Ladies and gents, say hello to big brother.

The FTC has announced that it will be watching blogs for “product reviews” and appropriate disclaimers.  In other words, be very, VERY careful about what you write about and what you state.

For instance, if you write about a weight loss product, the standard “results not typical” MAY NOT WORK as a legitimate disclaimer.  So if you write a story about someone losing 50 lbs, writing this:

“Results not typical.  Individual results may vary.”

may not cut it.  Nope….Big Brother takes it one step further.  They want you to state what typical results are for anyone who purchases the product.

In fact, Frank Kern has a humorous post on what the FTC wants.

Now…I respect the intentions of what the FTC is trying to do.  I mean, its really freakin’ easy to put up a website, a few false testimonials, and sell a product.

Real easy.

But…..

There are a lot of bloggers out there that build network marketing companies.  Are they going to have to point to their companies earning disclaimers on every post?

What about traditional companies or the owners who use a blog to communicate great things about their company.  What disclosures do they need?

The bottom line is, government control can be taken too far.  This may be one of those great examples which causes an industry to have to rethink how it operates…..some for the good, some for the bad.

Which makes me write….results not typical when reading this post.  Most who read my junk do absolutely nothing and wonder why they are not growing as Internet marketers, network marketers, or entrepreneurs.

Interview With Tony Robbins, Frank Kern, and John Reese

This video has been viewed by me at least 4 times since I first noticed it on Facebook.  This is a powerful reminder of having a correct mindset for success, knowing what it takes to get there, and moving beyond the inaction phase into momentum and action to achieve your goals.

There are some powerful tidbits of information in here.  Don’t miss anything!

As I noted earlier, I started a blog about my P90X workouts.

Yes, I’m using my typical WordPress techniques and on-page SEO techniques that I use.  But I never expected to see the amount of traffic to come in with so little off-page efforts, promotion, or anything else.  Just simply blogging…

But in one week I’ve had 128 visits, most of those in the last 3 days.  86 of those are from search engines (the only other places I’ve promoted were two forums and Facebook).

Now, I’m doing nothing to monetize this blog (yet), but simply keeping it as a daily journal of what I am doing with my P90X workouts, dieting, etc.

But my point is this…

If there is a popular activity in your life that you do regularly, blog about it.  Build a readers base, build a rapport, and then introduce a way to make money off of the blog (Adsense, affiliate sales, whatever).  You do not necessarily have to do a lot with the blog, just keep updating it regularly with something you do.

… the tough work harder!

I received some news today that an income source my family has will be going away in the next couple of weeks.  Now, at first the news is a bit stressful (after all, we have financial goals we are trying to meet).

But then it hit me:  I have nothing to worry about.  I just simply need to work harder.

I truly believe that in Internet marketing, network marketing, or any type of entrepreneurial endeavour that we take one we can either let minor setbacks destroy us or we can simply take the opportunity to make things better.  We can take the opportunity to get  completely stressed, or we can use it as motivation to work harder.

I’m simply choosing to work harder.

Not everything is going to go according to play 100% of the time.  I think we all realize that.  We cannot control everything, especially things outside of what we personally can make decision on.

But what we can control is how we choose to react and to circumstances.

If something comes up that is not perfect, make a decision to work harder.

Losing an income stream?  Work harder.

Niche becoming saturated?  Work harder.

Have someone quit your business?  Work harder.

But whatever you do, dictate how you will react to the circumstances instead of letting the circumstance dictate how you.

Can someone who appears to be “unsuccessful” still posture in their home business?  In particular, can they still command authority in dealing with potential customers or business partners?

The question on the forum was how to handle “call backs.”  In particular, how many times you call back, how to handle it if they are not there for a set appointment, and all of the other issues around dealing with prospects in this manner.

As I am sure you know, it is easy to feel “beaten down” if you are not a six figure earner or full-time with your company.  Or if you’ve been in a “slump” it can feel that you are unsuccessful.

When this happens, you can have a tendency to lose posture.  And when you lose posture, you give too much control of the conversations to the people you are talking to, you lose faith in your ability to talk confidently about what you do, and you will often come across as desperate.  In other words, you fail to present yourself as an authority and a valuable asset for the new potential business partner.  After all, they are choosing you as much as your company.

So what does it take to regain posture in dealing with potential business partners?

First, become the “successful” marketer.  To me, you do not have to be enrolling tons of people to be a successful markter.  Yes, that will be an eventual byproduct of successful marketing, but it takes time to build up to.

To become a successful marketer then means to do just that:  Market.

I had to take a break from my business in the fall to deal with a health issue with my wife.  Doing that really through me out of the loop in several aspects.  My opt-ins fell, phone conversations went down, and I lost momentum.  It appeared I was running on the path of being an “unsuccessful” marketer.  And I’m sure I am not alone in this happening….it happens all the time in the industry.

But I knew that I could be successful once again.  It took consistent action, dedication, and serious work ethic, but doing this put me back on the side of being a successful marketer.

Do you know what happened?

-  My traffic increased

-  My opt-ins increased

-  The phone started ringing again

-  I began to feel good about the process again

And when all of this started happening, I could posture quite well in my conversations.  I feel good about what I am talking about now to people contacting me.  With what I’ve learned and the actions I’m taking, I can confidently say that what I offer is valuable to them.  I do not come across as desperate, and I do not have to beg for call backs.

In short, the best way to regain posture is to make yourself busy with the work of the business.  Doing this will “fill the funnel” and give you more people to talk to.  When you have more people to talk to, you are not desperate to sign up everyone you talk to.  Your conversations become more meaningful and you come across as someone who can help a person get to where they want to go, even if you are working on going there yourself.

But as I am working through my personal 90 day Internet marketing challenge, I’m realizing how much fun network marketing can actually be.  Some background…

My “old” background with the industry was always the make the list or buy leads.  Boy, did I have some HORRIBLE experience purchasing leads.  Even leads that were supposedly “exclusive” or “not incentivized” were never what they were sold as.  Wrong numbers, disconnects, and, of course, the cursing and screaming as people claim they never filled out the form.

Man, those days were painful…

But with my Internet marketing and system we have established, it completely has changed the game.  People are seeking me out.  They are trying to learn about me, often times before they call, which is cool with me.  But the system is bringing people to me…instead of me pounding the phones.

And its working.

Let me explain, if you are struggling with a business, what the system does:

It empowers you!

You know, if you have any “decent” cold call training, you are told to control the conversation.  And while that is true, its hard to establish that when you are calling them out of the blue.

But when people call you, that is because they want to know what you are up to.  That gives you authority.  Now, I’m not talking about an egotistical sense of authority, but a confident sense of the word.

I’ve had more positive phone conversations in the last week than I did in months of “smiling and dialing.”

And I fully expect it to only get better.

Network marketing really only has two important words.

Some believe it is “residual income.”   Some believe the words are “I can.”  These are all great words, but in reality, to be successful there are only two words that really matter.

The words simply are:  Work, and Marketing.

Work

This is the #1 thing that kills so many people.  If you are successful in network marketing, you know that success did not come by dumb luck or magic.  You worked hard to get there.  Yet so many people simply do not want to do the work that it takes to reach success.

Some get discouraged by the word “no.”

Some get burned out.

And some simply are lazy.  Just being candid here, but there are many, many people that are not willing to make the sacrifice to get there.

My mentor used to joke with people that asked him if this took a lot of “work.”  His standard response was, “No, once a month we’ll back the money truck up to your door and drop off a load.”  The absurdity of the illustration helped people understand the absurdity of success without work.

But for the “work” to, well, work, you really need and adjective:  Consistent work.  You cannot work two days one week, one day the next, a week or two out the year, or some off-the-wall schedule and expect success to happen.  It just does not work this way.  And I never understood that more until I challenged myself to 90 days of consistent action with Internet marketing, working the business, and making things happen.

As I push myself to do more, I’m seeing more signs of small success occuring.  Pushing becomes less of a chore and more of an exciting thing to do!

But these signs did not come in the first day, the first week, or the first month.  I’m now in month two and just now seeing it…but consistent work has put me there.

Marketing

This is where the rubber meets the road.

Everyone has their own way of marketing.  Some swear by the warm market and “belly to belly” techniques.  Guess what…that’s still marketing.

Others believe in purchasing leads and cold calling.  Still marketing.

Many are turning to Internet marketing.  And, as the name implies, it is marketing.

But where many fail in their work is simply not know how they best handle marketing.  You see, marketing is the key to consistent work, no matter what form of marketing they choose.  If you quit marketing, you’ve quit working.  Work is not checking email and “getting ready” to do something.  Marketing is the work you HAVE to do.

So what type of Marketing is best for you?  Well, that is up to you to decide.  There is a guy in my company that loves the belly to belly approach.  He takes appointments, presents the opportunity in person, and has built a great organization doing just this.

My mentor has done the same with Internet marketing, although the guy is a genius even in the “belly to belly” marketing world.

It is all in the preference of what you are comfortable with.

And after you determine what you are comfortable with, grow as a marketer.  Find ways to make your marketing better.  Keep improving.  As Art Williams said in his “Do It” speech, make sure your “butt is always burning” to do more and do it better.

And whatever you do, keep marketing, keep working.  Only these two words will bring success.

But during this conversation, he started talking about how bad the economy is, how hardly anyone has any money, and how things simply do not look good.

And I politely disagreed.

I believe there are plenty of buyers out there.  And as network marketers and home based business entrepreneurs, there is a greater opportunity as people attempt to figure out how to survive the mess.

There Are Buyers

Earlier this month, Frank Kern grossed around $4,000,000 in one day.  He was selling a product that people wanted.  In fact, people where chomping at the bit to get their hands on one of the limited amounts of the nearly $2,000 product.

His product met a need that people had, and people bought.

There are plenty of products that meet needs or fill desires.  And people will pay for these products.  If you have one, sell it.  There are buyers out there.  It might take some work to find them.  I’ll say it again:  It might take some WORK to find them.  But once you find them, it will pay off.

Just like it paid off for Frank Kern.

The Opportunity Exists

As a network marketer, I work on finding the balance between being excited and seeming “hype”-ish.  Yes, I’m excited about what I do but, at the same time, I realize that I am meeting a need or filling a desire, just as I would when I sell a product.

People are hurting.  Corporate America is failing more people each day.  And having a business is one way people can either stabalize their situation or correct it altogether.

If someone had just an extra $500 or $1,000 coming in each month, there would be opportunity to survive or plan for survival in case a layoff happens at their job (notice I’m talking about job workers here, or part-time network marketers).  Yes, $500 – $1,000 does not go far but it helps.

It is about meeting their needs or filling their desire.  They have a need to build financial stability into their lives and, through a home business, they can do it.  They may desire more out of life, and your home business is the key to their desires.

So I don’t buy into “doom and gloom.”  Buyers exist and the ability to build a successful network marekting business exist in the current “economic problems.”  If you know how to handle the situation, and do things the right way, you can make the most of the opportunity.

But, all is going well.

Traffic is consistent but not as much as I thought it would be.  I’m attributing some of this to my video marketing strategy that I am changing in the next 30 days of the challenge.

I’m also learning a lot more about how to enhance traffing through blogging.  There are a lot of things that I’m doing with my blogs to generate more traffic, get more backlinks, increase keywords, etc.

Plus, some of what I’m learning about blogging applies to videos as well.

I’ll write some details later on what I’m doing…but still a lot of work left to do tonight.

I already have one semi-populated Zurvita opportunity blog at http://www.brentworley.com/zurvita-blog but wanted to launch one under a TLD.

Zurvita is a great company and I’m proud to be a represenative with them.  Most of what I have learned about Internet marketing I have learned from my Zurvita mentor.  Its been an exciting journey learning from him, bouncing ideas off of him, and working with him to build my Zurvita business.

So check out the blogs…let me know what you like about the looks, the layouts, etc.