It’s not what you know-it’s who you know. JV partners can provide the “who you know.” 

The best part is once you put the JV partnerships together, if you treat them right, they’re with you forever. In fact, I’ve made deals with people where they regularly sell my product, simply because it is a good fit for their customer, and they care about their customers. The integrity and partnership with these professionals is unparalleled, and the possibilities are endless.

Here are a couple of things to get you thinking about JVs…  

Millionaire Habit #2 to Transform your Life: 

Drawing a blank? 

You may be stalling in making connections as you don’t feel ready to do anything yet, to suggest a JV or even to make a deal or where to start.   

Well good news: it doesn’t matter.  

Simply, meet the right people, be yourself, help others and an opportunity will fall on your lap - you don’t have to create it yourself. 

Someone may be doing business in way that inspires a new business model for you or product idea or way to gain exposure that you think is brilliant.  Halleluiah!

Or

 Someone may look at what you’re doing and see what you’re doing is so cool, they make 2 phone calls on your behalf and connect you to someone who wants you to be a columnist in a local paper or speak at a college - all this happened to me in 2 days of meeting 1 person.  

It could happen to you. 

My good friend Stephanie Hartman has created a unique club to help you find and create powerful joint ventures for your business.

And by the way this person IS someone inside the club. I paid her nothing for her help and my INSTANT credibility and exposure.

 Remember I had NO AGENDA or plans or clue on who I would meet or how they could help me.  My only plan was to show people the real me and what I am up too! 

Through these meetings you will gain successful and fun friends, insight into what others are doing and you’ll begin to see new solutions and odors opening up for you that you were not aware of before.   

It happens naturally so just keep up this habit and opportunities will literally fall in your lap. 

Were you aware how powerful this strategy of simply is of connecting with the intention to show people who you are and discover who they are? 

So let’s turn this powerful strategy into a SUCCESS HABIT for your business. 

Here’s all you have to do: 

Once a month (mark in calendar so you remember) Log into the club and mark all the virtual cocktail parties and brainstorming sessions into your personal calendar. 

Then plan to show up for 10 mins, 20 mins or 60 minutes (whatever you can do) and showcase your expertise and who you are.  You never know when a ‘new friend’ will be somewhere else and recommend you to a powerful contact or put you in front of your target market. 

Do this so that you can showcase your expertise, make a bigger name for yourself, and get massive leads and clients, in addition to rubbing shoulders with some incredibly successful and all around fun, like-minded people.

 Answer questions and brainstorm with others on the THINK TANK nights.  Show them how brilliant you are and you’ll stand out to all those in the virtual room.

Have fun and just mingle on the cocktail party nights.  Quick tip: ask questions of others and that way you find out about other people while they reciprocate and learn about you. 

TIP: Use your web cam to maximize your ability to make an impression in the minds of others.  Not only can they hear you - but they can see you as well.  Many of us have visual memories.

 Result: Opportunities and connections falling on your lap!

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Would you like to your knowledge to be generating you way more income each month? What if you could your current annual income was your monthly income?

Many of today’s highest paid information marketers not only make over $100,000 per month but they also enjoy an ideal lifestyle!

Sound good? Then join me for our next Exclusive Monthly Wealth Mentor Call on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at 4pm Pacific (7pm Eastern) with my special guest, Robert Skrob as we explore:

** How to Turn Your Knowledge Into *Profits*: How any service professionals can eliminate “hours per dollars” and create products that generate a continuous stream of *income*. **

In the last 30 years, information marketing has gone from “mail-order” to the much bigger, broader, hugely *profitable* arena of opportunities it is today. People now routinely go from zero to $10,000.00 to $100,000.00 a month and more, in just a matter of months.

A while back, one of my mastermind groups was sharing with me some of the insights of why this process has helped them catapult forward. Here are five of their insights of why a Mastermind helps you thrive:

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A few years ago I realized that as an entrepreneur, I needed something more than the traditional mastermind. So I began a new kind of mastermind group that was focused on the challenges that all small business owners face: thinking bigger, discovering what works (and what doesn’t) from your peers, leveraging each other’s skills and education, sharing proven resources, etc. I quickly realized that I craved that kind of connection time as a way to leap forward in my thinking and results.

Today, in addition to being in my own private mastermind for my business, I now also run mastermind groups for my clients. As I watch the members of these programs thrive, leap and finally get out of their own way there is truly something unique that can only happen when you allow others into your life and business through this process.

A while back, one of my mastermind groups was sharing with me some of the insights of why this process has helped them catapult forward. Here are five of their insights of why a Mastermind helps you thrive:

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Have you ever felt that achieving success is somewhat elusive? There’s always more to do, new marketing strategies, bigger accomplishments to pursue. So when is it that we actually can say, “I’m a success!”

In my coaching experience, people with the highest levels of stress are often the ones who have a general feeling of “I haven’t accomplished enough yet.” Interestingly, it’s typically tied to things like not having enough money, feeling overwhelmed with too many ideas, always having a 16 page to-do list that never gets done. But from my point of view, they are often quite successful and have plenty of cash flow.

So why do these people feel as if they aren’t successful enough?

Generally it stems from one of these three issues:

Issue #1: Comparing Yourself to Others

My client Jane often brings to our call a comment like, “Look at what Jeff/Alex/Mary/Shelby did in revenue last month. Why can’t I do that?” I often respond with, “Well, they have a system in place that allows them to market and sell products online. You are still setting your systems up.” Comparing ourselves to others creates negative energy. Negative energy attracts negative outcomes.

We are all exactly where we need to be. Mistakes, set backs, challenges, wins, accomplishments – it’s all a gigantic opportunity to understand who we need to be in order to fulfill our life’s purpose. When we compare ourselves to others who seem to be farther along we shortcut our own learning process. We also have no idea what life lessons that other person is dealing with…and trust me…they are there, somewhere!

Be willing to eliminate comparison and replace it with admiration. Admire what they’ve accomplished and ask yourself what you can learn from them that will help you on your journey. I often feel so much gratitude for my friends that are farther along the path than me…I get to implement short cuts because they worked out the bugs!

Issue #2: Setting Unrealistic Expectations

If you have four kids, two dogs, a working husband and have full responsibility for your domestic life, is it realistic to launch three new programs if you only have two hours a week to invest in your business? Setting unrealistic expectations is often a way in which we can fulfill our lifelong belief that we don’t deserve to be a success. It perpetuates tension because there is no way in which to fulfill our desire…only our negative beliefs.

Achieving success depends upon our ability to believe what we want is possible. If you believe in it, then you make it a priority and you will align yourself with the resources, time and energy necessary to make it happen. If you find yourself continually unable to meet your expectations of yourself (aka missing deadlines, always having big ideas but little results, etc.) then it’s time to evaluate your beliefs and do some “inner work.”

One of the exercises we teach clients in our Fast Track to a 6 & 7 Figure Lifestyle Business Mastermind is to upgrade your beliefs. Identify what the root cause is of that belief and then decide to create a new story that supports the success you desire. There are some great support systems out there to help you with this. If you aren’t a member of the Fast Track, perhaps book a breakthrough session with one of our coaches to get help with this process.

Issue #3: Pursuing Unmet Needs

An unmet need is often deeply rooted. It’s typically driven by security, love or self-esteem issues. Unfortunately for most of us, pursuing unmet needs basically means we make short-term choices that don’t align with our long term success goals. Or, we sabotage our success by not doing what works.

A simple “alignment” process can get you on track quickly. By becoming fully conscious about your values and priorities you can begin to make powerful choices that get you to your desired outcome quickly. The tool I recommend to align your needs and goals with the right action is the ULTIMATE Success Generator™.

If your measure of success has been off…then what steps can you take to get back on track quickly? As the saying goes, awareness is the first step towards the solution. Once you know what’s going on then you can take appropriate action to grow your business.

Here are a few things to start doing now.

Solution #1: Get Clear On What Success Means To You

How do you define success – for you? Not your friends, mentors, gurus or clients but for you. Is it how much fr.ee time you have? How much money you are making? How you feel inside knowing that you do what you love? Is it being able to check off action steps from the list?

When you take a vacation do you head off to the airport and just jump on the next plane leaving – no matter where it’s going? No, probably not. You would know what your destination is, buy a guidebook on the location, plan your excursions, buy some new outfits, etc. You would take action that is going to get you to your desired outcome.

It’s no different when you are creating a plan for success. You must be clear about what it will look like when you get there…or else you’ll continue to think you have to keep working hard. That doesn’t mean you won’t evolve your goals and want to continue to grow. What it means is at some point you have to be able to know you’ve achieved the outcome so you can feel that sense of accomplishment. There is nothing more exhausting than feeling like you are chasing success and never arriving.

Solution #2: Create Measures To Know When You Are On Track

A measure is a way of keeping track. It can be a well defined goal, an amount of money, or maybe even certain feelings or emotions that are present. When you have a way of keeping score then you have the ability to know where you are on the path to your desired outcome.

One of the exercises we have our Fast Track members do early on in the program is to design their 6 – 12 month roadmap. We identify what financial and lifestyle goals they aim to accomplish and then decide how they will track their progress.

This technique is essential if you have a team approach to getting things done. If you are delegating to someone whom you are paying, you will want to measure the success of this investment in your business. If you establish specific items they need to accomplish within a certain time, then measure the success of meeting these outcomes on time, then you will know what your return on investment truly is…and if this process is paying off for you.

Solution #3: Focus on What’s Working

My last suggestion is one that can work for every area of our success. Remember Jane from the example above? Well the one thing she found worked the fastest was changing her focus. If you spend your time focusing on what you don’t have, who has more than you or what you haven’t yet accomplished then you will always feel down and depleted. The simple act of being grateful for what you do have can shift your energy from the negative to the positive immediately. It sounds oversimplified sometimes but it works.

It’s amazing how much more successful we can feel when we view the world through the lens of “wow, look at all I’ve accomplished” vs. “crap, I still have so far to go!”

Remember that the law of attraction works by bringing more to you of what your focus is on. Just like a flashlight in a dark room, what we shine our light on is what we see. Shine the light on the good stuff and you’ll be amazed at how successful you already are!

About the Coach:

Melanie Benson Strick, The Million Dollar Lifestyle Business Coach, teaches entrepreneurs how to stop feeling overwhelmed so they can create more money, more freedom and more prestige.

Get the Entrepreneur’s Secret Weapon to revolutionize your results and get on the fast-track to a freedom based business at www.thepowerofthevirtualteam.com

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If you let your inner-technician run your day to day operations then you are ruining your business. Join me on Thursday, July 24th at 530pm Pacific / 830pm Eastern for a special 75-minute hot seat coaching opportunity on:

“How to Release your Inner-Technician so you can Unleash More Freedom”

Be sure to lock in your opportunity to get a seat on this call as you will also have an opportunity to get coached live! Register now at:

http://www.successconnections.com/teleclass/

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So why then is James spending so much time and energy learning how to do the shopping cart so he can outsource it to someone else? Why is Amy investing $2000 on a “learning to blog system” when there are other’s who can do it better, faster and cheaper than her?

Maybe it’s the compelling feeling that many of us have to learn. The quest for knowledge that somehow validates a deep need to know it all. And I think for some, it provides a sense of security or control to know how everything is supposed to work. But is it really serving you to spend your valuable time, money and energy learning all the ins & outs of your business?

I remember the feeling I had when I graduated from San Diego State with my Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management. After getting past the culture shock of not having piles of assignments and the constant pressure of assignments due, I felt like there was a big gaping hole in my life. I missed learning.

So what did I do? I of course took on more learning…taking every class that Motorola offered on leadership, team building, project management, and soon found my way to my Master’s program in Organizational Management. Not too long after graduating again…there was that old “void” again. I needed my learning fix…and I started taking spiritual classes at my church (which 8 years later resulted in my spiritual counselor license) and at the same time I decided to get trained as a coach. Then it was on to marketing, online traffic generation, blogs, social networking…you get the point I think.

As I got serious about my business I had to reflect on how much time and energy I was spending learning new things. What was my time worth and did it really make sense to keep investing in all this learning? What was it getting me? I began to ask myself the tough question with every learning opportunity “Is this going to make me more money?”.

The truth is I was just feeding a little gremlin inside of me. For me, learning gave me a sense of control and power. If I knew what to do and when to do it, then maybe I’d be good enough to have my dream lifestyle and business. What I realized is that learning kept me from doing what would actually make me successful. It was like a big cozy comfortable blanket that kept me safe…and kept my worst fear in front of me…a real lack of financial results.

At some point I had one of the “I should have had a V-8 moments”. It hit me that no matter how much I learned it was not helping me get there any faster. It was much more cost effective to hire someone who knew how to do it so it would get done faster and hence, make a lot more money. If I had to learn it first, then I became the bottleneck!

The key to mastering delegation is adopting this CEO Mindset:

“Know enough to set the vision, goals and desired results. Delegate the tactics to people who can do it faster, cheaper or better than you.”

Here is an example. I have absolutely no idea how to update my website. I know what I want it to look like, what should happen when a visitor is on the site and even what experience I want them to have. But I made it a point to not learn how to update it.

Same thing with most of our marketing efforts. I know what I want done and I hire talented people who already know how to do it. I have a vague idea of what steps my team goes through each month to publish this ezine but I have no idea how to publish one myself. Set up a bridge line? Nope. I’m talented enough that I could probably figure it out (and I know my team has the system published in our online procedures guide) but why bother?

My job as CEO is to stay focused on my top 5 – 10 high payoff activities like writing, mentoring entrepreneurs on how to create their ideal business, designing powerful programs that serve my clients, and planning out where I want to be in 90 days to 5 years from now!

My challenge to you is to look at where you are holding yourself back by being the bottleneck. Where is your need to learn and be in control getting in the way of what you delegate? What are your false beliefs about what can be delegated well costing you playing the bigger game?

If you haven’t yet downloaded our free report on the 101 Ways to Triple Your Income by Outsourcing Your High Payoff Activities, I highly encourage you to do it now. This process will help you get clear on your highest payoff activities and bust this delegation dilemma for good!

About the Coach:

Melanie Benson Strick, The Million Dollar Lifestyle Business Coach, teaches entrepreneurs how to stop feeling overwhelmed so they can create more money, more freedom and more prestige.

Get the Entrepreneur’s Secret Weapon to revolutionize your results and get on the fast-track to a freedom based business at  www.thepowerofthevirtualteam.com

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Ever wonder how anyone can make any money in today’s economy? Oddly enough, many entrepreneurs are making money by “investing” in their businesses and utilizing the concept of ‘virtual teams.’

Learn how you can accomplish ten times or more by handing off non-core components of their business to a group of talented individuals.  They’re not employees, eliminating the burden of payroll taxes and other liabilities.  However, what they are is simply trained and experienced in all the areas that the entrepreneur is not.  Not an accountant?  Have someone else do it.  Not a web designer?  No problem.  Find someone who is.  And thus the virtual team is born.
 
You just can’t do everything yourself and expect to be as productive or successful as you would like. If you find yourself getting stuck, or spending too much time on projects that aren’t generating any revenue for you, then you know it’s time to change the way you do business. 

Though the concept sounds easy enough, it can be tricky to find the right mix of outsourcing for any given entrepreneur.  That’s why the Virtual Team Building Tele-Bootcamp program has been so successful.  Small business owners can learn the ropes of having a virtual team without sacrificing what they already have in place, and save themselves countless dollars on the learning curve. 

Ready to get YOUR limited edition Virtual Team Building Tele-Bootcamp in a Box?

Here’s the thing, though: I’m only going to be offering 162 copies of my Virtual Team Building Tele-Bootcamp in a Box. So if you want to get in on this exclusive, limited time only opportunity, you’re going to have to ACT NOW!

Information about how to order Virtual Team Building Bootcamp in a Box can be found at www.virtualteambuildinginabox.com.

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John had a dream. He wanted to live his passion and make a difference in the world. He knew that self-employment was a key to creating wealth and freedom. So John set out to be the owner of his own business. He did everything right. He watched what other successful people were doing. He modeled their behavior, their choices and implemented their strategies for success.

Every day he got up and envisioned his successful business – how he was making a difference in the world, creating 200k+ revenue, and speaking all over the country spreading his message. He even saw clearly how his best-selling book would transform the lives of his target audience. He really was building a successful business and his friends were envious.

One day, he woke up and just couldn’t do it anymore. He was burned out, frustrated and overwhelmed. It was like he had “lost that lovin’ feeling” and his dream was crumbling.
John asked me to help him stop feeling overwhelmed so he could put the fun and freedom back into his life. Within our first conversation, John realized…

He had climbed someone else’s mountain!

The success he created belonged to his colleagues and friends – it is what they wanted! By asking for their help and support along the way, he had successfully built THEIR DREAM. Not his.

Ouch. Now what? John needed to reconnect with his own dream.

Following are 5 Strategies to Turn Your Business Around in Record Time so you can have more time off, rekindle the passion and grow your revenue exponentially.

1. Identify What is Currently Working. No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Start by writing down what’s working and what’s not. Then take each “not” and figure out how to switch it to something that will work. Having a business that you love is based on aligning your passion with money-making opportunities. Sometimes we’ve just been living in our “old box” so long we can’t even see how to repackage it so it works better.
2. Get Specific About Your End Game. What DID you want your life to be like when you started your business? Did you choose a path that would allow you to experience it? Or did you basically just recreate a job? Often times we lose the connection to why we created the business in the first place. Just because your mentor or idol loves traveling all over the world, 325 days a year doesn’t mean that you will. By creating a business that serves YOUR lifestyle goals, you will experience greater passion, momentum and speed. Your job is to make choices every day based on your values, priorities and highest ROI opportunities.
3. Create Space Immediately. The most difficult conversation I have with my clients is the one where they have to say no to money in the short term to make room for their longer term dream. In order to turn your business around, you have to reestablish your foundation. That might mean taking a week off to complete the exercises I give you on values and priorities (you can find them in the ULTIMATE Success Generator as well.) it might mean investing in building your team now vs. spending all your money on marketing strategies. You need to realign your resources on the business you want, not the business you have!
4. Make “Big” Decisions. Your success will hinge on whether you decide to play your biggest game. If you are on the wrong mountain, you must be brave and courageous enough to reroute your path immediately. Sometimes that means creating an exit strategy from your current role. Failure occurs when we don’t listen to that voice inside saying, “this isn’t working for me.” No matter what you think will happen, your life and business will be 10,000 times better by saying yes to more of what you love.
5. Live by Standards. Be very clear with yourself and the world around you about what you will (and won’t) do. Set an intention to uphold these standards and watch how the world shifts to accommodate it. When you follow other experts and how they built their path to success it’s easy to just duplicate their steps. But that’s how you can end up in the wrong place. Your life, your priorities and your values are unique to you! So be sure to take the gems from your mentors and morph them to your standards.

When you are crystal-clear about how you really want to live and climb your own mountain, you will have an experience of effortless action. It’s almost like you would pay someone else to show up every day and do your work. It’s not a job, it’s an indescribable passion that you are compelled to express. Nothing and no one can stand in your way.

By the way, John decided to follow my advice and give up speaking across the country. He adapted a new standard of speaking only for his target audience where he got paid over $20k and could sell his programs from the stage. He built up a very amazing business coaching and consulting with other speakers who wanted to learn how to build their own speaking business. He now spends 300 days a year in his home town making 3 times as much as he did on the road. Congrats John!

When you reconnect with that lovin’ feeling, watch out world. You will be unstoppable!
What brave choice will you make to get on the right mountain for you?

About the Coach:

Melanie Benson Strick, The Million Dollar Lifestyle Business Coach, teaches entrepreneurs how to stop feeling overwhelmed so they can create more money, more freedom and more prestige.

Get the Entrepreneur’s Secret Weapon to revolutionize your results and get on the fast-track to a freedom based business at www.thepowerofthevirtualteam.com

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I got online, researched fares three months early, and booked my ticket and my hotel room. I was so proud of myself!!! It felt really good to be ahead of the game.

One week before my trip I was confirming my flights and making sure I had all my itineraries organized. I pulled out my ticket to Ft. Lauderdale and checked my hotel reservation for…Orlando! Argh. With a $500 change fee, I was back on track but it was a costly mistake.

I realized that booking my own travel was not my core competency and immediately fired myself by creating a system for my assistant to do it for me. I’ve never had a problem again.

Since then I regularly take great pleasure in firing myself from certain jobs that cause me angst, that cost me too much money to do myself, or that I procrastinate. Up to this point I’ve fired myself from:

• Trying to find the right venue for an upcoming Platinum retreat (or any kind of live event).
• Updating websites, shopping carts, auto-responders, etc.
• Packing my suitcase/boxes for a speaking engagement.
• Creating forms, sales copy or flyers (I spend hours trying to get it “right”).
• Being the operations or project manager (whew, that was a BIG one!).
• Having to figure out how all the details work to get a product out the door.

I can probably make a list of 101 things that I delegate to others to free up my time and energy for more important things (well, as a matter of fact I did make a list and you get can a free copy here if you haven’t already.)

But the important thing here is, are you doing tasks that are causing you to be less than effective?

When you spend your precious resources on any task or role that is not a “high payoff activity,” you are wasting time, money and energy. When I mentor clients or speak on the subject of leverage I always say, “What can someone else do faster, cheaper or better than you?”

I’ve found that when I focus on the tasks that only I can do– write, speak, lead the company, hold the vision of the end game, continue to inspire my team and my clients to take action – then that’s when I hit my sweet spot.

Here are five ways to fire yourself so you can tap into more energy and results:

1. Figure out what you are doing that isn’t effective. Do you make a lot of mistakes? Does it burn you out? Would you rather go to the dentist for a root canal than complete the task? Get real with yourself and stop doing them. Find someone else to do them faster, better or cheaper than you can.
2. Stop learning how to do things that aren’t high ROI. I always tell people that I make it a point NOT to learn how to update my website. If I don’t know how then I won’t be tempted to try to figure it out. It’s a waste of my time and money to do it myself and I know better.
3. Get ruthless. It can be a lot of little seemingly insignificant things that add up to big time wasters. If you were determined to create more time for what’s important then what would you fire yourself from doing immediately? Buying office supplies? Figuring out whom to do your product distribution? Doing all those social marketing posts?
4. Create an exit strategy. For the bigger roles that you are more integrated into (like project managing or handling the operations) you may need to follow the steps of many successful CEOs and create an exit plan – what can you do over the next 6 months to replace yourself in that role?
5. Change your mind about what’s important. If you are a control freak or regularly find yourself holding on to something because no one can do it as good as you, then it may be time for a reality check. I guarantee that in one Delegation Hot Seat I’d be able to find at least 10 tasks or roles that you could get off your plate. So start being realistic about what you can really accomplish and fire yourself from the rest of it.

Be willing to clear the decks of everything that is getting in your way of the most important things. When you look around at the people who really do enjoy a lifestyle business, who make consistent income in the high 6, 7 or 8 figures and are enjoying some level of sanity in the process, you’ll see that they never try to do everything and often they do very little. Sir Richard Branson said in an interview once that it is easier for him to run his multiple billion dollar companies today than it ever was to run a small company.

Something tells me he figured out how to fire himself from a lot of tasks!

About the Coach:

Melanie Benson Strick, The Million Dollar Lifestyle Business Coach, teaches entrepreneurs how to stop feeling overwhelmed so they can create more money, more freedom and more prestige.

Get the Entrepreneur’s Secret Weapon to revolutionize your results and get on the fast-track to a freedom based business at www.thepowerofthevirtualteam.com

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