept into your business, you will see a rise in your results.
I wish you the best of success.
Time Management
Mobile post sent by PaulCooley using Utterli. Replies. mp3
Mind Mapping
Here is a pretty cool tool used for mind mapping. http://bubbl.us is a free mind mapping/brainstorming program that is really easy to us. I hope you enjoy the video!
Illuminate Conference 2008
It’s coming October 10th – 12th! It’s Illuminate Conference 2008! If you are ready to discover what makes people successful and to live with purpose, you are going to want to be at this conference! I am really looking forward to this conference and I hope to meet all of you there.
This conference has been put together by Alejandro Reyes, a.k.a. “SuccessFool”. Alejandro has an amazing line up of Christian Marketers who will be bringing great content! Guys like: Joel Comm, Jeff Mills, Dr. Mike Woo Ming, Paul Counts, Wade Tonkin, Ruddy Ortiz, Eric Farewell, Deremiah CPE, and Alejandro himself.
This is going to be a great time of learning, fellowship, masterminding and I’m sure a lot more!
I look forward to seeing you there!
Check it out: Illuminate Conerence 2008
The Joys of Being an Entrepreneur
It’s now been a few years since I set out on my quest to go possess my promised land and looking back there sure were a lot of hard times. When I started out I didn’t know ANYTHING and I had no one teaching me what to do. So to say the least, I learned a lot through trial and error.
I have seen so many step up to the plate and strike out. I have had friends come and go who I thought would be lifelong business partners. I have felt the stresses of debt collectors hounding me for the money I owed, all the while I knew that there had to be a better way. I knew taking my business to the Internet was the way I was supposed to go.
Looking at all the things that had gone wrong, it would have been so easy to give up. But something happened to me the other day that made every hard, stressful, unsupported idea and task to grow my business worth it.
My wife came into my office and asked me to come with her, she had something she wanted to show me. As I walked out from my office she pointed into our oldest daughter’s room where I saw our one year old sitting by herself playing with some toys by a dollhouse, totally unaware she was being watched. Now that may not seem like a big deal, but it was truly one of those “Kodak moments”. It was when I stopped to watch her everything came into perspective. It’s moments like this I would be missing out on if I was still working at that resort, which was more like a prison. Realizing how blessed I am to be able to do what I love in the comfort of my own home and being able to spend time with my family. It makes all those hard times very much worth the effort of pushing through.
A month or two ago I had a quick discussion on Twitter with Alejandro Reyes a.k.a. SuccessFool. He had mentioned his four month old daughter which led to our discussion about how true success isn’t found in money, but in the privilege to be able to raise our kids right.
How often we as entrepreneurs forget about the little things in life that make life worth living. I don’t know about you, but when I have a something that needs to get done, I will do that thing until the job is done. That can be a very good thing, but not if I am missing out on those “Kodak moments” of life. I share this story to encourage you to Never Give Up as you go and possess your land, but make sure you truly know what the Promised Land looks like.
It would be a shame to spend countless hours making a name for yourself in the Industry and/or making a lot of money and miss out on the most valuable things in life.
I wish you the best of success.
Building on a Budget with Domain Names
Tired of Failing in Your Business?
MLM Social Networking Site
http://MLMEmpireTraining.ning.com