Kathy Smith’s Blog and Your Gateway to Success

Many people are searching for a home based business, especially in this poor economy.  Ideally, they would also like to make a difference in people’s lives as well as earning extra money.  So instead of stuffing envelopes or something mundane, really contributing and being compensated for it.  I have come up with a definition of four different kinds of unique opportunities where 3 of them are the “black holes” that people fall into and then there’s what I call the “fourth kind”.  I am going to explain how the fourth kind of an opportunity can change your life.  I do want to add a disclaimer that this is my definition that I came up with for explaining the four different kinds of unique opportunities.  It was an easy way of explaining and helping you to have a different perspective.

What is the fourth kind?  There are many different home based businesses and many of them are established and have good products but don’t have something unique to set them apart.  I am going to describe the four kinds of “unique” opportunities and why you only want the fourth kind.

The first kind is a scam. It may appear to be very unique and seem too good to be true.  Caution – when something seems too good to be true, it usually is.  You need to do your research and search on the internet and check the Better Business Bureau.  There are tons of scams on the internet that people are attracted to that seem like they will provide the answers to their problems.  Many people lose thousands of dollars and then sadly give up, thinking there is no possibility of their making money by having a home based business.

The second kind is based on just recruiting or no real product.  Whatever the business, it looks really interesting and the idea seems really unique.  But . . . word of caution – if it’s just based on recruiting or no real product -  it’s either a pyramid or a ponzi.  What’s the difference?  Well, with a pyramid, they promise consumers or investors large profits based primarily on recruiting others to join their program, not based on profits from any real investment or real sale of goods to the public.  A ponzi, on the other hand, has no product.  As the FTC explains, “A Ponzi scheme is closely related to a pyramid because it revolves around continuous recruiting, but in a Ponzi scheme the promoter generally has no product to sell and pays no commission to investors who recruit new “members.” Instead, the promoter collects payments from a stream of people, promising them all the same high rate of return on a short-term investment. In the typical Ponzi scheme, there is no real investment opportunity, and the promoter just uses the money from new recruits to pay obligations owed to longer-standing members of the program. In English, there is an expression that nicely summarizes this scheme: It’s called “stealing from Peter to pay Paul.” In fact some law enforcement officers call Ponzi schemes “Peter-Paul” scams. Many of you may be familiar with Ponzi schemes reported in the international financial news. For example, the MMM fund in Russia, which issued investors shares of stock and suddenly collapsed in 1994, was characterized as a Ponzi scheme.”

Take a look closely at the businesses out there and if you see that they are talking more about your making money and there’s no real product  – run – run as fast as you can.  Sooner or later, they will be shut down.

The third kind is a start up.  Most people are drawn to a start up because they want to get in at the beginning of the beginning and have the chance for great wealth, but what many people do not realize is that most start ups fail.  They can’t anticipate the obstacles they have to overcome and whether it’s a poor compensation plan, poor product, not enough market research, lack of integrity, poor business plan, not prepared for rapid growth, etc, the bottom line is you invest your time and money only to have the doors close.

Now we come to what I call the “fourth kind”.  It’s not scam, it’s based on real products backed by science and offering something no one else has and it’s not a start up but it’s a ground floor opportunity with a 10 year proven business model with a leader in the health and wellness industry.

How can you have a ground floor opportunity with a proven business model?  Easy.  Have a CEO who has the integrity and 35 years of wealth creation expertise to build a strong foundation with a customer driven business and then after 10 years of this proven business with over 50 nutritional products that are backed by science, introduce a product that is a category breaker.  Something that has no competition and can provide a true wellness experience for people.

Curious?  Find out more by going to:  www.trivitacactus.info

Enjoy life!

Kathy
718-407-0035

# : 13158176

I was part of a start-up where myself and many experienced networkers really thought we had found the business where we would achieve that walkaway income. Of course, as most start-ups do, it closed down. Two years of putting in my time and resources only to have it close down. Independent Business Owners lost thousands of dollars that they had put into the business. I had been in about 15 other programs but that last one really hurt because the belief was so strong that this was the business where we could all achieve our financial dreams but for many reasons, it imploded.

I decided once and for all, I was going to do my due diligence and write out a list of criteria and really research the next business that I was going to join and I wanted to make that business the last business I will ever have to be in. I didn’t want to jump from business to business as I have seen many others do and I didn’t want to be in a start up because most start ups can’t anticipate the obstacles they have to overcome.

Ironically since the start-up I was in closed down, I have seen many leaders jumping and just recently I have seen them jump again. Don’t jump. Do your research and join the right business and stay with it because there is always going to be some new company where they are going to promise you millions or this is the next best thing only to find out when you join that another company comes out again promising the next best thing. It’s only if you have a huge list of contacts that you can jump from business to business and make money but . . . the flip side to that is people start to lose belief in you because they are wondering if the business they join you in will leave them sponsorless because you’re jumping to the next best thing.

When evaluating a business, here are some points to look for and then see my notes at the bottom as to why I joined the business I joined and why I haven’t found anything better and I’m glad I am building it right now.

Criteria #1: How old is the company?

This is so important. I know, I know, the appeal of a start up is so great because you can be in the beginning of the beginning and make millions but don’t do it. 90% of all MLM and Network Marketing companies will go out of business and fail within the first two and a half years in business. Having a business closing down hurts a lot of people. You should be looking for a company that has been in business no less that 5 years. Then you’ll be stacking the odds in your favor. Side note: I am in a proven business that right now has a ground floor opportunity. It’s no risk because it’s not a start up but you have a start up opportunity.

Criteria #2: What is the Unique Selling Point

You may find the company has similar products but they offer something other companies do not or they have a product that is called “a category breaker” meaning it has no competition. For instance, I just heard someone jumping to yet another new juice company and it has a high quality Superfruit juice but it’s a 1 product company and it’s competing with the Acai and Mangosteen, etc. It doesn’t offer something unique. Also, take a look at what is unique. There is a nutritional company that was a failed nutritional company but was recently purchased by a famous person. It is unique because they do testing to see the nutritions you are lacking but Rod Cook has seen it time and time again that these companies don’t work. If you don’t know who Rod Cook is, then subscribe to mlmwatchdog.com. He has an impressive reputation and many years in the industry.

Criteria #3: Can you be passionate about your product?

There are some network marketers who will say that doesn’t matter. They’ll look at the compensation plan and whether or not they can build it but again, I say, don’t do it. If you believe in the products, you’ll believe in the company and in building your business. It will show through when you’re talking to customers or prospects. Make sure you find a company that has a phenomenal product(s) that is backed by scientific proof and testing and that they are high quality products.

Criteria #4: Compensation Plan

Okay, I did say you have to believe in the products and I’ve heard that it’s a good product when you want to buy the product even if you’re not being compensated, but hey, this is a business. You want to understand the compensation plan. If it falls below a total of 20%, then it’s not worth your time and energy to get involved. I know, I know, there are some that have great marketing plans attached to them like populating through Facebook, and that may be fine for immediate income, but I am looking at a real business that is going to be my walkaway income. When I selected the business I am in, it was to select a business, not a hobby. Also take a look at how many people you must enroll to begin earning income. The lower the number the better. In a future blog, I’ll discuss the different compensation plans from the breakaway to the matrix to the unilevel to the 2up to the perpetual leverage, binary and more.

Criteria #5: Reputation and Integrity

This is so important. You can have a business that is fantastic but if the leadership does not have the reputation and the integrity, it’s going to start to collapse like a house of cards. You’ll find it difficult to bring people in or customers and even more important, you don’t want to be involved in a business that does not have a good reputation. Search on the business in the BBB. Search on the owners. Don’t be fooled by some of the results in the internet. So many internet marketers nowadays use the word scam to put down one company and say why their company is the best. Just do your research and make sure it’s a company that you want to be a part of and that you would want to recommend to others.

Criteria #6: Saturation

What is the competition? How available is the product? Where can it be sold? Can you get something similar at your local store? It’s okay to have some competition but too much is not good. For example, energy drinks are VERY competitive.

Criteria #7: Policies and Procedures

What are the guidelines for marketing? Can you use your own websites? One of my friends was in a business and they could only use the replicated site – there wasn’t a way for you to brand yourself. Another company that I was in would not allow us to use marketing material unless they approved it and they make it difficult to get it to them and then it would take weeks before approval.

Criteria #8: Marketing

Does the company have a marketing system. Many companies have teams that have their own marketing but it is much more powerful when it is company driven. Would you want an infomercial run by a team or would you want an infomercial that is run by a 38 year old media company with programming in 200 countries? hmmm

Criteria #9: Publicly Traded or Privately Held Company

I am including this as a criteria because some network marketing companies make a big deal about this. There are pros and cons to this. For the publicly traded, of course it’s great because you get to see all the financials. But the bad part (and pay attention here), is that they are more slow to make decisions and more focused on serving the needs of their shareholders than their consultants. Whereas with the privately held company, the owners are free to plan long term without concern for short term gains for stock holders. However, this goes back to Criteria #5. Make sure you research the owners and the company to ensure their integrity and reputation.

Criteria #10: Sponsor or Recruiter

This is important. If you find all the criteria above have been answered to your satisfaction, the next question is do you want that person as your sponsor. I always believe in keeping with the person who contacted you first. It’s just network marketing etiquette and I know there are some network marketers out there who would scoff at this but I still abide by it. But are they a sponsorer or a recruiter? A sponsor is someone who takes the time to help you be successful. They will motivate, coach and train you. A recruiter is someone who just keeps signing up people. As the saying goes, they throw them against the wall to see who will stick there, and in some cases, abandons them. In the last business I was in, I had many people from the downline calling me because their sponsor(recruiter) had deserted them.

The next thing to consider is what your sponsor can supply that will assist you in building and training your network. What kind of welcome or training package will you and your downline receive? Does your potential sponsor provide a newsletter, advertising help, training and promotional materials, or advertising? Do they have a proven system that you can follow? There is no reason to reinvent the wheel if the material is already created.

I hope this information helped you. I joined TriVita and it met all of the above criteria and more. I think what I really love about TriVita besides the integrity of the company, the fact that they are aligned with top hospitals and universities to do independent testing of their products, and their products have a less than 1% return rate and are high quality products, and their new product Nopalea that is a category breaker, is the Cooperative Marketing business model. It evens out the playing field so everyone can have success even if they’re not a sales person. You can acquire customers from the company (and the company follows up with your customers for you at no cost to you) and very soon they are going to have infomercials on their new product AND the opportunity where you can start for just $35.00. WOW. Talk about duplication!

If you’re interested in finding out more, go to: www.sixfiguresthisyear.com. Either way, I hope I helped you in any decision you make and I wish you the best of success and good health in your endeavors.

Kathy

Katherine Smith, Independent TriVita Affiliate Member #13158176

I just received a call from someone on my team who shared with me they don’t expect any business growth right now because it’s the summer time. They’re falling into the same trap that newbies fall into or people with the wrong mindset.

Whether it’s summer, winter, fall or spring, if you feel it’s not worth the effort to build your business and you slow down, your business will slow down and so will your income.

There was a great story I read recently where a father had his own business and his son was visiting him from out of town. His son saw the advertising money he was putting into the business and said to his father, this is not the best time to do this. Everywhere business is slow. Meanwhile the father had a great business and was attracting many clients. But when he thought about it, he agreed with his son and slowed his advertising. Guess what happened? His business slowed down and his reaction was, my son was right.

Now of course you’re reading this and saying, Kathy, it is a known fact that summer is a slow month for growing your business. Yes, but you can still be building your business AND your pipeline. Even though it is summer, continue to put forth a concerted effort, and you will LOVE the momentum this builds for the fall.

And if you really take a look at it, there really isn’t any good time to build a business. Let’s see – starting November is holiday season and people won’t want to spend money. January to March is tax season and that’s not a good time. June to end of August is summer time. Doesn’t leave much room to build a business, does it? What you need to keep in mind is be persistent and consistent and you will build a sucessful business.

With the summer time, you can also change your strategy. Realize that people will be out during the day and most of your calls will take place in the evening. If you are able to do trade shows and events, now would be a great time to share your products. Even if you don’t have the money to set up at an event, you can still go and gather business cards and make contacts.

Always get people on autoresponders. Whatever the season. I have someone who responded to my 5th autoresponder indicating they were on vacation but would be getting back to me as soon as they got back. Now that explains why they didn’t return my phone call. And that’s ok – because the autoresponders continued to follow up and it worked!

You should always be reevaluating your advertising. Not just in the summer but always. There are seasonal advertising techniques that need adjustment. I recommend always having more than one method of advertising. You can always make changes and there will be times when one is more powerful than other. Always be building a list so you can be building a pipeline. Maybe you have a marketing campaign that isn’t producing well in the summer, or maybe even COSTING you too much. It’s time to “trim the fat” and get rid of that marketing strategy.

Also, think about this. If most people think that summer is not a good time to call people, guess what? If you’re calling your leads when no one else is, you’re going to have access to more people! I just read recently and thought it was great and will share it here. While there are a few less “fish in the lake” in the summer months, there is a far greater percentage of the “fisherpersons” that pull their bait out of the water.

To share what Jim Rohn has said, water and nurture the crops in the Summer and harvest them in the Fall. If you work just as hard in the summer months, you’ll either be building your business or setting a strong foundation where you’ll be rewarded in the Fall. Where most people who believe in the myth that they can’t build their business in the summer, start to build their business again in the Fall, you’ll have a head start because you’ll be capitalizing on the momentum you built.

And as Henry Ford said, if you think you can; you can and if you think you can’t, you can’t.

So go forth and build your business, and if you’re seeking a business where the company does the advertising for you and you can profit share off their customers, call me on 718-407-0035 or go to:

www.sixfiguresthisyear.com

Wishing you much success, good health and great wealth!

Kathy

I usually like to provide some business tips on this blog but I came across this information from numerous sources and I felt it was too important to ignore. I really feel that anyone that’s in business for themselves needs to take action and reply to this. Many times we complain when something has been put into effect but we have the chance right now to make a difference.

The California Assembly passed SB 17 on a majority vote on June 28th 2009 which contains a provision for a 3% withholding tax on independent contractors. If this bill becomes law, and you are in California your company will be required to withhold 3% of your monthly check and send this amount to the State of California.

If this bill is enacted, it will decrease the size of your monthly checks and create substantial administrative burdens and expenses for All MLM Companies. Throughout history, across the country, direct sellers as well as other independent contractors have been exempt from withholding taxes because many of their expenses are deductible. This legislation sets a dangerous precedent that other states and even the Federal Government could follow.

If you share my concerns, please voice your opposition to this bill ASAP by contacting the Governor and Senate President Pro tem Darrell Steinberg and let them know how you feel.

A sample letter appears below for your convenience, but your communication will be most effective if you use your own words. Contact information for the Governor and Senate President also appears below.

Here’s a sample letter if you live in California:

SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear [ ]:

Withholding on independent contractors, like me, a (name of Company) Distributor, would place a large burden on my family. Unfortunately, once again, the California Legislature is considering an independent contractor withholding proposal.

[Tell your personal story in your own words] I have been a (name of Company) Distributor for more than [Insert the number of years you have been working with your company] years. Originally, I enrolled because I liked the products and wanted to earn some additional money. Now my family depends on this extra income to supplement our budget.

I am not opposed to paying my share of taxes, but it makes no sense to me to send the state my money and then have the State send it back to me when I file my tax returns. I need every dollar I make to run my business. I have to pay my business expenses from the commissions I earn. While I of course support the need to pay taxes, withholding up front on taxes I may never really owe will cause severe cash flow problems for me. My business is already difficult enough. If you burden us with more administration and paper work it only serves to make the business more difficult and less attractive and therefore it will be more difficult to grow my business.

In the end, the State will not end up with any more money. If you do consider a withholding proposal, I request that you exempt direct selling companies.

Please do not sign any budget resolution that contains independent contractor withholding for direct sellers. It would hurt my family and my business as well as tens of thousands of others in my occupation.

Sincerely,

==============

I was just approached by someone about Efusjon and telling me I should join. First of all, my mentor who made a million dollars per year in network marketing, who sadly has since passed away from bone cancer, really showed me what to look for in a business. You don’t want to jump from business to business. You want to do your research so you know you’re in the right business and then make that commitment. My sponsor in the current business I’m in is a great testimony to that same scenario. He jumped from business to business from 2003 to 2007 and at the same time his sponsor on a part time business built it to a substantial six figure income. That’s when my sponsor decided to get serious and within a year’s time rose up the career rank.

That’s not to say I don’t evaluate all the new programs and changes. I do. And every single time, I am rewarded with knowing that I’m in the right business.

Let’s take Efusjon for instance. Yes, it’s led by a leader in the industry and it’s viral with facebook and the games. I think that’s great. And it’s natural energy drinks. Hey that’s great too. And I’ve been told it has a great compensation plan. Well, that may be true for some folks, but not compared to the business I’m in.

I’ve also heard that there are some teams that are going to do infomercials and create a rotator with google. Well, I think that’s great too but I have seen this happen before and it doesn’t work. An infomercial takes a lot of money and you need to be able to make changes and have the expertise. The business that I’m in which has a 10 year proven track record, is backed by a 38 year old media giant with programming in 200 countries.

Of course, you’re going to say, well that’s an established business. I’m seeking a start up. Well, right now we have a ground floor opportunity with a proven business model. The company has just launched a new product called Nopalea. It’s a category breaker product. Do you know what that means? No competition. Do you think there’s competition with Energy Drinks? You betcha! My company’s new product has an addition to the business model providing weekly bonuses for 90 days for each new activity, meaning everytime you or someone within your 3 tiers signs up a person, it kicks off this bonus plan. You can build beyond 3 tiers and you place people where you want with the matrix and you can build to unlimited width.

Oh, and by the way, this company that I’m in will very soon be airing infomercials on both the product and the opportunity and we’ll be able to acquire those leads from the company. How great is that?

The name of the company is TriVita and here’s some bullet points on why I feel TriVita is still the best opportunity around.

1) If someone says with their opportunity they are running infomercials driven by a team – unless the person is a millionaire, they don’t have the resources to pull an infomercial and redo it until it’s done right and they don’t have 38 years of experience like Ellison Media. Even if the infomercials were company driven, you would have to take a look at their expertise. This has been done before by teams and it didn’t work.

2) TriVita has a category breaker product like Nopalea where people are getting results within weeks. It helps to reduce inflammation which is really helping relieve people’s pain and discomfort. Take a look at the products of the company you’re evaluating – if there is competition for their products or it’s a 1 product company, you’re betting everything on that one product. Does your product make a difference? All of TriVita’s products produce results – they have a less than 1% return rate and that’s after 10 years!

3) TriVita has 50 other products where TriVita backends markets to them so they can find out about the products and order them.

4) TriVita has a master conversion system where they build loyalty and they have a system in place to retain the customers and cultivate an ongoing relationship. This is huge because this saves you time, money and resources. TriVita employs a constant stream of benefits to build sales and loyalty from your customers from a monthly product catalog to special offers and discounts to a wellness publication; weekly emails covering health issues and more at no cost to you.

5) TriVita has a fantastic compensation plan

For the Share and Earn:

* Paid 30% for 90 days for each new customer you bring in and then 21% lifetime commissions for customers and
* Paid 30% for 90 days for affiliate members you sign up and then 7% on your affiliate members (3% on first tier but all other tiers are 7%)
* Paid 15% and 10% for tiers 2 and 3 and same scenario above

For customers with TriVita’s 50 other nutritional products:
* Paid 70% bonus for first time customers for TriVita’s 50 other fantastic products and then 21% lifetime commissions.

Then for all your customers in your group, you’re paid paid 4% for tiers 2 to 7 for your customers.

And . . . Remember you have unlimited width. You are not forced to have only 3 on top – that’s just how we build but if you fill all 7 tiers, guess what? You open up another leg.

And this is not including the additional commissions and bonuses you receive as you rise up the career rank and as you rise up the career rank, you are paid additional commissions and bonuses beyond your 7th tier.

Folks, TriVita is airing soon infomercials on this phenomenal product Nopalea and the Share and Earn business. We have a new product launching in October and next year we’re going international and you can even sign up someone now internationally.

That’s why my commitment is to TriVita. With all the programs that people have approached me with, I haven’t been able to find a company like TriVita. TriVita has a commitment to excellence, to high quality products, to helping their affiliate members succeed and providing the best service for the customers and to truly help others experience better health, a better life and in following that path also achieving greater wealth to achieve their life purposes.

Just take a look at TriVita’s mission statement: “To inspire people to experience wellness and to create wealth for their life purposes.”

So back to the original question, Efusjon, will I be joining? No. Should you join? Well, I would say take a look at TriVita. Do your due diligence and I think you’ll see what I did.

Call me on 718-407-0035 and I can answer any of your questions and go HERE to read more about TriVita and to find out more about Nopalea, go to: www.trivitacactus.info.

Wishing you good health and great wealth!

Kathy

Independent TriVita Affiliate Member Katherine Smith ID# : 13158176

Hi.  I am sorry I haven’t written in a while.  I started a new home based business and I have been so immersed in helping my team.  Right now I have over 100 folks on my team and over 3,700 customers and I started in August 2008.  They have just launched a new product that has been proven to reduce inflammation and what’s amazing is people are having results within days!  But I’m back and I am going to try and be more consistent.

It’s funny because in my last blog posting, I indicate the most important thing to do is blog daily and guess what I haven’t done – blog daily.    I need to follow my own advice.

Let’s move onto my next topic.  Lead Generation is the basis of any business.  How do you generate leads?  Without customers, you don’t have a business.  Without bringing in other distributors, you are limiting your growth.  Of course, you want to have as many customers as you want and with the business I’m in, I can just acquire them from the company but I always believe in multiple ways of building a business.  This is how you tip the scales to your advantage – it’s all about the marketing system!

One of the ways that I am generating leads is through a company called Veretekk.

This system will allow you to fill your pipeline of prospects indefinitely! If you have already heard of Veretekk and feel it’s too complicated to set up, I can help you with that.

Now, let’s talk about Veretekk.  With Veretekk, you have prospects and leads coming to YOU!   Veretekk includes the traditional autoresponder system, but then takes it to the nth level.  You have a multitude of emails you can create to use with different autoresponders and then create groups to track the campaigns. Veretekk’s real strength is with Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  Veretekk gives you the ability to link all over the Internet. You receive dozens of websites, many of which you can offer free products enabling you to capture contact information, which is then put on your autoresponders.  With Veretekk Gold you get about 35 “traffic portals” and you can link them together with what’s called “daily chain linking”.  After you have linked them, which adds more weight to your site, then you can promote them.

Many of the traffic portals are designed to attract the sort of people who are either actively searching for ways to make money online, or looking for ways to promote their business.  Veretekk allows you to build a list of people who will be receptive to making money.

In addition to SEOing your website; you can track each website as well as having a multitude of emails with tracking to gauge the effectiveness of your campaigns.  All incoming leads are captured with customized emails sent to them promoting many different money opportunity sites as well as the Veretekk system and when they raise their hand and enter one of your sites, it can automatically switch to sending them email campaigns promoting your business.

You also receive “Profit Portals” which are the same as Traffic Portals in that they are fully developed lead generation systems, but they also offer their own affiliate program.  You can sign up and create an additional stream of income – your choice.

And you receive “SEO Portals” which are designed specifically to aide with Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

With all the portals, you have full control over the content with displayed text, meta tags and here’s what’s important – you can even include your feed so if you have a blog (which you can receive with Veretekk) or any other blog you have and you update it – all your portals are updated.  So you have fresh content on ALL your portals when you update your blog.

Utilizing these portals allows your to expand your control out to over 40 different domains and with these portals, you are able to attain the best, unique and premium leads.

Its a great system and anyone serious about online marketing should invest the time to learn the system by attending their free online training but you can also follow my step-by-step system.

I know I have promised to provide business tips and information on Internet Marketing but I truly feel that if you add Veretekk to your portfolio, you have an unfair advantage over what everyone else is doing.

Look to my next blog on more advice and information on building your business and I promise to be posting daily!

To Your Wealth & Wellness,

Kathy

What is Twitter

Twitter has two purposes. It can be used just to keep in touch with friends or families or it can be used to help your business.

Basically, Twitter is like micro blogging or even think of it as sending a quick IM, (instant messaging) but you’re able to see all the updates (known as tweets) which are text based and have up to 140 characters in length.

For those of you who are asking what is twitter, you may not take it seriously at first. That would be a big mistake for many reasons. First, you may be surprised at the number of high profile people you have access to and can keep up to date on the latest news. Someone who I admire greatly in the network marketing field sent me an update welcoming me and yet he’s never answered any of my emails and I’ve had access to him and some great information.

According to the State of the Twittersphere report, each day 5 to 10 thousand new people join Twitter. Current estimates of total users top out around 5 million. That’s a lot of opportunity.

Second, for those of you who are seeing this as just another social networking tool and continue to ask, ok, I get it, but what is twitter? Twitter allows you to post updates as often as you want (again – limited to 140 characters). You can follow people and people can follow you. When they follow you, they see your updates (otherwise know in the twitter world as “tweets”).

Basically, it’s a constant flow of communication. Now for those of you who are overwhelmed as it is with the contact access and flow of communication available with our current technology, you’ll be happy to know that you can turn it on and off as often as you like. And you can also search through Twitter because they keep a public record of all updates so you’re not going to miss anything.

So what is twitter and how can it be used if I have a business? (Because for the social aspect, it’s very clear that it’s a great tool to keep everyone updated on what you’re doing). Duct Tape Marketing founder John Jantsch identified 3 big advantages of Twitter. From getting insight to the questions asked to traffic and people can spread your thoughts to new places.

Your tweets can become viral and more people can find out about you.

Let’s say you have a product and you want to find out what others think about it. You can search Twitter and see the responses. Bestselling author David Meerman Scott said, “I have personally connected with hundreds of people I otherwise wouldn’t have, and I booked an interview on NPR and a big daily newspaper using Twitter.”

When you tweet, if you are trying to build a business, 90 percent of the time, you should be providing valuable information. This will have more people following you to see what you say. You can use tweets also for surveys and questions.

There are a few tools to help better your Twitter Experience and I hope the information I have provided will have you stop scratching your head as you were asking, and what is twitter?

Here are some of the tools you may find useful:

TwitterFox: This Firefox web browser plugin allows you to view Tweets within your web browser so you don’t have to go to the twitter site.

TweetLater: With this service, you can schedule tweets and you can receive email digests of keyword activity in the Tweetosphere so you can join a conversation or track trends.

Ping.fm: If you have accounts with many services, such as LinkedIn and Facebook, you can post updates across ALL of your social media in one single step.

Twitter for Facebook: If you are on Facebook, this application forwards your Twitter updates directly to Facebook as status updates.

If you have a website, you can install a widget and everytime you update your twitter, the information is there. Google loves fresh content and you’re adding fresh content everytime you twitter.

Let me know how twitter has helped you.

Have a great day!

Kathy

The key to success in a home based business will surprise you. Many gurus out there will start with the research you must do to find the right business, and I agree that the selection process is very important. In fact, I have a list of criteria that you should consider as well as an explanation of why but I’ll expand on that in a later post. Other gurus will tell you it’s finding the “why”. Why do you want to be in a home based business; why are you seeking extra income; why are you unhappy with where you are now. By understanding your reasons, you’re building the foundation to accomplishing your goals. Goals are just as important because unless you have a map of how you want to get there, you could end up taking those side roads that will take you much longer to achieve success.

But there’s an even more important key to success.

You can know your why; the perfect business and the blueprint to get there, but if you don’t have this one key element, you will not be successful. The funny part is it’s a very simple concept but not taken seriously.

THE MOST IMPORTANT ACT YOU CAN TAKE IS VERY SIMPLE . . .

MAKE THE COMMITMENT TO YOURSELF TO BE SUCCESSFUL.

It doesn’t matter what brand of success we’re chasing after. The fact still remains: We will not succeed in attaining any dream until we first make a commitment. To be successful you can’t have just one foot in – you need to jump in.

Persistence and commitment is equal to success but it first comes with the decision to make that commitment. Some of you may choose not to commit because you want a guarantee that everything will work out. But the only guarantee is that if you do not commit you will not succeed.

You must eliminate options and excuses that get in the way of making real commitments. You will not get it done with “maybe someday” If you want to truly succeed, don’t allow giving up to be an option.

Those that are hesitant to commit will be ineffective in receiving success. On the other hand, when you are committed powerful things occur that would not have occurred without the strength of your commitment.

I am sure you have heard the definition of insanity – continuing to do the same thing over and over, expecting different results. Your past has affected your life up to where you are right now. You must make the decision be fully committed to being successful and then take action.

Right now, make the commitment to change your life. Make the decision, take the action, and don’t wait any longer! Nobody can make you do this but YOU. Make 2009 YOUR YEAR!

The first step to success in business is having goals. Many people don’t take goals seriously.

In the book “What They Don’t Teach You in the Harvard Business School”, Mark McCormack tells a study conducted on students in the 1979 Harvard MBA program. In that year, the students were asked, “Have you set clear, written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?”

Only three percent of the graduates had written goals and plans; 13 percent had goals, but they were not in writing; and a whopping 84 percent had no specific goals at all.

Ten years later, the members of the class were interviewed again, and the findings, while somewhat predictable, were nonetheless astonishing. The 13 percent of the class who had goals were earning, on average, twice as much as the 84 percent who had no goals at all. And what about the three percent who had clear, written goals? They were earning, on average, ten times as much as the other 97 percent put together.

In spite of such proof of success, most people don’t have clear, measurable, time-bounded goals that they work toward.

Brian Tracy says there are four reasons why people don’t set goals:

* They don’t realize about the importance of goals. If the people with whom you spend the most time — family, friends, colleagues, and so forth — are not clear and committed to goals, there is a chance that you will not be, either.
* They don’t know how to set goals. Some set goals that are too general. These are, in reality, fantasies common to everyone. Goals, on the other hand, are clear, written, specific, and measurable.
* They fear failure. Failure hurts, but it is often necessary to experience failure in order to achieve the greatest success. Do not unconsciously sabotage yourself by not setting any goals in which you might fail.
* They fear rejection. People are often afraid that if they are unsuccessful at achieving a goal, others will be critical of them. This is remedied by keeping your goals to yourself at the outset; let others see your results and achievements once you’ve accomplished your goals.

Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. One of the keys is to write down goals and how you will accomplish those goals. By doing this, you are taking your first step to reaching and surpassing your dreams.