Tip For Getting Referrals - Be Yourself And Tell Your Story

We're all in different programs to make money online. Regardless of what program it is, getting referrals shouldn't be about "selling" your program. Rather it should be about truly wanting to help others attain what they want, and what people want is financial independence, whether they say it or not, that is truly what they are after.

So, how do you get more referrals, and not just and inactive quantity of referrals, but quality referrals? Simply tell your story. There is no right or wrong way to do it. Be yourself, and share your story. When people get to know you, they will get to like you. When you are genuine, they will get to know you and trust you. We aren't selling anything, we are messengers with an answer to people's financial worries.

I know I've gotten to know many of you already, some of you know more about me than others, etc. But for those of you wondering what my story is, here it is:

My name is Oliver. I am 29 years old and reside in Michigan. I've lived in Michigan my entire life. I graduated from University of Detroit High School in 1997 where the school motto was "Men for Others." Through my upbringing through my parents and through my experiences at U of D, I was brought up to always put others first before myself (outside of obviously taking care of myself emotionally, health wise, etc.). I have always been the type of person to extend a helping hand no matter who or when or what it was, as long as I was able to do so.

I graduated from Michigan State University in May of 2001 with a degree in Social Theory with a minor in Sociology. To no surprise, I have never once used my degree. My first 3 years out of college, I was what you could call a job hopper. I had jobs ranging from time share sales, to financial planning, to mortgage sales, etc. You name it, I probably did it:) In 2003 I was employed by a credit card processing company. Within my first year, I was promoted from an account executive to a corporate sales manager, where I stayed for another 2 years.

In January of 2007 I started my own credit card processing company with 3 business partners. We are still running that operation today, which is what I do on a daily basis as my full time career.

How did I end up online? As you may or may not know, running a business means spending a lot of money. While our company is doing well, any and all profits being made are going back into the company to continue to grow it. While great for the company, not so great for Oliver's personal finances!

I began searching for ways to earn extra money online. I started as many do, I joined PTC (Paid to Click) and PTR (Paid to Read Email) programs. While I did get payouts from these sites, I realized that I was spending way too much time for the amount I was getting paid. I might as well have gotten a part time job instead of doing those. Then I moved on to GPT (Get Paid To) sites. From there I moved to Incentive/Freebie Sites (the basis of programs like Project Payday). While I made money there, I was sick and tired of always having to complete trial offers to make any money. On top of that, I'd have to continue to get referrals if I wanted to continue making money and never have a true leveraging of my money or what most know as residual income.

Then in Dec. I stumbled upon the FOCS (Free Online Cash System) program. I attended a call and have not looked back since. It has provided me an opportunity to work hard and simply follow step by step instructions to be successful online. It has everything that I had hoped for in an online program. But the success is not only limited to myself, I have been able to help my teammates achieve success as well. Being able to show success to others is important to me as it flows with my very nature of wanting to give to others as best that I can. I have found a way to show people how to access free money and then leverage that cash into more and more cash as time goes on. If you've been burned out, your patience has been tested, you've lost money with other opportunities, I can appreciate that as I've been through some of it myself. I will personally take you by the hand and show you success as long as you are willing to put in the time and the effort. I don't ask for much, just an hour of your day each day.

I live my life based on this: "Your sole mission in life, regardless of industry, occupation or craft, is to be a man or woman who makes a difference - in yourself, your family, friends, and community. When you die, it will be the lasting legacy that you leave this earth with."

So everyone, that is me:) What's your story? Tell people your story and you will find that whatever business you are a part of becomes that much easier!

Why Most People Don't Succeed In Making Money Online

A lot of people have been asking me both online and offline how I've been able to create a good stream of income from the internet. These questions have led me to think about why more people aren't successful online in building an online income. And I have some very fundamental things that I think are the reason people don't succeed online. This list is not all inclusive, but they are some of the popular ones that I can think of.

Outside of scam sites, programs, opportunities, etc., there are certain fundamental reasons why people aren't successful online, here are some of what I see.

People think they will get rich overnight. Let's get real, there is no such thing as a get rich quick program and for that matter, there is no such thing as do nothing and get paid thousands of dollars programs. Yet, people want to think that it's possible, so they join every program thinking that it will be there lucky break. For those who are successful online, there is no such thing as luck! First and foremost, people have to have the right mindset when working online, you don't go to work and expect to get paid for not doing your job do you? The same goes with online ventures, treat it as though you are working a job, better yet, think of it as owning your own business!

Let's assume people understand you can't get rich overnight. The next thing is a lack of commitment. How many people do you see online, promoting and joining every new program that emerges? If a person is jumping from program to program, odds are they aren't successful. Keep an eye out for patterns, if someone is promoting something and months later they are still promoting the same thing, odds are, it is working! People need to accept the fact that it takes time to build an online income, commitment in my eyes is giving at least 90 days to a program that you choose to give the program time to work out for you (in that 90 days you need to give 110% of yourself doing the things you need to do to be successful).

That being said, it takes hard work to be successful. If you're a couch potato, like I said above, there is no such thing as do nothing and get paid. Hard work is necessary, as it is with anything in life, whether it's maintaining a relationship, dieting, athletics, hobbies, etc. Without hard work, there is no point in even trying to make money online.

You must be patient. This plays along with a 90 day commitment. Again, you won't get rich overnight online, patience and working hard comes a long way.

You also must be consistent in what you do. You can't say you commit to something, work hard for 1 week, and then do nothing and then say in 90 days that the program didn't work. That's garbage, again, if you aren't willing to work hard, commit, have patience, etc., why even bother?

I would like to think that the above is obvious, for many it is, but for some it isn't. If I can do it, anyone can. I knew nothing about marketing or making money on the internet when I first started out, but I did know that if I found the right opportunity that I would be willing to work hard at it to be successful. I can tell you that in the last 90 days I joined 1 program and committed to it, and I've been paid $2,525 from this one program alone by staying dedicated to it. It doesn't matter what program it is, you can be successful with the programs out on the internet, there isn't just 1 program that works, but if you don't stop to reflect on what I said above, you'll never have the success you want online.

Becoming A Mentor Will Increase Your Income In 2008

I'm often asked how and what I do to earn $2000/month online and as simple as the process is that I take to earn income online, I wonder why so many people aren't able to accomplish what I have accomplished since April of 2007.

I've been watching a lot of the discussions on forums, discussion boards, etc. What you see a lot of, is people simply spamming their referral links or scamming people into signing up for free to join programs by misleading people with claims to earn X amount of money per month or yearly.
While these tactics may work to get a large number of referrals, simply getting someone to sign up under you is not going to help you increase your income.

What do I mean by that? You need active referrals, you can have 1000 referrals, but if they are all inactive, you have done nothing but waste your own time AND the time of those you've referred. On top of that, you've probably disillusioned those you've signed up into thinking it's impossible to earn money online.

We've all heard it before, make $1000's online doing nothing, just sign up. I have a great site, sign up and you'll be a millionaire tomorrow. We all know there is no such thing as get rich quick, or a do nothing and make millions program. Yet, people promote these things daily, and people sign up for them daily.

Just getting a sign up/referral will get you no where and fast! You need to understand that getting a referral is only 1/2 of the process. If you skip the 2nd half, you will not be able to fully maximize your time or your earnings online.

So what is the 2nd half? You need to learn to be able to duplicate your efforts. What does that mean? It simply means, go out there, make money and then TEACH others what you are doing. You will make more money in 2008 if you concentrate on building strong relationships instead of # of referrals. We've all heard the cliche it's the quality that matters, not the quantity. This is true of making an income online.

If you want to be successful online, treat your referrals as people, not as a number. If you teach your referrals how to earn the way you are earning, they will do the same. You are only as successful as your team, concentrate on building a strong relationship with your team in 2008 and watch your income exceed your goals for the year.

As always, I hope this information is helpful for you. Feel free to message me any time. Here's to a prosperous new year for us all!

5 Habits That Cost Entrepreneurs the Most Money

These words might sting a bit. If you're prone to taking things personally, then this isn't for you. Right now, I want to share with you the 5 habits that cost us as Entreprenuers the most money.

#1 Practicing lousy follow-up:

All too often newbies to online programs (or any home business for that matter) buy or generate 100 or more leads from some INCREDIBLE source that's destined to make them thousands of dollars in a few days time. But guess what happens? After making the calls and sending the follow-up emails, they choose to NOT follow-up. That means they've contacted everyone at least once and then that's it.

BIG Mistake...HUGE even! Why? Because your prospects need to KNOW YOU... then they need to LIKE YOU... then they need to TRUST YOU. How does one establish all 3 in one phone call or one email?

Answer? They don't! So... what IS the answer to this problem? You follow-up.... then you follow-up again... and then you follow-up again.

Most Networkers I know and work with follow-up indefinitely... for years even. Via email autoresponders, voice blasts, postcards, personal phone calls, etc.

It sounds like a lot of work I know but the real truth is is that it's easier to take a semi-lukewarm prospect who at least knows you and convert them into a referral, paying customer or distributor over time vs contacting new leads over and over again without ever going back for a 2nd or 3rd time.

#2 Hanging out with Losers.

Remember... I warned you! Some of you might be a little sensitive and think that calling people "losers" is too harsh. Well... splash some cold water on your face and walk into reality with me... There are "losers" in every program... People who complain, whine, moan AND quit within their first week because... "It doesn't work"!

In virtually every program, opportunity, group, etc... 5% - 10% of the people are making 80% or more of the money. If you're hanging around the 90%ers - 95%ers, you will get crumbs. Begin to associate with other winners and leaders. People who have initiative, drive, determination, ambition, tenacity and an incredible attitude. And it helps if they already have whatever it is that you want. Be it money, time, fame or just plain old fashioned FREEDOM! Let the losers mingle with the other losers. You're better than that.

#3 Wasting time.

This is a biggie! We all procrastinate. Myself included. I am not immune to taking a 2 hour nap in the middle of the afternoon or watching episodes of House on DVD (just got Season 3 yesterday.. Sweet!) when I
know darn well I should be on the phone or running an ad somewhere.

But your success or lack thereof can be traced directly back to your relationship with time. There's no way around this one. You either make time your slave or you'll be a slave to time.

#4 Not creating systems

The guys and gals in any program (that includes yours) have systems in place for lead generation and prospecting. They have methods of attracting good, quality leads from multiple sources into their marketing funnel on a daily basis.

You do not want to be a seat-of-the-pants type of individual. Creating a simple series of systems will make your life a lot easier and far more productive.

#5 Living with Poor Discipline.

This one can be tied into habit #3. Discipline and having respect to your time go hand in hand. But it's more than that.. it's about being organized, self-sufficient, accountable and pro-active. It's about doing the things you know that need to be done without pause and without regard.

One fellow in my group has a difficult time in staying consistent. (That's being disciplined in a NEGATIVE way). He'll work hard and then hit the pause button... then he'll come back... work hard and then he hits the pause button again.. Back and forth he goes. Never building any real momentum because he's always starting and stopping.

So there's being disciplined in a good way and there's being disciplined in a bad way. It's the good way that counts... doing the little things... the mundane things... each and every day. Over and over and over again. That's how are fortunes are accrued.

*SIDE NOTE*

Now you're aware of the habits that could be costing you a lot of money. Being aware of the things that are potentially holding you back is invaluable. Use your Awareness Radar to detect the activities, thoughts and people that are not in alignment with your goals and dreams. Eliminate them. Shift your focus to the activities, thoughts and people that are in alignment with your goals and dreams. You'll be amazed at how quickly things can change for you.

Here's to a prosperous and successful 2008!