Kris de Leon's Blog

We’ve all heard the saying that if your “Why” is strong enough, you can accomplish anything. Most of us have big dreams, whether owning a nice home, having enough money to travel around the world, or gaining financial freedom so that you can spend more time with your family and friends. We know that having a “Why” is necessary, but how do you strengthen that “Why” to the point where you become fearless and work hard at all costs towards achieving your goals?

A major way to strengthen your “Why” is to consistently ask your self what your main purpose in life. I know this is quite deep, and this is something you should take time to reflect and think about. Why are you here on this planet? What kind of difference are you supposed to make? By fully understanding the answers to these questions, you come much closer towards having more control of your life, and your “Why” will become so much clearer.

My mentor told me there are three steps towards defining your major purpose. First, you must define your core values, which eventually defines who you are and what you stand for. Your core values make up your character, and can form the basis of the choices you make in life. Decision making can be a lot easier once you know your core values. Take some time to reflect what your top 10 values are. Examples of values include honesty, loyalty, integrity, balance, boldness, adventure, creativity, generosity, freedom, and security. Once you have written your list of 10 values, prioritize them in order of importance. If you come across two values that you think are equally important, think to yourself, which of the two values would you die trying to defend? Have you discovered your top 3 values?

The next step is to take your core values and put them into action by creating your mission statement. Your mission statement will indicate the person who you want to become and what things you will focus on to get you there. This mission statement will allow you to focus all your energy towards the things that are most important and provide you a sense of direction. You will start to sense your purpose once you craft your mission statement. Specifically, your mission statement contains your core values and the reasons why they’re important to you, and also include what you will do to live by those values.

The final step is to create a vision statement, which combines both your core values and your mission statement. It’s a statement that describes the greatest possible outcome of your hard work. With a vision statement, you will be able to form a mental picture of that desired outcome. Once you have that picture in your mind, your “Why” becomes very clear and you can achieve anything.

By following these three steps, you will begin to understand your major purpose, which is based on your core values, and an action plan of who you want to become.

If you are struggling with leads and have no marketing budget, learn how to use Facebook as a marketing tool, and start generating 10-30+ leads per day. Sign up for Facebook training.

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How many times have you cringed after receiving a message from someone you just connected with immediately pitching his or her opportunity? We’ve all heard them tell you that they have the best compensation plan, they’re going to be the next billion-dollar company, and that their juice, lotion or potion is the cure for cancer. They even create a sense of urgency by telling you that if you don’t sign up by midnight, you’ll lose out on a once in a lifetime opportunity. Sound familiar?

Like most of you, I get annoyed when people start pitching the opportunity from the get-go without even finding out more about me, what my needs are, and how things are going. This is a sure-fire way to lose any credibility you have with your new contact. So for those who are new to using social media as a way to start building relationships with strangers, here are the steps I recommend.

Step One: Join a group where you think your prospects might be members. There are dozens of groups on Linked In, and probably hundreds, if not thousands of groups on Facebook, related to network marketing. If you’re using Facebook, you could join Fan Pages of industry icons, such as Mike Dillard and Robert Kiyosaki, where you’ll find a few thousand like minded individuals who are members of those fan pages.

Step Two: On Facebook, send a friend request, and write a short message why you want to connect, such as “I noticed that we’re both fans of Mike Dillard, so I thought I’d reach out and ask if you are interested in connecting to exchange ideas.” If you are connecting on Linked In, I suggest sending them a message first and asking for their permission to connect. If you send invitations right away, and you receive a number of “Don’t know” responses, Linked In may block your ability to send invitations directly.

Step Three: After they approve your request, send your new contact a message telling them “Thanks for adding me, and looking forward to sharing ideas with you.” That’s when you can start getting to know them. You can ask them what they do, how long they have been doing it, and/or how their job situation has been affected by the economic crisis. You get the picture. Offer to help them in anyway you could. You could ask them what their goals are for the year, and offer to help them achieve those goals. This is when you start the relationship building process. Offer to chat with them by phone or Skype and start getting to know your contact.

The overall key is to build relationships and trust with your new contact. This takes time, but eventually they will get to like you and consider you as a trusted advisor. Give them advice and suggestions whenever it’s appropriate. Once they start feeling your excitement and energy, there may come a time when they start asking you about your business. This is probably an appropriate time to talk about your opportunity, and hopefully, they join your business because they really enjoy working with you.

If you are struggling with leads and have no marketing budget, learn how to use Facebook as a marketing tool, and start generating 10-30+ leads per day. Sign up for Facebook training.

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I recently attended a webinar conducted by Darren Hardy, Publisher of SUCCESS magazine. He talked about simple steps you can take to make 2010 your best year ever. As a self-made millionaire who has interviewed the most successful people on the planet, I consider Darren an authority on this subject, and thought I’d share what he discussed and encourage you to implement these simple suggestions.

If you saw the movie The Secret, you definitely heard about the Law of Attraction. A critical element to making the Law of Attraction work is to continuously express gratitude, regardless of the situation you are in. We can express thanks any time of the day, but there’s a systemic way to do this, which you can easily turn into habit. When you wake up (or after you hit the snooze button), try to do these three things – 1) Express what you are grateful for, 2) Picture in your mind one person who you want to express love to, and 3) Think about your number one goal, and then think about 3 things you will do today that will help you reach that goal. It takes only a few minutes to do these exercises, but it will put you in a positive mindset that will set you up for a productive day.

Next, consistency plays a critical role to ensure long-term success. Darren observed over a period of time three women who worked for the same company, made the same amount of money, and are in the same position. Let’s say their names are Alice, Brenda, and Carol. Alice decides to make very small, but positive changes in her daily routine, such as listening to a personal development CD on her half-hour commute to work every day. Brenda decides not to make any changes and keeps to her daily routine. However, Carol decides to allocate an hour each day to listening to news and reading gossip columns. After 10 months, Darren did not notice any significant change in the circumstances of these 3 women. But after 20 months, he noticed some changes. Alice got a slight raise after her performance review, Brenda was in the same position, and Carol was given fewer responsibilities and even got a pay cut (the company mentioned budget cut). The results were even far more noticeable after 27 months, with Alice getting a major promotion and salary increase. Brenda’s situation remained stagnant, while Carol’s performance dropped considerably.

He relates this example to the notion of compound interest. If you invest your money, you will not see results right away, but over time, you’ll see significant increases due to compound interest. Similarly, small changes in your routine will not be noticeable at first, but will yield compound effects over the long term. Therefore, you don’t have to make major shifts overnight – smaller, baby steps in making positive changes is far easier to maintain consistency. It’s far more effective than making a major change, having an explosive start, and then losing momentum and quitting after a short period of time.

Finally, Darren mentions that learning to love failure is a key element of success. We’ve all heard that failure is necessary, which gives us the opportunity to learn from our mistakes. However, embrace failure, and don’t be afraid of it. If you’ve been rejected or heard “no” many times, take this as part of the learning experience. Think about it – if you fail, it’s an additional blessing in disguise because you know you’re going to learn something from it, and that you’ll become better.

Hope this helps! If you have time, let me know what your top 3 goals are this year, and give me a shout if there’s anything I can do to help you get there.

Kris de Leon
http://krisdeleon.com
702-577-2875

P.S.
Mike Dillard does a great job teaching people how to attract an endless number of distributors and customers to you. I’m excited he posted some information here on Magnetic Sponsorship, so definitely check it out, and use the Law of Attraction to your success.

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Have you ever wondered what it takes to become an Olympic Athlete, compete in the Ironman contest, or win a Grand Slam tennis match when you’re nearly at the brink of defeat? If you ask coaches and athletes, they will almost unanimously mention that mental toughness gave them the edge. Mental toughness is the ability to maintain focus and determination to stay on a course of action regardless of the difficulties.

Entrepreneurs are often confronted with tough situations, leading you to feel like quitting. Just like athletes who are preparing for the next competition, entrepreneurs must train and condition their mental toughness if they want to last and succeed in the game of life. Here are five techniques you can use to strengthen your mental toughness

Be Positive – There is a lot of chit-chat going through our minds, and it is common for negative thoughts to seep into our mind. You should focus only on positive thoughts, which then leads you to feeling good. Take time to consider why you’re running your own business in the first place. An easy way to stay positive is to create an affirmation statement that gets you pumped up. For example, you affirmation statement can be, “I want to earn $X amount in residual income by Dec 31.” If you have a powerful reason why, you can get through anything. Anytime you catch yourself slacking off, losing motivation, or feel like quitting, repeat your affirmation statement until you start feeling good.

Talk to Yourself – If you don’t have a mentor or coach available that you can speak to right away, the next best thing is to talk to yourself. You can say, “I know this is tough, but I’m going to give it my all,” and then repeat your affirmation statement. Following from the first technique, talk only about positive thoughts. If you do it enough times, you can motivate yourself without have a coach or mentor present.

Visualization – Take some time to imagine the type of person you want to become and the future you want. Imagine what your perfect day will be like. For example, you can visualize receiving $x amount in commission checks each week. You can picture yourself having that dream vacation, or having that extra time spending with family and friends. Once you visualize it, start to imagine what it would feel like when you have that vision crystal clear. Make sure you have this playing like a movie in your mind.

Meditation – Meditation has been used throughout the centuries, across different cultures, to reduce stress, enhance mental clarity, or even induce relaxation. Focus on clearing your mind, and begin to prepare yourself mentally for the work and challenges ahead of you that will lead to making your Why or affirmation statement come true.

Get Uncomfortable – The only way you can grow is to step outside of your comfort zone. If you’re afraid of picking up the phone, then start small and make 1 or 2 phone calls a day. If you still feel afraid, follow one of the four techniques mentioned above to stimulate your motivation. Once you are comfortable with that first or second call, then increase the number of calls by one or two, until picking up the phone feels natural to you.

Good luck! A strong mind is the key to becoming a successful entrepreneur.

If you are struggling with leads and have no marketing budget, learn how to use Facebook as a marketing tool, and start generating 10-30+ leads per day. Sign up for Facebook training.

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I will never forget the morning of Dec 30, 2010. I checked my e-mail, and I received a message from one of the affiliate programs that said, “Congratulations, you just made your first commission.” I immediately did a victory dance in front of my computer, and proved to myself that Internet marketing really works.

I knew that one of the biggest problems network marketers face is generating quality leads. I saw an ad about the MLM Lead Systems Pro, and heard good reviews on it, so I decided to give it a try. I followed their instructions closely, and set up my web page and blog, and signed up for the affiliate programs. I did what the trainers/mentors said by promoting my site throughout the Internet, including social networks, article directories, and blogging. I didn’t see a great deal of results in the beginning, so self-doubt started to take over. But I kept the words of my mentors in my mind of not giving up, and just continued following what they said. I was posting value added content in Facebook, Linked In, and a few of the article directories. The main aim was to get the reader directed to my blog.

Soon enough, I drove enough traffic to my blog, and someone happened to click on one of the affiliate links on my blog, and that person ended up purchasing that program. That’s when I got the email that said “Congratulations!!” The rest is history.

My advice to people who are just starting Internet marketing – find yourself a good mentor who has achieved the results you want, follow what he/she says, and then implement it. Keep at it, and never give it. It may take a while, but very much worth it.

P.S. If you want access to the same mentors who helped me with getting up and running, sign up at MLM Success Blueprint.

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Do you sometimes feel that there is no hope of achieving success because of your present circumstances, such as having a limited budget or in a job where you’re not happy? I came across these stories from one of Mike Dillard’s newsletters, and I thought I’d share them with you. It talks about successful people who started off in places that are probably worse than we are at. Enjoy the reading, and don’t ever let your present circumstances stop you from achieving your dreams.

• Dan Akroyd was a mail sorter for Canada’s national postal service.

• Jennifer Aniston was both a telemarketer and waitress before hitting it big.

• Halle Berry worked at Higbee’s Department store in the children’s department.

• Sandra Bullock worked as a bartender.

• Before his big break, country singer Kenny Chesney worked as a valet attendant, telemarketer and mail sorter.

• Chubby Checker plucked chickens at a poultry market named Henry Colt’s.

• Before Nirvana, the late Kurt Cobain worked as a janitor for Lemons Janitorial Service.

• Diddy was an intern at Uptown Records where he did grunt work like washing cars & fetching coffee.

• Bill Cosby shined shoes and sold produce when he was young.

• Simon Cowell started out as a mail room clerk for EMI Music Publishing where his father worked.

• Michael Dell washed dishes at a Chinese restaurant for $2.30 per hour.

• Danny DeVito was a formally trained hair stylist before his break on Taxi.

• Michael Douglas once worked as a gas station attendant.

• Tom Hanks once worked as a hotel bellman and carried bags for a number of celebs.

If you are struggling with leads and have no marketing budget, learn how to use Facebook as a marketing tool, and start generating 10-30+ leads per day. Sign up for Facebook training.

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How many times do you hear yourself say, “I wish I had more hours in the day,” or “I don’t have enough time.” When you include sleep, can you honestly say that you’ve had a productive day and maximized all 1440 minutes allotted? Perhaps a quick glance at the evening news might turn into an hour. Maybe you planned on checking out one website, but find an interesting link and click on it, and then you continue clicking more links. Soon enough, you spent nearly two hours checking out travel deals and reading all the gossip news, and haven’t accomplished anything. Where did all the minutes go?

We all have busy lives, and many of us are juggling full time jobs, network marketing, and raising a family. No wonder why we stress about not having enough hours. However, if you are to achieve that dream of time and financial freedom, you must find a way to increase productivity. Time is precious, and you must focus on income producing activities. These activities should include prospecting, follow-ups, and building new relationships with future prospects.

So how do I ensure that I have enough time in the day to focus only on income producing activities? The best way is to first identify what main goals or results that are income producing, which are specific and measurable, you want to achieve in the day. For example, today, you want to speak to 3 prospects, connect with 25 people on Facebook, follow-up with 5 people, and write one article. This may sound like a lot of work and have no time to do it, especially when you factor in a full time job and raising a family.

The best thing is to identify what hours in the day you have to complete these activities. If you have a typical 9-5 job, your available times include lunch and evening hours after 6pm, if you factor in the commute home from work. The next step is to break down your income producing activities into one hour time slots. Using the example of goals and results mentioned above, here is a sample schedule:

7-8am Commute to Office
8-9am Catch-up on e-mail, breakfast, coffee, etc
9-1pm Regular work hours
1-2pm Lunch (this is a great time to speak to 3 prospects. Should take about 10 minutes each)
2-5pm Regular work hours
5-6pm Commute home / dinner
6-7pm Facebook activity – connect with 25 people
Follow-up calls to 5 people
7-8pm Draft article
8-9pm Break / time with the family
9-10m Edit Article
10-11pm Plan for next day

Try setting aside time at night to plan out your next day. Stick to a strict schedule over the next few weeks until it becomes routine. By being disciplined and sticking to the schedule, you will increase your productivity and reduce the chances of wasting time, like surfing the Internet for hours, or watching TV. This will put you one step closer towards achieving financial and time freedom.

Kris de Leon

http://krisdeleon.com

702-577-2875

If you are struggling with leads and have no marketing budget, learn how to use Facebook as a marketing tool, and start generating 10-30+ leads per day. Sign up for Facebook training.

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Happy New Year to you all. I’ve included a video on a powerful interview done by President Clinton, where he talks about the strengths of the network marketing industry. I’m a true believer that the Entrepreneurs will lead the economy out of the recession.

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