Online MLM: What Goes on Your About Page?

by Stephanie Valentine on December 24, 2009

Writing about yourself should be fairly simple because no one knows you better than you, but many people find writing about themselves very difficult.

The problem is that we know so much about ourselves that we don’t know what to write. And when it comes to our online MLM websites and blogs, should we write about our business, our personal lives, our kids, or what?

Good question.

What Goes on the “About You” Page?
One very smart man (Chris Brogan, of course), posted a blog a while back about what should go on a person’s About You page. He listed a bunch of ideas and also a bunch of questions to think about. He also suggested that all online marketers needed to re-evaluate their About page, and probably rewrite it.

So I did. I actually wiped the slate clean on the old version and started from scratch. Based on Chris’ advice, I wrote about:

- who I am in the online MLM world (pioneer)
- the state of the online MLM world (needs improvement)
- my mission (to improve the quality and quantity of online MLM)
- a little bit about my life in the boonies (earning a steady check despite living in a town with more cows and horses than people)
- what I’m looking for (a few good people who are pioneers, too)

Read my About page here.

The most important part of what I wrote on my About page is the last part: what I’m looking for.

Chris Brogan says this is the most crucial piece that people leave off their About page. You can tell people all kinds of stuff about you and MLM and your business, but if you never tell prospects what you actually want, they won’t know.

Want more business builders? Put that on your About page. Want more people to get healthy eating your product? Add to your About page. Want to save the world with your company’s philanthropic program? Post it to that About page. Whatever you want, don’t be afraid to put it up there. That way, love it or hate it, at least people will know what you are all about.

And don’t forget to include a call to action. Once you’ve stated what you want, tell people what they should do if they want to respond to your proposition. Should they email you? Download something? Call you? Follow you on Twitter? Whatever it is, spell it out clearly.

Does that give you some good ideas on how and why you might want to restructure your About page? Hope so. Now go for it!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader. Or contact me if you want to join an MLM team that is teaching people to dive into online MLM head first … successfully! I’m holding out for a few good people. Really.

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Online MLM: A Little Grunge Never Hurts

by Stephanie Valentine on December 22, 2009

The MLM industry has been striving for a professional image for decades now, and for the most part achieving it. That’s a good thing, a really good thing, because nothing sucks more than prospecting someone only to get slammed for working in a “shady” industry.

I mean really, if you’ve been doing MLM for any length of time, you finally reach a point where you can’t stand to hear words like “scam,” “ponzi scheme,” or “shady deal” one more time. Am I right? Ok, so professionalism is a really good thing in MLM.

On the personal level, presenting yourself in a professional way is also useful. It gives people the impression that you are serious about your business, as well as knowledgeable. It inspires confidence. But, there are times when being totally professional all the time can actually hurt your MLM business.

Online MLM: Why You Shouldn’t be Totally Pro All the Time
If you want to market your MLM business online, then there are some cases where you shouldn’t be all pro all the time. There is a time and place for a little “grunge factor” in the online world, especially for MLMers.

Now why wouldn’t you want to present a totally professional image 24/7 online? That’s because contact on the internet, in contrast to contact on the phone or in person, is already somewhat impersonal. With most MLM websites, people can’t hear you, shake your hand, or easily get to know you.

Sure, you can put up pictures of yourself, post an audio of you discussing the MLM business, or even put up a video of yourself, but most of these don’t come across as part of a prospect’s first impression of your online MLM presence. At least not the audio or video pieces, since these require the prospect to click a few buttons.

So if a prospect wanders to your online MLM website, and all she sees is a bunch of slick graphics and some words, chances are she’ll leave, quickly. That’s where the grunge factor comes in. If you can throw up some interesting headlines on your website that will catch a prospect’s attention as well as show her that you have a sense of humor, then that’s good.

Online Photos and the Grunge Factor
If you post pictures, post a mix of professional and personal shots of yourself. The professional shot shows that you are serious about your business. The personal shots, especially if they show you doing something you love, give the prospect some visual clues about who you really are. For instance, say you post a picture of you taken right after a soccer game played in the mud. Your hair is messed up, you are sweaty, and you have streaks of mud on your smiling face. You are wearing a jersey and carrying a soccer ball. That’s a perfect “grunge” picture that conveys a lot about you to a prospect, in an instant. It shows that you:

- are not afraid to get your hands (and the rest of you) dirty
- don’t mind the rest of the world seeing you a little messed up
- play soccer and like sports
- are physically healthy (this is important if your product is health related)
- like to have fun
- probably like to win, which implies a drive to be successful

… and so forth. So as you think about what pictures to post on your website or blog, don’t forget that a little grunge can go a long way in the online world. In the example above, with the soccer picture, not only will the picture show a little grunge, but it may even help you put your website in a niche market: soccer lovers. See what I mean?

Words Can Be Grungy, Too
So a few personalized pictures scattered throughout your online MLM presence is a great thing. The other place you can add a little grunge factor is in the way you write. If you write pretty much the way you talk, then you’ll have achieved a little grunge in your writing.

When many online MLM newbies first start writing their blog posts and articles, they churn out pieces filled with stiff language and uncomfortable phrasing. The articles are difficult to read and even harder to digest. Ick.

Instead, write with a little less formality while still conveying useful information, facts, figures, and logic. Go to Alltop and look up some of the top blogs in your topic area. Read their posts. Find a style you like. Adapt it to your own personality. Then start to write. You’ll probably achieve a nice balance between information exchange, humor, interest, and personality.

As with everything, online MLM is about striking a balance in tone. You want to demonstrate that you have expertise in your business and products, but you also want to come across as a real person. A real person has likes, dislikes, pet peeves, hobbies, warts, kids, good and bad days, and more. Get it? Be professional but remain yourself. This approach also helps you keep your business fun and interesting, rather than “nose to the grindstone” boring. Your MLM business should never be boring … if it is, change it up or QUIT!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader. Or contact me if you want to join an MLM team that is teaching people to dive into online MLM head first … successfully! I’m holding out for a few good people. Really.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alaina_marie/ / CC BY 2.0

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Online MLM Caution: Do Not Spend Faster Than Your Learning Curve

by Stephanie Valentine on December 22, 2009

Email ads, blog posts, testimonials, and pushing from our upline.

Those of us doing online MLM are constantly getting hit with enticements to sign up for the next hottest online MLM promotional software, ebook, how-to teleconference, or webinar.

Do you go for it or not?

Online MLM Training: Cheap or Not?
Sure, the ebook may only cost $8.95 or the subscription to the “special exclusive online how-to blog” may only cost $14.95 a month, but before you shell out precious dollars for the next hot thing, stop. Just stop a moment and think about this. Ask yourself,

“How much am I really going to use this resource? And is this resource geared toward me?”

Online MLM and the Learning Curve
The reason you should ask yourself these questions is because there is a lot to learn in online MLM marketing, no matter how long you’ve been doing it. There’s also a limited amount of time you can spend learning. That’s because there are all these other tasks you have to attend to, such as prospecting, follow ups, writing online content, and promoting your content. And if you still have a day job, that leaves you even less time.

So before you spend money or time on the next “hot” promotional or learning tool for online MLM, take stock of how much time you really have for learning and how much brain power you have left at the end of the week.

An Example of a MLM Learning Tool That Fits
Here’s an example. I signed up for an online subscription to Networking Times. You can get the hard copy or the online version, which is much cheaper. I opted for the online version because I know that I rarely have the time or patience to page through a magazine. Magazine that arrive in the mail get tossed into a corner of my office never to be read. They end up in the recycling bin.

On the other hand, I spend so much time online that it’s no big deal for me to log into my Networking Times account and scan an article or two while I’m waiting for some new-fangled software to download or an email to arrive. The online subscription fits my personality and my budget. That’s an example of a learning tool that works.

An Example of an MLM Learning Tool That Flunks
On the other end of the spectrum, we have another example. My parent company sponsors a monthly CD program. You pay around $15 a month to get a set of education CDs, different ones each month. Some are interviews with top earners while others are educational talks given by experts in marketing, sales, and business management.

The material is great. The only problem is that I’ll never listen to it. I’m not an audio learner, and I don’t have time to play CDs because I don’t spend much time in the car and I can’t sit still long enough to listen to the CD at home. Sure, I can convert the CD to an MP3 file, but who’s got time for that? Not me. So this hot new learning tool, which is working wonders throughout our group, will do nothing for me.

Is the price reasonable? Yes. Is the material fabulous? Absolutely. Will it help me grow my business? Nope. It’s a waste of time and money for me because the material is formatted in a way that is outside my learning curve. So I don’t buy into it, even though everyone from my upline to my neighbor is doing it. I’m weird and I know it. I know my learning curve, so I never spend beyond what I can learn.

Just Stop Before You Hurt Yourself or Your Checkbook!
The next time some hot new online MLM program crosses your email, don’t be tempted unless you know it’s something you’re really going to use. Better yet, accept offers that come with a 30-day money back guarantee. Try it for 30 days. If you haven’t used the resource in the first 30 days, chances are that you never will. Be disciplined and cancel the program at that point so you don’t waste time or money.

Honestly, sometimes I think there’s more money being made in online MLM training materials than in MLM itself. I’d advise you not to fall victim to that trap. Focus on making money in your MLM business rather than spending money on the next “guaranteed” sales aid or training tool. You’ll save your wallet a lot of wear and tear!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader. Or contact me if you want to dive into online MLM head first, feet first, belly flop style … you get the picture!

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Online MLM Success is Not an If or a When … It Just Is

by Stephanie Valentine on December 17, 2009

If you feel burdened by your lack of success in your online MLM endeavors, perhaps you’ll take heart in this adage:

“Online MLM success isn’t an ‘if’ or a ‘when,’ it just is.”

In other words, online MLM success is pretty much inevitable for anyone who truly applies intelligent effort to build their business. So success isn’t an “if I make it” proposition. Always do your business knowing that you will reach your goals. A lot of MLMers get this and take heart in this.

Then there’s the ‘when’ part of the equation, as in, “When are you going to move up to the next level in the compensation plan?” or “When are you going to sign up your first business partner?” or “When are you going to make your first online product sale?”

In my experience, the “when” questions are the ones that drive even experienced MLMers around the bend, never mind the newbies. Living in a Type-A culture and listening to motivational webinars, teleconferences, and live speakers all the time can tend to make us feel like we are not accomplishing enough soon enough.

My answer to that? Just slap your hands over your ears and ignore everyone. MLM success, and especially online MLM success, happens when it happens. You can’t pick a date on a calendar and “make” it happen. It doesn’t work like that.

Basically, if and until you have been consistently working your online MLM business for five years (yup, I said five), don’t give up hope if you haven’t reached the top level of your company, or even the next level in the compensation plan. It’s not a “when” kind of thing. Just keep your head down at the computer, keep doing what you’re doing, and ignore EVERYONE else who might naysay you.

An Example That Might Help
Because online MLM success isn’t really a “when” kind of thing, looking out into the future can feel a little discouraging. So here’s an example that might help. Many years ago, a friend of mine was at a local distributor meeting for his MLM. It was one of those motivational “rah-rah” gatherings, which he was not fond of but attended out of loyalty to his group.

At this meeting, they went around the room and each person announced their goal and when they planned to achieve their goal. When they got to my friend, he said, “I’m going to reach the top title in the company.” Everyone waited expectantly for him to say more, to announce when he was going to achieve that title. The silence grew long. Then it became awkward. Finally it became downright uncomfortable.

His sponsor finally stepped in asked, “When are you going to achieve that title?” My friend, who has always been quite the maverick, smiled beatifically and said, “When I make it of course!” His sponsored persisted in asking when. My friend persisted in saying, “it will happen when it happens.” Nine months later, my friend hit the top title in the company.

Looking back, he has since said that by not pressuring himself with deadlines but never letting up on his efforts he was able to let himself off the hook and work with great efficiency and productivity. Plus, being able to play the maverick at a meeting full of “play by the rules” folks pleased him to no end, which gave him extra energy and verve to make it to the top.

So … for all of you out there having “if” and “when” doubts about your online MLM business, I hope this helps. Be selectively deaf to demands of “if” and “when,” and just do what you do. Be happy about what you do, and you’ll amaze yourself sooner than you know!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader. Or contact me if you want to dive into online MLM head first, feet first, belly flop style … you get the picture!

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Online MLM: How to Avoid Stressing Out

by Stephanie Valentine on December 15, 2009

Stress is contagious, especially when it comes to working an online MLM business. You know what they say about “one bad apple.” Well, when it comes to stress, all it takes is one stressed person in the group to make the whole downline stressed out and CRAZY.

This is especially true of doing an online MLM business. While MLM has been around for a long time, people are just now getting their feet wet and learning how this business translates into the online world. And, trust me, a lot of knowledge gets lost in translation. There are a lot of mistakes to be made and a long road to hoe before the MLM industry really learns how to do online marketing productively and efficiently.

That being the case, there’s bound to be some stress along the way. Here are just a few causes of stress.

You want to do online MLM marketing but …

1. No one in your upline is doing it so you can’t find anyone to help you
2. Not only is no on in your upline doing it, but they scorn you for doing it (major stress)
3. You can’t find examples of MLMers who are doing online MLM well AND making a good check
4. You’ve written 10,000 articles but sold only 2 bottles of product
5. You bring business builders on board who want to build online but you have no idea what you’re doing, so you can’t help them
6. You have been in front of your computer so long you’re starting to resemble a computer programmer (you know, pasty-white skin, bloodshot eyes, living in a diet of Twinkies and Coke)
7. You’ve been slammed so many times by flamers and spammers that you’re just damn tired…

Sound familiar? Well, join the crowd. Newbies to online MLM pretty much all share the same dilemma. They all have to ask themselves:

“Do I have the patience and perseverance to do online MLM even if no one else in my upline, donwline, or sideline is doing it?”

3 Ways to Avoid Stress in Online MLM
If you answered “Yes” to the question above, then you’ve got the “no guts, no glory” attitude that it takes to do online MLM. Having said that, it must also be said that guts alone will not bring you business success while helping you avoid stress. Guts are good, but they are just the beginning. To avoid stress in online MLM, check out these simple ideas:

1. Pick ONE Online MLM System to Start With
Nothing drives an online MLM newbie to the loony bin faster than subscribing to 17 different approaches to online marketing, from funded prospecting to squeeze page mania, and trying to do them all at once.

Just STOP.

If you have already subscribed to 17 different online training systems, you are not only wasting your time but also your money. Take a deep breath, go through each and every one of those systems, and pick ONE system that resonates with you. Whether you want to blog, do social media, or focus on article marketing, pick a system that you actually like and go with it.

If you pick a system you hate, you’ll never do it. If you pick a system that includes 300 hours of audio training and you are not an audio learner, you’ll never use it. Get it? Pick a system that fits your personality and your learning style, and promise yourself you will stick with it for at least a year.

2. Don’t Spend Faster Than Your Learning Curve
A lot of online MLM training system offer freebie ebooks, email courses, and audio lessons right on their website. Sure, you don’t “get it all” by reading through the freebie materials but these materials at least give you somewhere to start. So before you plunk down your credit card and pay $395 for an online training system “guaranteed” to make you rich overnight, do the freebie stuff.

If you can’t do everything suggested in the freebie materials, chances are that you won’t follow the recommendations in $395 program either. Plus you’ll be crazy stressed that you blew your mortgage payment for an online MLM training system that you don’t use. Save yourself the stress. Don’t spend faster than you can learn.

3. Follow the Online Marketing Pros
When you feel like you are the only one out there doing online MLM marketing, way out in left field, take heart. Don’t stress. Instead, check out the best of the best in online marketing. Check out Chris Brogan, Duct Tape Marketing, Fuel Net, Copyblogger, and even WineTwits. These guys all know how to market online.

They aren’t doing MLM online, but if you can’t figure out how to adapt what they give away for free to your MLM business, then you don’t deserve the big compensation check that you hanker after. MLM stands for Multi-Level Marketing. So be a marketer. Take the best that the best have to offer, and cut and fit their approaches to MLM. It’s not rocket science, it’s MLM. Not worth stressing over … plus you can definitely do this.

Hope these three tips help keep your blood pressure down and your spirits up. MLM companies are taking baby steps in the online world, but they are learning. One company is learning super fast and diving in head first. Drop me a line and I’ll tell you more!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader. Or contact me if you want to dive into online MLM head first, feet first, belly flop style … you get the picture!

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Doing Online MLM Marketing Means Being a Maverick

by Stephanie Valentine on December 10, 2009

If you are doing online MLM marketing right now, or considering doing it, here’s one thing you must know:

You will have to be a maverick to do it.

Really.

True, there are thousands of websites and online educational programs out there claiming to do online MLM, but they aren’t really doing online MLM. What they are doing is using the online world as one of many channels to funnel information to their warm market. What they are not doing is using online MLM marketing as a way to prospect and recruit product users and business builders.

You’re Kidding Me, Right?
The other day I wrote the web designer of a major company-approved website and asked him why the conversion rates on his online MLM website were so low. His website had thousands of hits, but very low conversions. More importantly, his website is unfriendly to capturing prospect data. I wanted to know why.

Well, I never got a response from him, but I did get a very nice if generic answer from the support department. Their answer? “This website is designed for your warm market and not to be used to prospect a cold market.”

Hello?!?

What is the power of the internet if it can’t be used to reach out and touch the hundreds of millions of people out there who want what MLM has to offer, but don’t know you exist.

Radio and TV as an Analogy for Online MLM
I compare the current use of online MLM to the early days of television. Now most of us weren’t around there, but the analogy still holds true. When people did radio shows, groups of people would stand around each microphone and speak. It worked great. Radio had the equivalent of audio-only sitcoms and people loved them.

Then there was the advent of the television. Now you add moving pictures into the equation. So what did early TV producers do? They did nothing more than make radio people visual. They took moving pictures of groups of people standing around a bunch of microphones and talking into them.

Sure, people could now see the expressions of the actors, but early television producers didn’t take full advantage of the medium of moving pictures. They didn’t realize that people could now move around the screen and didn’t have to be “tied” to their microphones. They didn’t realize that the camera could shoot from different angles, or that you could move from a close-up of an actor’s face to a moving shot of people scooting across the set. They had no idea of the POWER of moving pictures.

Ditto with online MLM. Yes, we have webinars and recorded audios of teleconferences and websites that we can use with our warm markets.

Big whoopee.

What we need instead are intelligently crafted websites that reach out and touch, hold, and intrigue people in our cold online market. We need these websites to offer these prospects such compelling information that they want to know more … that they ask us for more. We want them to ask us to digitally send them more information. We want them to willingly give us their contact information because they are so intrigued with what we are offering. This is what we need, and badly.

That, folks, is the real power of the internet. Yes, by all means use a website for your warm market, but there are dozens of ways to reach the warm market. Online MLM presents the best way right now to reach a global cold market of people who want what we have but don’t know we exist.

An MLM Wake Up Call
This is a wake up call, people. This is a wake up call MLM companies. Wake up, smell the coffee, and see what the internet really can do. See the power that exists there, and use it in company-approved sites to allow and help distributors reach out to a virtually untapped cold market. Realize that we can reach this vast untapped cold market intelligently, with grace, and following the rules and regulations of the FTC and FDA. We can do this. We must do this. We will need to cross this bridge, and the first mover in the MLM market who does it well will inevitably gain the usual first mover advantage.

Do you want to be that first mover? Then wake up!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader. Or contact me for more online MLM goodies and resources.

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Online MLM: If You Want to Do This Prepare to Whack a Few People Over the Head

by Stephanie Valentine on December 8, 2009

Online MLM is in the Dark Ages. I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it until we reach, oh, I don’t know, at least the Middle Ages. Don’t get me wrong, online MLM is happening, just in a warm market kind of way.

The majority of people participating in online MLM are using the internet as “just another avenue” for warm market prospecting. The online world is just another addition to three-way calls, meetings over coffee, and handing out DVDs. Now, in addition to these options, warm market MLM prospectors are also offering webinars and company-approved template websites.

This is all well and good because ANY progress toward online MLM marketing is a good thing.

Now for the Bad News about Online MLM
Sorry, there always seems to be some bad news that goes along with the good news. The good news is the MLM companies and leaders are encouraging people to use online methods for warm market prospecting.

The bad news is that these same people are, for the most part, completely ignoring the power of online MLM for cold market prospecting. This is plain stupid. Why? Well, let me ask you these two questions:

1. How many people are in your warm market?
2. How many people exist in the online cold market?

The ratio between warm market and cold market prospects is probably something like 1 to 100,000, or 1,000,000. No kidding. But, MLMers are so used to doing warm market prospecting that cold market prospecting is scary. Do not touch. Walk around it gingerly.

For MLM companies, the online world is very scary because they have so little control over what distributors put online. So they exercise vise-like control over what distributors can do online, basically limiting them to using websites only suitable to warm market prospecting. Blech!

MLM Companies Will Have to Cross the Cold Market Bridge Soon
This extreme caution and fear of cold market online MLM prospecting will have to end, and soon. The online world is exploding too fast for MLM companies not to take advantage of it. Plus, taking advantage of it isn’t hard to do. Yes, you have to follow FDA and FTC rules, but come on people … we’re all smart folks otherwise we wouldn’t be doing MLM.

So here’s the deal: if you want to explore online MLM marketing for cold market prospecting, chances are that you are running into some barriers in what you are able to implement online. You are probably also talking about this topic with your upline, who may be scratching their heads and thinking that you have perhaps been smoking something you shouldn’t, and are a little loco. In short, they don’t get the power of online MLM cold market prospecting.

So run this example by them and see if it does anything for them. Over the last decade I have developed an online MLM marketing system (thanks to a very understanding MLM company) that brings me double digit signups every single month. These signups happen completely on their own, and are from total strangers I have never met in my life. When I check email in the mornings, these signups (a mix of product sales and business builders) are simply there, waiting for me to complete the process.

Once the signups have been processed, I get in touch with these people and find out how much contact they want from me. Some want no contact, period. This is not unusual for people who operate online. They have busy lives and they just want a convenient place to order products. End of story. Other people, especially business builders, really want contact, and we go from strangers to business partners via email and phone conversations.

Now doesn’t this passive marketing system, which operates while I’m in bed, sound like something that would be useful to any MLM business builder who wants to build online?

Well, it exists and it works.

It’s also compliant with FDA and FTC rules. So, if you are running into barriers that keep you from using online MLM marketing as a cold-market prospecting tool, prepare to step up.

Prepare to be a leader.

You’re going to have to educate your parent company, your upline, and your downline about the power of online marketing for cold market prospecting. You will have to educate them about how this can be done, and how approved warm market websites can be adapted to be cold market prospecting tools. The adaptations are not hard … it’s the mindsets that are hard to change.

But hey, being in MLM is all about personal growth right? So, this here is what we call … wait for it …

Another Freakin’ Growth Opportunity. AFGOs … you gotta love them!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader. Or contact me for more online MLM goodies and resources.

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Online MLM: What Do You Want from Your Business in the Coming Year?

by Stephanie Valentine on December 1, 2009

In my last blog post I talked about the value of looking back on the past year in online MLM and noting what worked, what didn’t, and what needed further development. Once you’ve nailed those three things down, the next step is to spend some time figuring out what you want from your business this coming year. In other words, you want to create a vision for your online MLM business for the year.

After all, as they say, “If you don’t know where you want to be, anywhere will do.” A vision helps focus and streamline your business activities so they are all algined in the same direction: toward success.

What Do You Want from Your Online MLM Business?
Some people say that if you shoot for the moon and miss, at least you’ll land among the stars. For a long-term online MLM vision, I would agree. But for a yearly vision for your online MLM business, you’ll probably want to choose something a little less lofty and little more practical.

So ask yourself, “What do I want from my online MLM business this coming year?”

If you have a lot of energy and time and motivation, you can definitely pick something grand, like climbing two levels up in your company’s compensation plan, or finding and working with 50 new business partners.

On the other hand, if you still have your day job (congratulations!) and you work your business on nights and weekends, then stick with something a little more practical. Even having an aim of developing a single new active business builder is quite lofty, and nothing to be sneezed at.

You can also go with a vision that is a little vaguer, something like “I want to develop a recognized online MLM presence.” That’s a fine aim so long as you later define some guidelines that help you determine what “recognized” means to you.

So take a little time think this one through. Mull on it, see what feelings arise, and then jot some ideas down. Then mull on it some more, refine those ideas, and eventually come up with a single vision.

It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks about the vision. The vision need only please you. It should inspire you and yet felt doable. If it makes you panic, you might want to pick something a little smaller, unless you work well when panicked. In that case, stick with the panic vision! Remember, it’s what works for you!

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Online MLM: Learning from the Past Year

by Stephanie Valentine on November 24, 2009

The year is starting to draw to a close, and this is always a good time to look back at what has been happening in your online MLM business, and do some thinking and strategic planning. It can be easier to take time off during the holidays, so take advantage of this to schedule some “thinking days” to look back on your business year.

Online MLM Marketing: Looking Back
In looking back on the past year, there are three things you want to note:

- achievements
- failures
- areas in which more will be revealed

To start with the good stuff, look back on the past year and see what you have accomplished in your online MLM business. Make note of major achievements, “first wins,” growth patterns, lessons learned, and shifts in attitude. These are the good things about your business that you really want to appreciate. Here’s a short list of my “goodies” just for fun:

- topped out with over 200 unique visitors per day for my blog plus steady growth
- got some really great comments and trackbacks for many blog posts
- made contact with some great prospects online
- signed some truly wonderful people in my group
- developed some useful learning resources, like Networking Times and online marketing blogs
- stopped worrying so much about what others think so long as my blog proves useful to others and me

This period of looking back is also perfect for noting where you fell flat on your face. Be honest with yourself. In what areas did you vow, swear, or otherwise promise to do something for your business, only to find that you rarely or never did? In what areas did your efforts end in abysmal failure or produce no results or even negative results? Again, a few of my own list items:

- can’t manage to post 5 times a week to this blog
- participation in too many online forums bogs me down and then I participate in none
- got banned by a couple social media sites before I realized the rules and got reinstated
- still don’t do teleconference training calls very well (I get itchy and impatient)

And then there are the “maybes”-areas of your business where the results are unclear and there is still room for experimentation. These are areas of business development that show mixed results, or where you need more time to fully explore whether your activities here will be good, bad, or ugly. There’s a lot in this category for me, and here’s a glimpse at that list:

- learning to teach others, one on one, what I know about online MLM marketing from “the beginning”
- trying to figure out just how much computer-savvy someone needs to be to do online MLM
- discovering that there is a fine line between watching my online analytics and becoming obsessed - I’m still walking the line on that one
- deciding whether I’m the crazy one or whether it’s everyone else (who else likes to get up at 3 AM to work in peace?)

Learning from Your Past Year in Online MLM
Once you’ve separated your online MLM business activities into the three categories above, go back to each item on the list and jot down any relevant “lessons learned.” Although doing this may seem redundant or obvious, you may amaze yourself at how much you learn by simply writing something out.

Taking the time to write out your lessons learned will help burn them into your brain, so that you remember them this coming year. It will also help you develop a strategic plan for your online MLM business for the coming year, which I’ll talk about in an upcoming blog post.

So go ahead, dive in, scribble some stuff down, be honest with yourself, acknowledge the really good stuff, admit to the really icky stuff, and allow room for works in progress that may be transform from ugly ducklings into beautiful swans. You will amaze yourself regardless!

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Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/renaissancechambara/ / CC BY 2.0

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