The Mind of Vatke
Thoughts, Musings and Advice by Andre Vatke

The key to making changes in your life and business is to step just outside your comfort zone.

If you push too far you risk burning out or not being equipped enough to accomplish your goal.

Don't step far enough and you're too comfortable to take action.

Enjoy this video from 2004 as one of the Leaders Club leaders shares how stepping just outside your comfort zone can be the greatest catalyst for success. (Leaders Club subscribers enjoy over 500 audio and video training programs like this!)

Leaders Club strategies, when executed with passion and accuracy, can transform your struggling, sputtering or stalled network marketing business into a thriving and profitable enterprise.

We've been truly blessed to work with some really great leaders over the past 15 years. I'm truly grateful to you all for your contribution.

Stay tuned... 2009 is going to be another great year here at Leaders Club :-)

Most people think that retailing their products or services means finding retail customers. While this is great, think about retailing your products and services to your downline to increase your group volume.

Does your new downline person know about the benefits of all your products or services? Are they using the products or services that best fit their needs? Don’t assume that just because they joined the business they understand what your products and services are and what they can do for him or her.

Take some time to make sure your downline is using the products or services they need. Recommend complimentary products or services if you have them. Ask them who in the circle of friends and family would also benefit from these products or services.

In doing so you’ll increase the average volume for your distributors. Doubling the amount of product your distributors use/sell is the easiest way to double your network marketing income!

The holidays have a way of slowing a large number of us down. Sometimes the things that slow us down seem out of our control. But are they really?

Outside influences such as seasonal changes, news, or the issues of our own family microcosm can have a big influence on our motivation. This can affect everything from our diet and exercise to building our network marketing business.

Many of these external influences are beyond our control. However, how we respond to these influences is not. We can have full control if – and only if – we have properly prepared for them. But how do you prepare for the unexpected?

Key number one in preparing for unexpected momentum stallers is to know that they will come. It’s also important to recognize that they will affect your attitude, energy and motivation. They can even take up your physical time.

Key number two in keeping your momentum is to implement a regular schedule. It’s vital to track your actions and to be accountable to someone who has your best interest at heart like a coach, trainer or advisor. Keeping to a regular schedule ensures that you have a level of consistency in working toward your goals. We only accomplish what we consistently work toward.

Contrast this with how the majority of people approach their goals and you’ll quickly see the benefit. New years resolutions are a prime example. Each year over 80% of us make resolutions to lose weight, exercise more, eat healthy, or take control of financial future. Yet, within 45 days the most of these people have already given up on their resolution. What takes us from 100% committed to giving up in such a short time?

The missing ingredient is of course, a clear workable plan of action. It’s just not good enough to want something, even if it’s with every fiber of your being. To accomplish a goal takes action and to stay in consistent action requires a REALISTIC plan. This plan needs to include not just a, “do this, then this” outline, but also needs to include a way to measure progress, a way to have outside accountability, guidance and course adjustment.

This next year take control of your own network marketing business through the Leaders Club Success Plan. Through our one of a kind mentoring program we provide a success plan that can have you fully profitable in as little as 90 days. Use tools like our exclusive Tracking Sheets, Prospecting Call Guide and Attitude Challenge to give yourself everything you need to accomplish your goals.

So enjoy the holidays and know that a little planning makes all the difference!

“Truth, when not sought after, rarely comes to light.”

- Oliver Wendell Holmes

truth (trûth), n., Conformity to fact or actuality.

Most people are content to live inside their own assumptions, opinions and personal biases. Truth is something that must be sought - it comes from challenging your own assumptions and those of others. It holds as paramount that no question is ever out of bounds because no matter what the answer, we gain a different perspective and a better view of what is true.

Why is it important? Because in the end, truth is our only accurate road map to life, success and happiness.

A lot of people are wondering which candidate running for President of the United Stated of America would be better for them and their small business or home based business.

In terms of the big picture, the strength of the economy, employment, even the deficit and national debt play a role in the success of every business – small or large. When the economy is doing well, the trend is that all businesses tend to do better. When the economy is bad and consumers get picky about what they spend money on – it affects us all.

Yet to blame government for our woes, or to look to government for our personal economic security is the opposite of the energy that makes small business tick.

Frankly it doesn’t matter if Obama takes the white house or if McCain steps in. You’re responsible for your personal wealth, accomplishments, success and failures. There are opportunities for business and for learning new skills no matter what the economic or political environment.

The big picture may matter, but if you’re going to rely on the government to tell you that it’s OK to start making money again then you are in for a lifetime of instability.

“A leader is someone who steps back from the entire system and tries to build a more collaborative, more innovative system that will work over the long term.” - Robert B. Reich (Economicc Professor, former Secretary of Labor)

No matter what you believe about the US Governments attempt to bail out Wall Street this week, I’m sure we can agree that the average tax payer will never see their fair share of the proposed $700 Billion in spending.

If you are already involved in network marketing as a business you have the power to create your own bailout package! Did you know that last year over $16 Billion was paid out to network marketing entrepreneurs just like you?

There is a network marketing training program that can help you make the most of it...

=> Read more!

How often have you wished you could find some hypnotic set of words - some system that will cause your prospects to join in droves?

Is this realistic? Does it even exist?

Of course not!

There are however a number of things you can do in your marketing that will not only give you an edge over your competitors, it will actually teach your prospects to join you in business!

Chances are you’re fighting a 50/50 fight. And honestly, those are not great odds!

Here’s how you can improve them…

=> Read more!

Politicians from all parties have become marketers - using marketing tactics to misdirect the public's attention and polarizing them on emotional issues that they have no intention of solving.

How can you stay sane?

=> Read more!

Stress affects more than just our physical health. Living a life out of balance almost guarantees network marketing failure. Here’s why…

With over 16 million people involved in network marketing, our research shows that the primary reasons for starting a business, while highly individual, are very similar. At the root, people pursue network marketing because they have some pain in their lives that they are trying to alleviate.

No matter how big or small the pain, it can usually be solved with a certain amount of money.

Replacing income from a job, for example, is a larger goal and may stem from dissatisfaction, poor treatment, pressure, etc. Even smaller goals such as providing a second family income without having an outside job (and the pain points associated with it) usually stems from a pain associated with not having enough time for family or the pressure of today’s economy.

Network marketing can solve these pain points – however the pain itself can often prevent people from building a business effectively.

Learn more about how to prevent stress/pain from killing your dream...

=> Read more!

Sending the wrong e-mail to the wrong person can not only open you up for spam complaints and legal action, it can destroy any positive headway you may have made with prospects in the past.

Staying in the clear legally (without violating your providers terms) while getting great response is actually a part of the same coin.

=> Read more!

Want to know what ‘the rich’ really teach their children?

There are a number of popular books that play off the idea that the rich have some secret wisdom they impart to their kids that the rest of the middle class hasn’t learned. Nothing could be further from the truth.

What ‘the rich’ really teach their kids is a valuable lesson for all.

=> Read more!

There is an Internet age epidemic in network marketing. Previously successful uplines are recommending marketing methods to their downline that they have not personally used or tested for effectiveness. The end result has trusting marketers investing into marketing blindly without the promised results. The loss of money due to misguided marketing efforts is rising at alarming new levels.

Making matters worse, uplines are unable to properly coach their organizations on the complexities of the marketing methods they recommend because they didn’t use them to build their own businesses.

Here’s a real life example of to prove my point…

=> Read more!

I've been getting reports from from a number of marketers that they have been getting calls that at first appear to come from a prospect. However when they pick up, it turns out to be a prerecorded message amounting to phone spam.

Is this a great new marketing idea or simply a way for service/software provider to scam honest marketers?

=> Read more!

Are your ads and network marketing lead generation efforts paying off this summer?

A survey of major Pay Per Click advertisers shows click costs and competition on a steady rise since October of 2007. Now with summer in full swing and in the middle of an economic slowdown, many marketers are reporting that conversion rates have dropped too.

Additional evidence to support this premise comes from evidence that many advertisers are cutting back on their advertising and many new advertisers drop their ads because they are no longer profitable.

This can be a big advantage to network marketers who know how to take advantage of the current climate and know how to maximize their ad budget.

Before you get there, here are a few facts that you need to master...

=> Read more!

I don't, as a rule, mix religion with business. This is the one time I will make an exception. Kind of...

Network marketing has within it a lot of rumor and repetition of claims that can be considered 'hype' and in many cases are outright lies. For 15 years my company Leaders Club has been out to bust these myths and provide real research into what really works and what does not.

Christians are called to be truth-tellers. If you are a Christian, be 100% sure that what you are reporting is true before you pass it on. Could what you pass on be only a rumor? Have you checked your facts? Have you researched the earnings numbers you are reporting? Do they represent averages or do they represent a small minority? Do the claims of what it will take to earn the income line up with reality? Spreading rumors or insinuations about other people is dishonest. In the same light, passing on claims about a network marketing business without personally verifying the information is also dishonest, since it doesn't make the slightest effort of determining the truth about something while passing it off as credible information.

Only passing on what we have personally verified to to be true would make network marketing a beacon of what is right in business.

For more on this topic see: God Hates Lying

The NY Times reported today that a poor economy is slamming the brakes on woman’s workplace progress.

“After moving into virtually every occupation, women are being afflicted on a large scale by the same troubles as men: downturns, layoffs, outsourcing, stagnant wages or the discouraging prospect of an outright pay cut. And they are responding as men have, by dropping out or disappearing for a while.” (see full story at NY Times)

Jobs paying $8 or $9 an hour are easy enough to land, according to national surveys. Yet higher paying jobs are in increasing short supply and have greater competition.

The solution for many men and women is network marketing.

With the ability to start a business working sub-part time (8 to 10 hours a week), network marketing (also known as MLM or direct sales) gives families new options in today’s economy. Earning just $500 a month relives a lot of pressure and with added tax saving can equal net earnings of a part time job. Many families earn $1000 to $1500 a month working 10 to 20 hours a week. At this level a network marketing business is equal to a $15 to $20 an hour part time job.

The biggest issue is the hype mentality of the industry that likes to parade the big success stories - folks who earn $30,000 to $100,000 a month. And while many of these success stories are real they actually hinder those just starting by making them impatient for short term riches rather than focused on the process of success. The result is a 97% failure rate.

The bottom line in any business is to first learn how to earn a profit. Once basic expenses are covered the next objective is to build from there. This takes time and a certain amount of dedication - something that is missing from many network marketing ventures.

Learn more about what causes people to fail in network marketing and how not to be one of them.

I’m probably stating the obvious when I say that you can’t succeed in business without motivation.

Still, one popular network marketing guru says that’s a lie - you are already motivated enough – so you don’t need to think about motivation.

The statistics don’t back that up.

Here are the facts about how motivation is tied to your success…

=> Read more!

Are you getting results from your e-mail marketing?

Statistics and research data here at Leaders Club shows that e-mail has dramatically changed since 1999. Deliverability continues to be an issue.

But even bigger than that is the fact that today’s prospect has learned to ignore e-mail.

If you are sending e-mail to your prospects there’s a 92% chance you are making the 2 mistakes below. If you are it’s already costing you big time. (But it’s easy to fix!)

=> Read more!

I had three separate conversations this week with six-figure network marketing entrepreneurs. They all raised the same concern…

Prospects are requesting information but they aren’t joining.

The issue is that prospects have so much information available to them that they often do nothing at all with it.

Here’s how to deal with that…

=> Read more!

It’s graduation weekend and it’s got me thinking about how quickly things can change and how great network marketing really is.

My niece Hannah is graduating from high school this weekend. Hannah was just 5 years old when I started Leaders Club! This fall she’ll be off to college with the expectation that she will land a great job when she graduates.

Is that a realistic expectation?

=> Read more!

I remember being told in my early days that network marketing actually works better when the economy is bad. Yet what I have found over the past 15 years in working with both marketers and company owners is that’s not always the case.

Ignoring it only prevents us from solving the problem!

Network marketing companies are like any other company selling a product or service. The bottom line is that when the economy is tight people think twice about buying a $40 bottle of juice or a $50 tube of facial toner.

So why are we so excited?

=> Read more!

I think it was Mark Twain that said that when the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem is a nail.

Many network marketers approach their business in a similar fashion, only their hammer is their script and every prospect must conform to their version of a nail!

Scripts can be a great asset in that they give you the words to say and a path to follow. The problem is that in real life your prospect doesn’t have a copy of your script and doesn’t know their part.

=> Read more!

"Every great leap forward in your life comes after you have made a clear decision of some kind."

- Brian Tracy

Making a decision can often be a point of relief. Just knowing what to focus on next can empower you to achieve new and greater goals.

But how often do you look back and second guess yourself?

We all make important decisions all the time. We make the best decision we can based on the information we have available to us. How we feel about our decision is determined not only by the outcome but also by the amount of time we consider other possibilities.

Looking back and asking "what if" may intrigue us. It can be fascinating to look back and imagine what might be different if we had made different decision. Because nothing is certain your imagination can provide an infinite series of could-have-beens.

Spending too much time here can undermine the value of the decision you actually made. Spending time thinking about "what if" keeps you from making the most out of the decision you have made. It cuts your commitment, hammers your discipline and softens your focus.

Rather than ponder the past and what could have been, snap yourself out and look to what you will do today to move you closer to your goal.

Do you ever wonder why your prospects just don’t get it?

One of the most common network marketing frustrations I hear about all the time is how prospects just don’t get it.

In a typical situation a marketer has spent a lot of money and time promoting their business to generate a few inquiries. They send a few e-mails and even pick up the phone give the prospect a call but still have trouble getting them to join. What’s the deal?

=> Read more!

If yesterdays news is tomorrow birdcage liner, what happens to yesterdays websites?

I was looking through a 1999 version one of our Leaders Club online network marketing resources pages that included FFA sites, Traffic Generation sites, safe-lists, ad sites and more.

Considering how these sites and strategies were promoted by gurus of the time as "the next big thing in marketing" I was curious to see how things panned out for them.

=> Read more!

In network marketing, a lot of people get the cart in front of the horse and wonder why things don’t work out for them.

In our case ‘marketing’ is the cart and ‘prospecting’ is the horse.

So many marketers fail in their marketing because there is nothing pulling the cart. In other words, they look to technology or someone else’s system or formula to make their business work.

=> Read more!

Isn’t it funny how you can get hooked on a TV program?

My wife and I have gotten into “Everest – Beyond the limit” on the Discovery Channel which chronicles a group of amateur mountain climbers and their attempt to reach the summit of the tallest mountain on the planet: Mt. Everest.

Now this has to be one of the most dangerous activities a human could attempt. Even in the best of conditions people die. Not just any people, people who have spent months even years preparing themselves. Some even have extensive climbing experience and still perish. So we’re not talking about a Sunday afternoon hike in the backcountry.

What does this have to do with network marketing?

=> Read more!

Less than 2 weeks after Quixtar (Amway) announced they were pursuing legal action against Mona-Vie, Mona-Vie responds with an industry initiative to end restrictive contracts that have been the hallmark of companies like Amway to keep distributors out of other network marketing companies.

In an effort to out flank Quixtar in public opinion, Mona-Vie said it seeks to to promote and protect the rights of distributors and of those consumers who are seeking career opportunities with network marketing and direct selling businesses. MonaVie encourages other companies to join in the Open Door campaign (www.blog.opendoorcampaign.com) and take the Open Door Pledge. In addition, distributors are invited to the site to share their opinions and experiences.

For more on this topic see my post/article: Promoting My MLM Business Without Breaking The Rules

...and get informed about the Alliance for Ethical Network Marketing.

With ever increasing click costs and more and more advertisers is the Google-PPC honeymoon over or has the real opportunity just begun?

Not too many years ago I was running PPC (Pay Per Click) ads to drive traffic to my home page. It was a cheap and inexpensive method for reaching my target market – network marketers looking for increased sponsoring results.

Landing your PPC traffic on your home page today would be a huge financial waste.

What’s changed?

=> Read more!

“I often wondered why are others succeeding and not me? I realized it was me that was causing the failure.”

- Jeffrey Zalewski

It’s human nature to blame others for what goes wrong and at the same time take sole credit for what goes right. It’s not until we take responsibility for our own actions and the effect they have on ourselves and others, that we have a chance at seeing real success.

=> Read more!

I first came into full contact with the term “Viral Marketing” through Seth Godin’s 2000 book “Unleashing The Ideavirus.” In reality it’s not a new concept at all – just a new twist thanks once again to the Internet. In fact Godin even talked about it in "Purple Cow."

The basic premise behind viral marketing is that a product or idea can be so unique, so appealing that your customers do the marketing for you. In other words, word of mouth marketing becomes epidemic.

It’s the added impact of the Internet that Godin argues will cause this viral cycle to increase in quicker, more intense and yet shorter cylces. Godin also outlines the elements that companies need to put in place to help unleash the holy grail of marketing – highly effective free promotion.

Is viral marketing applicable to network marketing or is it simply another sexy idea that sells eBooks?

=> Read more!

This business always has a way to make me go "hmmmmm?"!

Quixtar announced this week that it had filed suit against MonaVie claiming that MonaVie competes unfairly by making false claims about its products.

I found this an interesting move considering that Quixtar (AKA Amway) just one year ago was fined $19.25 Million in losing a lawsuit to Procter & Gamble for alleging a link with the company's logo and Satanism.

Not exactly fair competition in my book.

Unfair competition and false advertising is illegal. Yet many marketers get away with it because they are never big enough to get caught or fizzle out before action can be taken.

It’s a blight on network marketing and it’s time for distributors to stand up.

Rank and file marketers need to band together and say enough is enough.

• Using company names in negative ads is wrong.
• Making unsubstantiated claims is wrong.
• Lying about income or income potential is wrong.
• Spreading unsubstantiated negative rumors about other companies and their products is wrong.

Here's the kicker...

If we don’t do something about it, government probably will. Already the FTC is considering drastic changes that would affect the network marketing and affiliate industry in historical ways.

Take a stand for ethics. Let your prospects know that you can be trusted by searing clear of questionable practices like those listed above.

If you agree, be sure to check out the Alliance for Ethical Network Marketing – www.AENM.org

Have a great Easter Weekend.

Quixtar Sues MonaVie Story:
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080318/cltu121.html?.v=49

I’ve seen a lot of ads lately that claim 97% of those involved in network marketing are failing.

Now, I know this statement to be true but do the people who are making this claim?

Here are the facts…

=> Read more!

“The most original of authors are not so because they advance what is new, but more because they know how to say something, as if it had never been said before.”

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832) German poet, dramatist

There were over 250,000 new books published in 2007. Even as the majority of books sold only a few copies, the industry as a whole enjoyed net sales of close to $25 billion in 2006. And there are more books being published each year. Makes you wonder what’s actually left to talk about?

If you look deep enough you will find that there is little truly original thought in the world. Rarely outside the world of science does an author present something that has not been presented before or is not available in some other form from some other source. It’s the bread crumb trail of influence.

And it’s OK - in when done correctly.

Musicians, artists, writers alike find inspiration from many sources. Being inspired is different from plagiarism.

=> Read more!

Will Google’s New Rules Put An End To Network Marketing PPC Cookie Cutter Systems?

Google dropped a big bombshell this week that will have a huge impact on marketers advertising on Google. The announcement was that beginning in April, Google would tighten its rules on URL’s and duplicate websites.

This comes on the heels of news that Google is slipping in the percentage of users who click on ads. According to a report by Starcom USA, Taconda and comScore, the bulk of online clicks are coming from a small group of “heavy clickers” rather than an even cross-section of all online users. This report indicates that the majority of online users are ignoring ads most of the time.

Learn how to make the new Google rule work for you…

=> Read more!

For anyone running a website or doing any search marketing, this weeks news that Microsoft bid $44.6 billion to buy Yahoo was huge. Microsoft is looking to gain some ground on their biggest search marketing rival Google. Yahoo also has the top market share in online display advertising with 19% or the market compared to Google’s 1%.

More interesting than strategic buyouts is how Google dethroned Yahoo as the search king and left MSN a distant third. The lessons for anyone building a business of any kind are significant and overlooked by those pushing mainstream get-rich-quick nonsense.

=> Read more!

“Life is not holding a good hand; Life is playing a poor hand well.”

- Danish proverb

How many times have you looked at someone else’s life and said, “if only"? If only you had some intangible element, (education, family, contacts, personality, background, etc.) things would be so much different for you.

When you are tempted to say “if only” remember that most successful people get there because they did something right. It’s a lot more than just dumb luck. Most of the time success is disguised as hard work. Even when that work is not physical there always seems to be an amount of “due paying” that must be done along the way.

To find true network marketing success, develop a long term plan. Focus beyond the short term and you’ll start to see a winding road that leads to success.