We’re getting closer to our official launch. There are still a few things we need to iron out, like getting the newsletter up and running properly, but that will happen soon!

We are on the look out for people who are willing to contribute content and articles to the forum, so please join us if you can help us out with that. We will be choosing the best article each month and featuring it on our main page, so it could be a great way to get more exposure for yourself.

We’ve also got a twitter account set up, so you can follow us there for updates: Twitter.com/EliteTeam300

We will be sending out tweets to our most recent articles every day on Twitter… so that’s another great opportunity for exposure!

EliteTeam 300 Staff

by Renee Scattergood

Have you ever heard the saying, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”? Well it’s absolutely true! If you don’t make a plan for your success and write it down, you are dooming yourself to failure.  Every year millions of people start their new year by making resolutions, but most of those people never accomplish the goals they set for themselves.

Why?

Well there are 4 main reasons for this:

1) They don’t write them down!

You’ve probably heard it said time and again, but it’s so true. Writing down your goals makes them more real! If you don’t write them down and look at them every single day, they become an after thought and nothing ever gets done about it.

2) They are not specific!

You have to be specific about what you want to accomplish and when you want to accomplish it. The more specific you are, the more you increase your chances of success. So when you make your goals you need to detail exactly what it is you want to accomplish. You need to define exactly how you intend to accomplish it. You need to determine when you want to have it accomplished.

Most importantly, though, you need to understand “why” you want to accomplish it. The “why” is your motivation! If you don’t know why you want to reach your goals, then you never will!

3) Their goals are not attainable!

You need to be realistic about your goals. If you set a goal that is impossible to attain, then you’re setting yourself up for failure. So when you set your goals be aware of how much time you will need to attain it, how much time you are able to commit to attaining it, and how much money it will require.

4) They don’t make a plan for attaining their goals!

You need to break your larger goals into smaller goals so that you know what you need to be doing every day in order to attain your goals. It’s great to say you want to be making $10,000 a month by the end of the year, but unless you also make a plan to get there, it will never happen… no matter how much you wish for it!

With this in mind, your first task is to define your “Ultimate Goals”. Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now? Make sure that you write them down. Be specific as possible about what you want and when you want it. Also make sure that they are attainable. Is it something that you really can see happening in 5 years or less?

Although you probably have a good idea already about what your goals are, here are some ideas to get your creative juice just in case your having trouble getting it from your head to the paper:

1) What do you want to buy? Would you like to buy your dream house, a new car, a boat, etc?

2) What places would you like to visit? What is your dream vacation?

3) How much money to you want to be making? How much money do you need to be making to accomplish your other goals?

4) How many hours a day/week do you want to be working?

5) Where do you want to be living? Have you ever dreamed of living in another country?

Think about these things and spend some time making a good list of goals!

When you’ve written down your Ultimate Goals, come and share them with us at EliteTeam 300.

By Debbie Williams

Unless you are a certain type of outgoing, naturally effusive personality who takes rejection in their stride, direct marketing can seem like one of the worlds biggest nightmares..

Many of us are a bit of a paradoxical mixture of personality types, for example how often has someone told you that you could sell snow to Eskimos even though the thought of standing face to face with someone with the sole goal of selling them something, leaves you stone cold and frozen with fear? (That’s how it used to make me feel & I don’t like to think I am alone there, yet most of my friends tell me I have the gift of the gab and could sell snow to Eskimos..)

See direct marketing is about being able to present something in such a way that the person you are speaking to buys it, this could be a product or a concept. How often have you had to make a presentation about a concept, in effect selling it to your audience despite their natural resistance to it? That used to happen to me all the time when I was a senior NHS employee and I never failed to know what was going to bring people along with me, put me in a room with someone that I had to sell a specific type of health product to though and I was jelly.. What created the difference?

For one thing I was an expert at MH policy at that time, I knew my job, I knew what was necessary in terms of being able to implement the latest government policies and most importantly I knew what was happening on the ground and what the difficulties were going to be in implementing the new policies. This enabled me to think ahead and plan ways to overcome the implementation difficulties before I even spoke to staff to present them.

This is the reason that you will be told over and over, it is necessary to be an an expert in your chosen field in order to be successful in attracting people to you, whether that is to sell them a product or to sell them a concept. You need to know your stuff, be confident about what you know and present it in a way that is unique to you.

Now we can’t all be experts overnight but if you are going to become one, you need to use the product, get to like it and believe in it’s worth, learn about it and be able to explain what it is that you like most, what are the biggest benefits that you have found with it.

Then go out and identify the market of people who are looking for the same things that you were looking for when you started using this product. Those are the people who will want to buy your product and they are the people who will believe and trust in you because you now have the experience that they lack with this product.

Your belief and genuineness will convince them, you will have the right level of conviction in your tone when you speak about it and they will hear that and respond to it.

Still not everybody is going to buy from you but this will help to ensure that enough people do, so that your confidence and presentation skills grow rather than wither and die because you are simply pitching in an unconvinced, uninformed manner to a market that could care less…

Believe it or not, once this starts to happen, word of mouth will kick in and the people who bought from you will start to recommend you, that means that others will come looking for you and identify themselves as being your new target market and so the cycle continues.

Maya Angelou said that:

“Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.”

It takes courage to do something different, to learn a new skill or to learn about a new product enough that you can discuss it knowledgeably and help your customers to see how it will benefit them, without trying to force it upon them. It takes courage to approach people in a direct selling situation but we all have the capacity to do it if we just want to enough.

If you have picked a direct selling business and you are struggling to use these techniques, be courageous, take the first step, learn all you can about your business, ask questions so that you feel comfortable with the majority of queries that your potential customers may have for you.

Get back in touch with your reason for joining this company in the first place, let that emotion wash over you and rejuvenate your desire to achieve your goal, recognize and give reign to your ‘why’.

Find your niche market who are looking for what you have and go talk to them, you’ll be amazed at the results.

by Renee Scattergood

I think most of us inherently learn early on that we can manifest our desires through thought and action. I mean as infants we can’t speak, yet through our actions we can convey our needs thereby bringing our desires to fruition… in other words when we’re hungry we cry and we get fed.

Somehow most of us forget how powerful our thoughts and desires are, but I can clearly remember just knowing throughout my childhood that I could have whatever I wanted. One way or another, if I really wanted something I always got it. Even as an adult I knew I had this “power”.

In my 20’s I wanted a computer, but I didn’t have the money to buy one. So I just decided that I was going to get one for free. I didn’t know how I was going to make that happen… I just knew that it would. A few months later a friend of mine offered me a computer that she had gotten. She was selected as part of a marketing trial, which involved a free computer, but she decided she didn’t want to participate, so she gave the computer to me.

The only catch was that all my activity was being monitored, but I had free internet connection and everything. Well, a few months later, I received an email that the company doing the study was bought out by another company and they decided to end the study. We were allowed to keep the computers free and clear.

I spent my 20’s really focusing on developing my “mental powers” and in one of the classes I took, we did a simple exercise to teach people the power of their own minds. We were each given a potato and an ordinary drinking straw, and then we were told put the straw through the potato.

Most people just laughed and said it was impossible. I have to admit, I was thinking much the same thing. In fact, I never even gave it a real try while I was there, but when I got home I couldn’t get it out of my head. I watched the instructor do it, so I knew it was possible, but I just didn’t think that I could do it.

The next day my curiosity got the better of me, so when no one was around, I grabbed a potato and straw and started trying to drive the straw through the potato. The first time I did it, I broke the straw and barely put a little hole in the potato. So I grabbed a new straw and tried it again. This time it went in about a quarter of an inch… but again I broke the straw.

It seemed like an impossible task, but what came to my mind at that point was how some martial artists can break boards and cement blocks with their bare hands. If they could do that then I surely could put a straw through a potato. I started seeing it in my mind, where I wanted the straw to go… then I suddenly realized… my hand was in the way. If I put the straw through the potato, it was going through my hand too.

I repositioned my hand so that I was holding it on the side instead of from the bottom and then I took a deep breath and drove the straw toward the potato. At the same time I was envisioning it going through. Mind you… I still didn’t believe that I could do it… just that it was possible. So imagine my shock when I was standing there with a potato that had a straw straight through it. It didn’t just go into the potato… it went clean through to the other side.

That’s the day I realized that anything was possible. You don’t have to even believe you are capable of it as long as you believe it’s possible. And if you believe that it could happen and you take action… eventually it will happen for you just the way you envision it.

It’s this knowledge that keeps me going in my business. Over the last three years I have seen one failure after another, but I just feel it in my bones… just like I did with the potato and straw… success is just around the corner. I just have to keep working towards it.

By Renee Scattergood

Is success measured by how much money a person makes?

I received an email today that really unnerved me. It wasn’t what was said, but the general overtone of the letter that got to me. I believe the person’s intent was to get me to distrust my upline and my mentors, but I learned from my past mistakes. I did my homework this time and I know I’m with a good company now, and I have no doubt I will do well in this business.

I was rather upset, though, by the actions this person suggested I take. I was told that I should contact my upline and ask them to show me their checks in order to prove their success to me. I was completely baffled by this… I mean what kind of person asks to see another person’s check to begin with. A person’s income is their own business as far as I’m concerned and I have no desire to know how much my upline makes.

I had a hard time figuring out why this bothered me so much, though, and then while I was doing some dishes it hit me. There are so many people who define success based on how much money they or others are making, but is that really the mark of success? I know a lot of people who make a lot of money (offline) and I can’t say that many of them are truly happy with their lives and their lifestyle.

So if money isn’t the mark of success then what is?

That’s when I started considering what it was about my mentors that make me admire them. Every single one of them is focused on making themselves a better person every single day. They are devoted to educating themselves not only in the area of marketing, but in living a healthier lifestyle, replacing negative thoughts with positive ones, and building good relationships with those around them. And more than that, they are dedicated to helping others to attain the same things for themselves without expecting anything in return.

I’m in contact with my upline and mentors every day, and they are such uplifting people. It doesn’t matter what my mood is, they always make me feel better about myself and where I am heading. In just the last couple of weeks I have seen so much improvement in how I view the world and where I am in my life… and it’s all because of their influence on me because of how they are learning and growing themselves.

Success has nothing to do with the money. It has to do with how you live your life. It has to do with how much effort you put into your personal growth every single day. It has to do with how you affect those around you… are you uplifting them or bringing them down? Success is all about whether you are able to attract the things you desire in life because you have achieved all of these other things. Maybe one of those things might be money, but it’s also the friendships, the time you get to spend with family, the places you get to visit, and all the other wonderful things you achieve because you simply took the time to better yourself as a person and help others achieve the same.

If you want to make a million dollars, you have to learn from a millionaire… but if you want to be a success, then you have to learn from someone who is successful. I choose the latter… after all, what’s the point in having money if you haven’t learned how to appreciate what it can do for you!

by Renee Scattergood

I received an email today that really got me thinking about how people can finally find the success they’ve been after, but then they allow their ego to take over. They become a leader and suddenly they believe people should just flock to them without thinking things through because they know they’ve done it… so the people around them should automatically assume that they are the person to follow if they want success.

In the email, this guy was “pissed off” because it took someone 3 weeks to decide to buy one of his books. He automatically assumed this person took three weeks because they had to think about whether or not they were willing to educate themselves. It never occurred to him that this person just may not have trusted HIM enough to buy his product. I mean, it seemed obvious enough to me that the guy was interested in his education if he was considering buying the book. He just had to get to know the author better before he trusted that the information in the book would help him.

What makes the whole situation ironic is this “guru” preaches how you need to build relationships before you can expect people to join your business or buy your products. He says that a person needs to get to know you and trust you first. Yet, his ego has developed to a point where he obviously believes that he is exempt from this rule.

I keep imagining that the guy the “guru” was referring to… and a multitude of others who have taken their time to consider buying his product… are going to read this and suddenly think, “where does this guy get off”? Honestly… how would you feel if someone made this comment about you? How does he know that you haven’t been reading other books in the meantime? How does he know where your heart truly lies and how devoted you are to your business and your goals?

He doesn’t… because he has decided that now that he is a “guru” he no longer has to follow his own rules. He no longer has to build relationships because he has people falling at his feet. He has become a celebrity… and everyone should just trust his word just because he’s said it.

Unfortunately the world does not work like that. It doesn’t matter how successful you are, how popular you are, or how much knowledge you have to share. Once you start thinking of yourself as better than others and treating people with disrespect, people will start to distrust you and will even go as far as to tell others not to buy from you. You will kill your business just as you’re really getting it started.

Keep this in mind as you are building your relationships with people, growing your business, and positioning yourself as a leader. You want to be a leader people will trust… not only for your knowledge, but for your compassion and understanding of their own choices and personal circumstances.

A good rule of thumb is, if you find yourself getting angry or feeling put off by someone else’s choices or actions, then you are allowing your ego to get involved. And if you start announcing in your newsletters how these people “piss you off” well… then you know your ego has taken over and you can expect your business to progress in a downward spiral from there on.

by Renee Scattergood

Contrary to popular belief, not all MLM’s are created equal. It is possible to join an MLM and fail no matter how much work you do, and no matter how much time you put into it! And guess what? It wouldn’t be your fault! No matter how much others try to convince you that you’re doing something wrong, I can guarantee you that if you’ve worked the business exactly as you were told to and it didn’t work, that it’s the business and not you!

How is that possible? Well… like I said. Not all MLM’s are created equal… and what works for one person may not necessarily work for you.

Want to know something else? I’ve recently learned that some MLM’s are even designed for the part-timer to fail! Pretty irritating considering those same MLM’s claim that people can make money starting part time until they are making enough to quit their J.O.B. Well guess what? If you are in one of those MLM’s, it’ll probably never happen, because they don’t want you making money… they just want to make money off of you!

So how do you find the right MLM for you? Simple! First you have to decide what you want out of the MLM and then you need to find one that offers what you want. If you want to make money part time, you need an MLM that has a great comp plan for part-timers. If you’re a great strategist and enjoy a challenge then you might want to join an MLM that has a more complex comp plan that pays out high bonuses.

So before joining an MLM, check out their compensation plan. If it makes sense to you and it’s something your comfortable with, then it might be the right MLM for you. If it confuses you, then you’re better off steering clear!

You’ll also want to make sure that the company has a duplicatible system… meaning it’s something that anybody can duplicate and see success with it. If you won’t be able to duplicate the results the top earners are getting, then why bother? The best way to find out if it’s duplicatible is to talk to the person trying to recruit you. Ask them if they’ve put the system to work for them, yet and whether they’re seeing results.

You don’t need to know how much money they’re making, but if the company claims that if you do xyz this will happen in your first week, you want to know if the person trying to recruit you has done xyz and has gotten the promised result. If he or she says they’ve just started, then you ask to speak to their upline and find out if they have gotten the promised result. If they can’t put you in touch with their upline, then you probably don’t want to be involved in that company anyway.

If you are doing the research on your own, then find someone who is a distributor for the company and ask them. You can do this easily by doing a google search on the company’s name. There will be tons of distributors that have blogs and articles, and you can track them down that way.

It’s also a good idea to make sure that the company has a good reputation. First do a google search on the company’s president. Make sure you type the name in quotation marks like this… “President’s Name”. Learn as much as you can about him or her. Does this person have experience in the industry? Is there any negative remarks about this person? You might also consider doing a search for their name and adding “scam” in there too and see what that brings up. Then do the same with the company name.

The general rule of thumb I try to follow is if there are only a couple of complaints, then you can probably assume these are just people who were looking for something for nothing and got angry when they realized they actually had to work. But if there is pages of links to people making complaints of forums, then I would say it’s best to steer clear of that company.

Likewise if the president of the company has no experience in Network Marketing, you might want to run in the other direction. I mean… if you were to apply to work for an investment firm and the president of the company had no experience in the field, would you really want to work for that company? I wouldn’t either!

Speaking of experience… you’ll also want to be sure that the company has been in business for a good amount of time. Most business will go belly up in their first two years, and unless you want to go down with it, it’s best to only join a company if it’s been in business for at least 2 years. On the other hand, you don’t want to join a company that has been around too long either because the market is already too flooded. So you don’t want to join a company that has been around for more than 5 or 6 years either.

Another thing I’ve learned recently is that some companies will actually undersell their own distributors. I heard a story about a company who had a product that was available at Costco and Sam’s Club for 5 times less than what the distributors were selling it for. Essentially the company was selling to these stores at wholesale prices and taking business away from their own distributors.

So you’ll want to make sure that the only people selling the company’s product(s) are the company’s distributors. Check your local discount stores for the product and also do a search on ebay. If you see the product there for less than what you’re going to be selling it for as a distributor, run… don’t walk… in the opposite direction!

Most importantly, you want to read the company’s policies and procedures before joining. I recently heard a story about a guy who worked with a company for 12 years and then he decided to retire. Four months after retiring, he stopped getting checks. When he questioned the company they told him that they simply chose not to renew his affiliate account. He tried to take them to court, but he lost because he had signed a contract that stated they could decide at the renewal date not to renew his account. So he lost 12 years of residual income that he worked hard to build over a technicality.

If you don’t understand what you are reading, then print it out and take it to a family member who understands law speak, or get a free consultation with a lawyer. It might even be worth the small fee some may charge… that man lost thousands… possible millions of dollars because he didn’t read the contract. Don’t make the same mistake. If you don’t like the terms of the contract and the company is unwilling to change it, then you simply turn the other way.

If you can find a company that passes all of these little tests, you will have yourself a gold mine. Not only that, but putting in the extra effort will save you a lot of money and heartache in the future!

Resource:

Success in 10 Steps by Michael Dlouhy

by Renee Scattergood

It’s amazing how many people want to be successful in life, but they forget one simple factor:

You can’t possibly be successful without developing a successful mindset. That’s like saying you can change the channels on your TV just by having the desire.

Sorry… it doesn’t work that way!

If you want to change the channel you have to use the remote and actually press the buttons yourself… or get up and just go change the channel.

It’s the same with success! Success doesn’t just happen. There are certain steps you need to take in order to become successful, and the first step you need to take is to develop a successful mindset.

That is… you need to start thinking like the successful people do!

You need to believe in your heart that you are a success… even if you haven’t accomplished your goals yet. We’re always updating our goals anyway, so knowing that you are successful is knowing you can accomplish the goals you set out for yourself. It’s knowing you will take the steps necessary to make things happen!

Success is not the destination! It’s knowing you have the ability to make the journey!

Developing a successful mindset is not easy, but it is a simple thing to do… and it’s something you can start today. Just go out and find a mentor who is already successful and they will teach you! And buy books on how to become successful, like Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.

Don’t know where to find a mentor? Well that’s easy too… just follow the steps to the right —> to join EliteTeam 300. We will never ask you for any money… we will never pressure you to join any company or buy any products. We will teach you how to become successful… no strings attached.

Not sure about that? Well then sign up for our newsletter! You will get tons of information on how to build your business! Again… it doesn’t cost you a dime and there is no pressure to join anything! Plus it is free to sign up and you’ll get a free gift just for doing it!

by Renee Scattergood

“Your focus determines your reality.”

The quote above was spoken by the character, Qui-Gon Jinn, in the movie, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. I know it may seem silly to be using a quote from a science fiction movie, but truth is truth no matter the source. Not only is it a quote that is true to your whole life, but it is the foundation for the whole concept of attraction marketing as it directly relates to you and your reality, and how you are perceived in the realities of others.

I’m sure you’ve heard it a million times. The way you see yourself determines who you will attract to yourself. For instance, if you see yourself as a loser, then you will attract losers. On the other hand, if you see yourself as a success, then you will attract those with a successful mindset.

When you really understand this concept and internalize it, it will change the way you think and behave. You’ve heard people talking about someone becoming an overnight success? This is essentially how it happens. One day something clicks in your mind and you suddenly understand the power within you that determines your ability to succeed.

It’s at this point that you face your real challenge. You’re suddenly faced with the fact that you’ve now got to express this truth to your own downline and prospects. You now see it as clear as day, and it becomes difficult to understand why so many others can’t see it as you do. It can get pretty frustrating at times. The “guru’s” will tell you not to waste your time with these people, and I certainly agree to an extent. You don’t want to put too much energy into a person who isn’t willing to do what it takes to become successful, but resistance doesn’t always stem from unwillingness. More often than not, it stems from fear.

As a leader in your business, you will assume responsibility for those who follow you, just as the leader of a nation is responsible for his or her people. Now, you are in no way responsible for their success or failure as that responsibility is all their own. However, you are responsible for how your actions affect a person’s ability and desire to succeed.

When I was first introduced to Network Marketing, I had a very well meaning leader. He was successful in our business, charismatic and he really cared about the people he worked with. The only thing he had working against him was that he was also very arrogant. The more successful he became, the more self-righteous he seemed to behave. His focus and bottom line became about the money and that in itself caused my confidence in his leadership to waver.

Now after reading Mike Dillard’s work, I can understand where he was coming from. I know it was important for him to not allow himself to get caught up in the negativity of those who have not yet developed a successful mindset. However there is a big difference between acting with indifference to someone’s ignorance and acting with contempt.

His behavior towards me at one point actually lowered my self-esteem and caused me to go in reverse. In fact, I quit Network Marketing shortly after that and did not get back into it for about 10 years. While he is not responsible for my lack of success over the years, he is responsible for his own actions and how they affected me.

If he had merely acted indifferently towards me, I would have been driven to get his attention again by doing whatever it took to be successful. I liked and admired the guy and having him blow me off subtly would have been all it took to drive me to success. Instead he decided to humiliate me in front of some major leaders in the company, which completely backfired.

He probably felt that the humiliation would burn me enough to get me in gear, but it didn’t. It was at that moment that I realized I would never succeed in that business. Not just because he made me feel as though I was a failure, which he did. But also because my perception at the time was that I would have to treat people the way he treated me, and it’s just not in my nature to treat people in that way. So I left Network Marketing, not because I thought I couldn’t succeed, but because I didn’t like the person I would have to become in order to succeed.

Of course, I know better now. I know that his behavior had nothing to do with being a leader, but was a part of his own character flaw. So when I saw similar behavior in a forum I visit regularly that is focused on building leaders, it brought me back to that moment. It was obvious that this guy was a newbie, and he didn’t read the forum rules. He inadvertently posted something he shouldn’t have and immediately several people attacked this guy and completely humiliated him.

I seriously doubt he will come back to that community, which is a shame. For all anyone knows, he could have been the next Jim Yaghi or Perry Belcher, but because of a simple mistake based on ignorance, he was chased away from a place where he could have learned why what he did was not going to help him succeed. Now he will probably just go somewhere else and repeat the same behavior or maybe he’ll give up all together.

You’re probably wondering why this is your problem, but as a leader you have to realize the power you hold over people, especially those just getting started in Network Marketing. Many of these people will have low self-esteem and will have a hard enough time learning to do what it takes to become a leader themselves without having people humiliate them for their mistakes. So as a leader you will have to decide if you will allow your ego to control your actions, or will you act with compassionate authority? Will you develop a God complex, or will your guidance be firm and fair?

If you focus on building leaders, then you will lead by example and act with compassion. People will be inspired by you and want to emulate you. Yes, there will be those who make mistakes. Who doesn’t? There will be those who just don’t get it, but a good leader will recognize when a person is not ready for success and move on. A good leader never makes a public display of a person’s failings, unless it is a past failing, and it’s being used in an instructional manner for others to learn from.

Unfortunately, there are “leaders” out there who are mainly focused on their own self-importance, and these people are little better than bullies. Yes, they may care about people and may have a true desire to help people succeed, but their methods are centered on building their own ego. They will use humiliation and bully tactics to get people to do as they say. These types of leaders don’t build leaders, they create lemmings.

So the next time you see someone break a rule or make a mistake, will your focus be on ignoring them or correcting them in such a way that demonstrates good leadership qualities? Or will you publicly humiliate them in an attempt to improve your own self-image? If someone in your downline or one of your prospects keeps questioning everything you know is a key to their success, will you quietly walk away and work with someone who deserves your attention? Or will you point out how ignorant that person is and suggest he or she goes back to their J.O.B.?

Part of being a good leader is understanding that your position as a leader is not just determined by your knowledge of the industry. You can have all the knowledge in the world, but if you treat people with disrespect, they will not want to follow you. Your focus does determine your reality, and how you are perceived in someone else’s reality is determined by your actions. So now you have to decide how you want to be perceived… as a tyrant or a hero?

Copyright 2009 Renee Scattergood