amy walker international business coach

5 Reasons Why Network Marketers Should Get More Committed to Branding and Marketing

I work with a lot of different types of businesses, and I get asked quite often by network marketers why they need to worry about branding and marketing.  After all, their product can work for anyone.  And they really don’t want to do anything besides just sell their product and opportunity.  So why would they need to go through the work?

Here’s the truth.  YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BRAND OR MARKET AS A NETWORK MARKETER!  Are you shocked I said it?  You shouldn’t be.  Network marketing is a phenomenal business model that is taught in Harvard Business School.  If all you want to do is sell your product and you are awesome at scheduling appointments from your appointments, then go forth with no brand and no marketing plan.

However, that does not mean there isn’t value to network marketers building a brand and a legit marketing strategy. Here’s 5 reasons why you might want to branch out and add on branding and marketing to what you already do.  I really don’t think it should be one or the other, I recommend that my clients do both!

1. You want to expand to new geographical areas.

Let’s say that you want to build a team in North East Georgia and the only person you know is me.  But when you call me all kind of excited because you are ready to fly out and spend the week with me while I introduce you to all 200 people I know, I flat out turn you down.  Does that mean you cannot build a business here?  Absolutely not, it just means you need a marketing strategy that you run BEFORE you come out to connect with potential clients so that you can generate the leads to talk to on your trip out here.  I hear from people all the time that they are in a saturated market.  I believe them sometimes.  And if you really are in a saturated market, then you are going to either need to ask more people and know that more people will say no because they have a daughter, neighbor or co-worker who does what you do, or you will need to branch out.

2. You feel like you have a message and purpose beyond your network marketing business.

 If I look back, this is the real reason I left direct sales behind 6 years ago.  I felt called to have a different conversation with women.  But the truth was, I still loved a lot of things about my network marketing business.  I have no regrets about leaving, but if you love your business and have a message, don’t make them compete with each other.  Make your message the vehicle for how you generate leads, and let the network marketing business be the product that supports the change you teach with your message.

3. You have run out of your warm market

Maybe the referral plan didn’t work out for you, or the people you knew were not all that interested in what you have to offer.  At some point almost every network marketer runs out of their warm market and they get that panicky feeling of “who can I call?”  When that comes, I’d love to do you a favor and keep you out of Walmart and the mall stalking innocent strangers.  (I’ve done it.  I promise I’m not judging.)  Instead lets teach you better strategies to connect with new leads.

4. You want to utilize the internet and social media.

The internet is a beautiful place where you can connect with so many awesome people.  But you need to know how to use it.  I see network marketers all the time messing this up.  They post about their products, and then they post about their lives, and then they post about their products, and then they post about their lives.  And the only people who they are attracting are people who are interested in their lives, aka their mom and sisters.  And the people who already know they are interested in their product. AKA other distributors.  And it turns into a colossal waste of time.  If you are going to use social media to generate leads, learn how to do it well so that the investment of your time pays off.

5. You want to grow faster.

When a new network marketing opportunity pops up they go through a phase of rapid growth, or they collapse.  The people who get in at the beginning have the highest risk and they highest potential for reward.  They grow rapidly because the success of the company really does come through them and their efforts. That phase will last for at least 5 years maybe as long as 10.  But after that phase, the company growth picks up, but the individual growth sometimes slows down.  We could go into many reasons for why that is.  Maybe it is just false belief.  Maybe it is because areas are more saturated and distributors are running into other distributors.  My opinion is that both of those contribute to it.  Whatever the reason, you can potentially increase the rate of your growth by implementing a marketing strategy.  I have many high ranking network marketers in my client base. The ones that are growing the fastest, are using specific marketing strategies.  They are NOT all ONLINE strategies.  Some of them work 100% in person, but instead of working with 1-5 people, they are using partner marketing to get in front of groups of 50 people on a weekly basis.  So

me of them build mostly online.  Most of them are somewhere in the middle.I love working with network marketers who are really committed to marketing and branding.  I love watching them grow quickly because they always have people to work with.  I love watching them learn to think creatively about new ways to reach people.  And, I 100% believe you can do it without a marketing plan.  At the end of the day, it’s really just your personal preference.  How do you want to grow your business? For more details visit here : http://amywalkerconsulting.com/

Business Development Strategies

Are you tired of putting out fires?  3 tips to be more productive in your business.

Business is problem solving.  And every time you solve one challenge a new one pops up.

You want more sales?  Then generate more leads.  Now you have more leads?  It’s time to hire more sales people.  Now you have more sales people, how will we manage them? Now they are well managed and you are converting more clients.  Yikes!  How do you take care of all these clients?

See what I mean? It’s an endless flow of problems and solutions. I call it productive problem solving. But trust me, it’s a BIG difference between problem solving and putting out fires.

Putting out fires would look like this.  Monday morning you come in and your inbox is flooded with angry people who are mad because they were expecting to receive something from you last week and you didn’t deliver.  Or you are on your way to the airport for vacation when you get a call that everyone on your team is quitting.  Or you write an impassioned email and send it to your entire email list letting them know you’ve had an epiphany that you need to change directions in your business.  And the next day everyone starts cancelling their subscription to your service because they need someone they can depend on.  Those are actual fires I have seen business owners have to put out.

Being a fireman is a full time job.  It’s mentally and physically exhausting! When you are in firefighting mode, your energy is not going to the proactive problem solving that your business needs.

1. Fast Action: Fires start out as regular old challenges. Lets be honest, we always see it coming when a team member is unhappy.  It starts first with less engagement.  Then it moves into a standoffish attitude.  It doesn’t go from happy to blow up over night.  We usually don’t’ address the small signs because they are not bothering us at the moment.  Challenges are easy to solve when you catch them at the beginning.  They are painful when you get to the fire stage.
2. Test First: If you are implementing a change or a new process, make sure you test it to work out the kinks. You may have the greatest idea on how to make things run more smoothly, but if it has a problem and doesn’t work, people get upset.  Many entrepreneurs, myself included, are stronger in the vision and ideas than they are implementation and execution.  So while we see the big picture of where we are going.  Everyone else sees our car broken down on the side of the road and they start honking!  Instead, keep your car in the garage and test it to make sure it’s working before you take it on the road.
3. Watch for Fires. My goal as a business owner isn’t to never have to put out fires. It’s just to make them as few and as far between as possible.  Sometimes I see business owners feel so exhausted from the fire they just put out that they stop paying attention to what is going on around them.  They are hiding because they got hurt, or resting because it was too hard.  But while they attend to their battle wounds, the next fire is already brewing.  Be diligent, aware and fully engaged in what is going on in your business.  Look for problems so that you can be ready to implement solutions.
4. The idea of “Don’t focus on problems or you get more of them,” is nice in terms of negative thinking.  But that mindset is disastrous in running a business.  Don’t hide from your challenges.  They grow while you aren’t looking!  Just engage, be on the lookout, and respond quickly! For more details: http://amywalkerconsulting.com/

Business Growth

Are You Last In Your Life?

Occasionally I meet women who are AMAZING at putting themselves first in their lives.  They always get enough sleep, they exercise, eat right, get weekly massages, and probably glow when they get out of bed in the morning.  But for most of us, myself included, it takes effort and commitment to keep ourselves off the back burner!  And TRUST me, if you want to succeed in business, the back burner is not the place for you!

Unplug 30 minutes before bedtime.  Sleep is crucial.  Memory, creativity, problem solving skills and nice-ness all go down if you are not getting enough sleep.   Screen time plays a big roll in many of us not getting enough sleep.  Rather than stay on your laptop doing a mediocre job at your work, unplug, unwind, and be ready for restful sleep when the magic moment comes.

Give yourself time to de-clutter your mind.  Anyone who has seen me train about time management knows I am a huge believer in writing out and strategizing your day before you jump into it.  I hear all the time, “It sounds great, but I just don’t have time to sit down and map out my day.”  YOU DON’T HAVE TIME NOT TO!  If you are running through your day un-organized and frantic, you will not be as productive as you could be.  You’ll end the day tired and with little to show for it.

1. Monitor your self-talk.  If you talked to your best friend like you talk to yourself how long would you be friends for?  You simply MUST be kind to yourself.  That includes what you say to yourself, how long you dwell on your mistakes, and your expectations of yourself.  Treat yourself with the same respect you would treat someone you love!
2. Take time to play.  All work and no play is a great recipe for burnout.  No one is productive during burnout.  Everyone loses momentum during burnout!  It’s much more productive to take a day off than it is to work through weeks of burnout.
3. Stop trying to do everything alone!  It will take longer if you are determined to take the Do it Yourself Path.  It’s kind of like trying to build a house, on your own, without power tools.  It will work.  It will be slow, hard and painful.  Instead build a team.  Find a coach, invest in learning what you don’t know!  All of the time you are spending trying to figure things out could be spent doing Income Producing work OR enjoying yourself.  Take the easier path and get some help! For more details visit here: http://amywalkerconsulting.com/

Business Strategy

Coaches, mentors, healers and network marketers listen up!

What is your product?  It might not be what you think it is.  You think you are selling a bottle of oils, a 6 appointment package, or a home study course.  But what you are really selling is CHANGE and a LIFESTYLE.

People are hungry right now.  They want financial independence, strong relationships, freedom and happiness!  If you are someone who has a message or product that will bring people to the life they want, there has never been a better time to be in business.

HOWEVER, I see too many people in these industries who are not living what they sell.  Are you selling the opportunity for financial freedom, but your finances are a mess?  Are you an energy worker who is selling freedom from negativity, but your relationships are bad?  Are you selling a strong business and feeling desperate to get your next client so you can pay your bills?  Have you built a successful business telling others that your opportunity is the key to freedom, but you feel like a slave to your downline?  I see this all the time and I am sick of it!

This is an issue of INTEGRITY.  You need to love your life so much that it is natural and easy to sell it to others.  You need to grow your business in a way that others would want to follow.  You need to be transparent enough that what they see on the webinar matches what they would see within the walls of your house.

This is NOT a call to PERFECTION.  This is a call to do BETTER.  We all start at the beginning.  I remember in my first business feeling like until I earned my first free car, I didn’t have the success to attract others into the business.  The problem with that limiting belief was that I would never earn a car without attracting others into the business.  Please do not take this post to mean that you have to be perfect in order to be in business.  My life is far from perfect.  I never seem to have quite enough sleep.  My kids talk back from time to time.  Sometimes I am grumpy.  And I make mistakes in my business.  But I can honestly say that I love my life.  I am happy.  I am making money.  We are achieving our goals as a company and as a family.  I make little efforts each day to increase my spiritual, emotional, mental, physical, and financial health.  I can with 100% honesty sell my programs because I believe in the end destination.

That is where I am now, it’s not where I started.  5 years ago I was leading a team in network marketing.  I was teaching them that they could build a strong business and still have their faith and family in order.  I hoped that it was true.  I saw that be true for others.  But for me, it felt like constant sacrifice in order to never reach the destination.  It was exhausting.  I felt like the marriage counselor, business adviser, psychoanalyst and mother to each and every one of my team members.  I had no boundaries and I was trying to personally make sure that everyone that came in was successful.  That technique brought me success to a certain point, but then I plateaued and couldn’t seem to move past it.  NO WONDER!  I was maxed emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually, and financially.  I didn’t have any more room in my life and I was having a hard time building other people to move up the career path.  Again, no wonder!  I couldn’t sell my life because I didn’t love it!

If this resonates with you, start today, wherever you are at, to get your life in order!  Create healthy boundaries, manage your time, and learn the skills to balance your business and family.   If you are a work in progress (hint: we all are), then tell people!  It is okay to say, this is where I am going, I’m not there yet, but look how far I’ve come.  You can do this!  Lets clean up our industry and build our business from a place of integrity and balance! For more details: http://amywalkerconsulting.com/

business leaders

How To Motivate Your Children

Parents are busier today than any other point in history.  I look at our family, and busy is just a way of life.  The to-do list is long.  Most parents I know have more to do than they can possibly do in a day and at the same time, we are having a harder time getting our kids to get involved and help out.  It can feel like a battle to ask your kids to work.  Chores, homework, playing with siblings, making their own lunches etc can throw you into a battle.  And if you are anything like me, I don’t have time for battles!  It might even seem like it is just easier to do it yourself.

While this is a very common pattern in families, it is also an avoidable pattern.  There are things you can do to create a better dynamic to motivate your children to work hard and be helpful.  I assure you, we still have battles at my house.  But they tend to be less frequent and more peacefully resolved.  Here’s some tips for you!

It takes a family to run a family

This is what I tell my kids when they are not wanting to help or feeling like something isn’t their responsibility.  7 people live in our house.  7 people get to assist in running our house.  Some people (our toddlers) make more messes than others, but everyone can help in some way.  Our 2 year old can pick up toys and wipe down walls.  Our older boys do the dishes and clean the kitchen every night.  They deep clean bathrooms on the weekend.  There is a lot that they can do and should do.  When they complain, I just remind them, “It takes a family to run a family.”

Define Fair

“It’s not fair” just might be my 3 least favorite words!  One brother didn’t work as fast as another so he didn’t pick up as much as the other.  Someone has an easier job.  It seems like there are an endless amount of unfair situations to kids.  We need to teach them what fair really is.  In our house fair means doing what is in the best interest of the whole family.  It is a big picture concept that I am constantly teaching to my children.  Fair is also better achieved when we are being selfless instead of self-focused.  Instead of getting frustrated, brushing it off, or backing down when your kids pull their fair card, use it as a teaching moment.

Work is good

I don’t know when work became something bad in our culture, but we all need some reprograming.  Look up work in a thesaurus and it will give you synonyms like drudgery, toil, servitude and back breaking.  Work is a Godly principle and brings us happiness.  It is how we create the life we want.  The best way to teach it is to let your kids see you enjoying it!  Work with them.  This morning one of my sons was being slow loading the dishwasher.  He was on track for spending an hour finishing a 15 minute job.  So I jumped in and we did it together.  It didn’t involve punishments or shaming, it was simply an opportunity to show him that we can get things done quickly while having a positive attitude.

Easy Now, Hard Later.  Hard Now, Easy Later

(Hint: this one isn’t just for the kids)  This is kind of a universal principle.  If you take the easy way out in the beginning, it almost always makes the job harder later.  For example, you go to throw something away and it drops behind the trash can.  You could just leave it and walk away.  (I’ve done it, so have my kids.)  Or you can stop, pick up the item, wipe up any mess right then and make it easier when it’s time to deep clean.  If they do a bad job putting away their clothes, don’t just go in and re-do it for them.  Have them go in and refold and reorganize their drawers.  And when they are doing it, remind them that easy first means hard later.  Ask them questions like, “Would it have been easier to just take 5 extra minutes to put your clothes away the first time?”

Calm, cool and under control

I’m pretty sure that came from a deodorant commercial, but it is crucial when motivating your children to work hard.  Too many of us (I’m guilty too) try to incentivize or reward our kids into learning principles.  Incentives and rewards support principles, they never effectively replace them.  For you to teach these principles to your children, you will need to be calm and patient.  If you get upset and start barking out commands during chore time, it will be a constant battle.  Think about bosses you have had.  The ones that get angry and loud are not good teachers.  The ones that are firm in the expectation, but calm in the delivery tend to help bring out your best!

The majority of my clients are business owners and parents!  If you are going to run those two worlds well, you will need to have help.  I don’t recommend you try to do everything on your own in business and I don’t recommend that you try to do everything on your own at home! For more details: business strategies

business growth

Where do you really need to invest?

I love the Facebook posts from first time moms, “Okay, experienced moms!  What do I REALLY need for this baby?”  It got me thinking this weekend about what you REALLY need as a new/growing business owner.  Just like there are a million different shiny business products, it seems like there are also a million different shiny opportunities to invest in your business as well.  So here’s my list of the 5 most essential things you need to invest in, and the top 5 things that can wait.

What you need now:

1. Education: Starting a business is going to show you very quickly everything you don’t know. That is the number one reason businesses fail. The owners just didn’t know enough to make the business succeed.

2. A good accountant: It’s time to stop doing taxes on your own. A good accountant can save you thousands of dollars by making sure you are set up as the correct entity and maximizing your deductions. My advice: If he or she suggests sole proprietor, run fast and find someone new.

3. Client Management software that fits your company’s needs: We invest in marketing to get customers in the door but if we are not maintaining them once they get to us, we are wasting a LOT of money. I learned this one the hard way. my inexpensive program cost me a lot of money by lost leads in my first year.

4. Help: You are not Superman/Superwoman. Invest in people to help you and build a team as quickly as you can. Don’t over pay them. When you can, use independent contractors and virtual help. It will save you in taxes. Expect them to work hard. Then get your butt in gear and spend your time doing Income Producing Activities so that you can afford to pay them.

5. Marketing: If you don’t have leads, you don’t have sales. However the first thing I would invest here is time and education. My first year I spent my marketing budget on things that didn’t really produce leads. They were great for brand recognition, but not for actual lead generation. Most small business owners I know that are investing into a marketing firm have do idea what their firm is doing for them. You need to learn enough that you can be in the director’s chair on this. Never write a check and blindly trust that they are going to take care of you. You need to know enough to be the one calling the shots with your marketing.

 What you don’t need now:

1. A beautifully perfect website: Ahhhh, I know that one is a heart breaker. Websites are great, don’t get me wrong, but a website does not mean you have clients and cash coming in. Get some clients first and then work on that website.

2. A beautiful office: It is a lot more fun to work in a great space, but think about how many huge businesses started in garages. Work with what you have.

3. An expensive power suit: I wish I could take you all shopping and teach you my secrets for finding great clothes at amazing prices, but I can’t. It is important to look sharp and professional. You are sending a message about who you are. It just isn’t essential to pay a lot for it.

4. Specialized software: my first year in business I came across so many programs that I thought I needed. At one point I had about 4-5 different $99/month programs that I thought I needed. They were great programs, but each one only served one purpose. When I figured that out, it was actually less expensive to pay an assistant to do what the programs did for me.

5. A large marketing budget: There are SOOOO many ways to be creative with marketing. Partner marketing, Facebook ads, and Referral programs are all extremely low cost and effective. Use your time and your creativity to connect with potential clients.

You do need to invest in your business!  Just make sure you are investing in the right places. For more details visit here: http://amywalkerconsulting.com/

Business Growth

Are you ready for your dream life?

10 years ago, my husband and I were on a camping trip and designed our dream house in a notebook.  We wanted land.  I wanted to farm it, my husband just wanted a place to four wheel.  But we wrote it down!  Over the years we talked about it and dreamed about it.  It’s never been forgotten, but like most of us, it did get put in the back seat for the current challenges many times.

This past week was surreal.  After 10 years of dreaming and planning, we spent the week house hunting for that dream house.  And this morning we will be putting in an offer.  There were times in the dreaming process that it only felt like a dream. There were times when it felt so far away.  There were times when I rationalized that I was fine and happy without it.  And there were times that I was frustrated with my life because the dream was not the reality.  It’s been a journey for sure!

So many of the things in my life right now were created first in my mind and heart.  My business is a product of me writing down in a notebook my dream business.  The home we are about to purchase was written in a notebook.  Even our 5 sons was written in a notebook.  I must have been crazy, but I actually wrote down that I wanted 5 boys and 5 acres.  The power to dream and create is one of man/woman kind’s greatest gifts.  I know there is a plethora of information on how to manifest what you want.  Lots of it is great!  Some of it is incomplete.  There really is a flood of information out there.  I want to share with you how I do it.

Our brains are all wired differently.  Some of us learn visually, some learn best through listening, some map out a detailed plan and then chunk it out step by step, and some just need to feel it to make it seem real.  In the beginning I felt like I had to follow an exact step by step process and if I didn’t do it the way I was told, I was doing it wrong.  I create MUCH better when I do it in the ways that work for me.  I am extremely visual and I love to write.  I write out stories in the present tense of what my life will be like.  I write lists of the things that I want.  I write, write and write.  Sometimes I write the same things over and over again!  And then I visualize in my mind living the life that I want.  It works for me.  I supplement with audio recordings and vision boards.  But recordings vision boards alone do not work well for me.  Find how you create and do it your way!

Creation by yourself is a lonely and challenging process.  It always feels like the weight of the goal is riding on your shoulders.  If you fail, everything fails.  And for anything to succeed it is up to you.  That is exhausting!  I create first with The Lord.  I choose what I want.  I don’t wait for Him to tell me what to do.  I choose and then I ask if that is okay.  Once I have heavenly approval, then I enlist people around me to help.  My family, my team members, and my friends.  Never create alone!

This one is huge!  The minute you stop believing, you stop progressing.  Doubt is a killer of the dream.  The years that I was really battling the doubt were the years we made the least progress.  Even if you have a tiny drip of hope, belief and faith flowing to you through an IV, take it and hold to it.  Plug into people that believe in you to help you through the times you can’t.  And believe that God, the Universe or whatever source you believe in WANTS for you to realize your desires.

A dream without action equals frustration and resentment.  Contrary to what is out there in the world, you do not manifest and wish success into your life.  You start with manifesting and you open up the door to receiving through activity.  If you are sitting around waiting for your dreams to arrive on your porch, you’ll wait a long time.  Dreams don’t just show up, opportunities do.  Each opportunity that you take will move you one step closer.  False opportunities will also show up.  They look like the key to success, when really they are meant to distract.  When opportunities come up, really look at them.  Pray about them and see if they are part of the journey, or a detour.  You’ll learn from both.  But the detours take longer! For more details: http://amywalkerconsulting.com/

business strategy

The Six Words That Are Rocking My World

Don’t hate me because I’m human.  Confession: I am not perfectly disciplined in all areas of my life.  My baby is 17 months old and still haven’t lost all my baby weight.  I lose a few pounds, then I find them.  I lose them again, I find them again.  It’s been frustrating.  And it’s really not a mystery as to why.  I eat healthy 90% of the time, but I do love treats.  As a mom of 5 boys running an awesome business, I don’t always get enough sleep.  Most days I don’t eat enough.  My only exercise consists of keeping up with my life.  It is the common American problem and I KNOW what to do to fix it, I just haven’t been doing it.

The other night my husband was baking brownies for the scouts (isn’t he amazing), and they smelled great!  An hour before I had been thinking about my health goals and how I wanted to be back to my active, energized and fit self.  In this moment of chocolaty dreamy mouthwatering weakness, the words popped into my mind, “I want THIS (the goal) more than THAT.”  It was profound for me.  The situation went from a choice between “I can’t” or “I will, but I’ll regret it later,” both negatives to a choice between two positives.  Eating a brownie I will like and enjoy or moving one step closer to my health goals.  I’ve been using these words all week and they are giving me so much clarity in my business and with my family.

I’ve talked with several people lately who are feeling very helpless in their business.  Several have had very profitable businesses that require a lot of time.  They feel like their business runs their life and there is no other option because their family relies on them for income.  It seems like a choice between, “Miss out on things with my family” (Negative) or “Loose money” (Negative).  If they would shift it to, “I want this afternoon to focus 100% on my children” (Positive) more than I want “This opportunity to hold appointments” (positive) you no longer feel cornered.

I have also talked with several new business owners who are still fulfilling all of the household manager responsibilities on their own, raising kids, and some are even working full time.  In their minds it is a choice between, “Not being able to accomplish what they need to do” (negative) and “Paying for help they can’t afford” (Negative) or “Giving up something important to them” (Negative).  See the problem?  Instead I invite you to look for what you want more.  I have had years that we did not put the kids in soccer because at that point, I wanted business growth more than I wanted soccer.  I have had times where I wanted soccer more than business growth.

Try it this week, “I want THIS more than THAT.”  And post your success stories on the Facbook Page.  These 6 words have been rocking my world this week, I’d love to hear if it works for you too! For more details: business development strategies.