Click here to view the embedded video.

In today’s market it really is crucial for you to integrate online marketing methods so that you can keep in front of your prospects. If you don’t have what I think of as automated tools, keeping in touch with your prospects, you don’t really have a sales funnel, you have more of a leaky bucket. Meaning if you are just prospecting, and for the people that you prospect who say “not right now”  to you, essentially they are in a notebook or a list or named in your phone, but you don’t have a way to keep the information in front of them, essentially they grow very very cold very quickly.

I have a very unique experience, I believe, to many marketers who are building a home-based business, because I have been building a golden list of people since 2005. These people are interested in home-based businesses, home-based business seekers, people who are actively involved in a home-based business. I have been building that list over time and I have seen something, a phenomenon, something that thrills me every single time. Which is I will get an e-mail or a phone call from somebody who has been on my list for years.

Imagine this scenario:  You have your automation in place, and every single prospect that comes into your funnel stays in your list for you to communicate with. And a year down the road, two years down the road, three, sometimes as much as four or five years down the road, that individual comes back to you and says, “You know, I’ve been watching you. You always kept it real. You’ve been building your business, consistently, persistently; I can tell that you’re genuine. I love that you don’t hype your business and I wanna join your team.”

Imagine that scenario because it could very well be yours right now. I really think that the automatic tools that I have in place help to fill in all sorts of shortcomings. Shortcomings in terms of follow up and keeping in connection with people. The really beautiful thing is even if you do 1/3 of what the big marketers do to build their business, you will have results. Because most people aren’t doing any of these things.

So what am I actually talking about? I’ve used all these words, I’ve used automated tools, I’ve talked about auto responders, I’ve talked about my golden list. First I want you to understand that every single prospect you communicate with, whether it’s online, offline, if it’s in your community, or a lead that came in on the internet, every single one of those people needs to be in a centralized single auto responder. That is essentially an online file of everyone who’s ever taken a look at your business. Hopefully you’ve got it set up so they can actually fill in their details and they will become a part of your list. They opt-in. They decided – Yes -  they wanted information, and they become part of your list. They have given you permission to market to them over and over and over again or until they unsubscribe, until they say leave me alone. And honestly, the auto responder is not much different from your old ‘file’. You had a box or a rolodex or many people used a shoe box with all of their prospects on an index card. And those people were prospects until they said no. Until they said, “Do not call me anymore about this.” So in other words, if they don’t tell you no, then they were still in your box for follow up. The cool thing about the auto responder is they go in there and very politely tell you no, they just hit a little unsubscribe button. They’re not going to hear from you anymore. You’re not going to communicate with them anymore. Is that cool? I really think it is. I think it’s really really easy. It’s a great way to tell me no and I had no idea. It didn’t hurt me one bit. Think of it when people are unsubscribing from your list as a good thing.

So what do I mean by auto responders or automation, kind of filling in the blanks or the weaknesses? Read the rest at www.MelanieMilletics.com

Make the decision – and know that this can be the BEST year
of YOUR life!

You’ve read the hype over and over again…

“Enroll Hundreds Of Reps Without Ever Speaking to Anyone”
…and similar phrases of nonsense.

That kind of marketing would lead you to believe that if you just get really good at internet marketing and use it to market your MLM, that you’ll make huge money in your company.

I hate to bust your bubble… actually, no, I’d LOVE to bust your bubble and tell you that is complete nonsense!

Network Marketing is, and always will be an income model that is based on relationship marketing. Those impressive checks from the top earners are earned because they developed leaders in their organizations. They didn’t just mass enroll and see what STUCK. They took the time to invest in those people who would take ownership of their business and work the system in place by the company.

Mass attrition? You will see that if you just enroll people on autopilot and never actually act as their sponsor.  Sponsorship comes with a responsibility to the person who joined your organization. You MUST direct them to the training in place, you must role play with them and make sure they are following the simple, duplicateable system in place by your company.

Enroll hundreds of people and make a ton of cash? What, off of a one time fast start bonus for signing them? What a waste! You will make far more money when you help your recruits to earn a check for themselves. When they continue to work to maintain that check, and to grow it – you finally have leverage.

Have you ever heard this phrase from a Internet MLMer?
“I don’t want to babysit a downline”

If you are properly sponsoring quality people, you will have an organization of incredibly powerful, motivated individuals who you want to spend your time with. They are your TEAM – your greatest asset.

I truly think that those who say they don’t want to babysit are those who don’t want to take the time to develop themselves as a leader. You see, it takes a leader to help develop a leader.

Message to heartless Internet MLMers:

If you are mass- sponsoring into a Network Marketing company with online hype and then just leaving your recruits to some automated training.
If you don’t give your recruits an ounce of your precious time… please just leave MLM alone.

Stop using your internet marketing skills to give our industry a bad name. Every time you enroll someone and let them die on the vine, you just took one more wonderful potential builder from our pool of prospects.

If you have fallen prey to this type of recruiting – but you still have faith in the residual income dream, then find a true MLM leader who will paint a realistic expectation of what it takes to build your business to true walkaway residual income.  This industry is alive and well and producing walkaway residual income for leaders every day. In fact, our MLM company produces a new six figure earner every 36 hours…

When you  start your Home Based Business in 2011, you can deduct up to $5000 in start up costs!  Incredible Government Stimulus For the US!

The IRS will pay you up to $5,000 of initial start-up costs of a home-based business! Uncle Sam will help pay for you to start your business with ViSalus!
The Stimulus ENDS THIS YEAR! So, if you are waiting until January to come on as a ViSalus distributor, this is the reason you DON’T want to do that!

Become a Promoter of the Body By Vi Challenge and you are eligible for these tax benefits. Click here to become a ViSalus Distributor.
Q. How are deductions for the start up of a home based business normally deducted?

A. Normally, costs incurred during the START-UP PHASE of a business are deductible over a 15 year period (i.e. each $1,500 in start-up costs would be deducted at a rate of $100 per year for 15 years). [IRC Sec 195(c)(1)(A)]

But there is a “Special Deduction” for 2011!

Any taxpayer who begins operation of a new business in 2011, may deduct ALL start-up costs (up to $5,000 maximum) on their 2011 tax returns – no need to spread the deduction over a 15 year period.  [IRC Sec 195(b)]

EX. $5,000 in Start-Up Cost deductions, for a person in a 28% tax bracket, would generate a $1,400 tax Refund.

If Start-Up Cost deductions exceed the amount of money earned this year in the home-based business itself, most or all of the additional deductions may be applied against any other source of income such as a W-2 job, which could possibly even drop the taxpayer into a lower tax bracket.

This one-time write off provision in the tax law is valid only during 2011, and therefore will set to expire permanently at midnight, December 31, 2011. Even IF Congress reinstates this provision in 2012, a business begun after Jan. 1, 2012 will not be able to claim those deductions until April 2013 – when 2012 Tax Returns are filed.

Not activating a new home-based business by December 31, 2011, will delay tax-deductions for Start-Up Costs by at least 15 months.

What are “Start-Up Costs”?

The term includes business related costs you incur prior to actually beginning to offer goods or services for sale – i.e., the costs of getting ready to open your business. They are generally the same types of expenses that will be called “business operating costs” once you are actually operating a business. [IRC Sec 195(c)(1)(B)]

The start up period starts when you begin THINKING about a home based business.  You were thinking about, and researching, and perhaps even taking the products as a customer.  All through 2011 you were thinking about starting a home based business, so you can deduct start up costs for expenses all year.

What are some examples of tax-deductible “start-up costs”? [IRC Sec 195(c)(1)(a)]

A. Seminars, Workshops, Courses and Books on how to run the business. Investigating or Researching one or more business opportunities. Travel for meetings, conventions or interviews or to obtain education from experts. Telephone and cellular phone costs related to new business start-up. Office supplies and some business tools (briefcase, iPad, business cards, etc.). DOES NOT INCLUDE vehicles, furniture, computers and other depreciable assets. [IRC Sec 167(a)]

Exceptions:  Money spent qualifying to begin a certain type of business, general are not deductible. This includes getting a degree, obtaining a license to practice (doctors, real estate…), etc.

The IRS “default setting” for start-up expenses is to deem that the taxpayer made a decision to amortize the amounts over a 15 year period. [Reg Sec 1, 195-1T(b)] To claim your seductions immediately, do the following:

1.Use IRS Form 4562 (“Depreciation and Amortization”) to claim your start-up expenses

2. Attach an “election statement” to your tax return, stating specifically that you wish to claim all (or the first $5,000) of your Start-Up Expenses in 2011, “the year in which your business became active”.

Start-Up Expenses are deductible in the year in which the business begins active operation, so if the business you are investigating never gets off the ground, you will not get any deductions. [IRC Sec. 165]

You have to show that you actually attempted to profit from your business. Just buying your ESS and sitting on your laurels does not qualify!

DISCLAIMER : I am in NO WAY a tax professional ~ just a Home Business professional who LOVES to file her taxes because of the massive deductions having a home based business allows us!  This information was shared with me – and thus I am passing it on to you. You are responsible for properly filing your taxes to deduct your start up expenses ~ but if you do it properly, you may see an extra $1400 less owed to the IRS for 2011!
Become a Promoter of the Body By Vi Challenge and you are eligible for these tax benefits. Click here to become a ViSalus Distributor.

Take the First Step to Move from the Lower Ranks in Your Network Marketing Company – Straight to the TOP!

There is a phrase in Network Marketing that you may have heard before : “you can get to (insert rank title) on excitement alone!”  In other words, people often join a MLM company and are pure ignorance on fire and because they are prospecting and presenting at a rapid pace, they can advance quickly.  In fact, people often achieve a position long before they are actually qualified to lead.

Rank alone does not define a leader, nor does the size of their check.  In fact, with the way many companies are structured and volume manipulated to ‘create’ rank positions, it is very common that someone will be of a certain ‘high rank’ but not at all qualified to lead the organization that is their team.  Anyone can be ‘given’ a rank, volume, and even people in their organization. It doesn’t require any special ability, or skill of leadership.

If you have never gotten to any rank in a company you may be thinking – “I don’t care if I’m not qualified to lead – just give me the rank and the check!” .

But my dear, your success will be far longer sustained, and your residual check longer maintained when you get there by true WORK with a team of people who you learn to lead. When you actually have the permission of your team to lead them, your ‘work’ is much more rewarding, spiritually – AND financially!

When you first begin your business, your #1 objective is to earn a check yourself. Your focus and  your effort  is toward meeting one goal : making your own sales. Your prospecting, presenting and follow up has one goal- to enroll customers and distributors – to grow your check and increase rank and pay.

So how do you get beyond ‘excitement’ to growing a residual fortune?
You learn to focus on others, and help them to get their own fat check!

The next level of leadership is where the 97% of people fail. They neglect the personal development that is necessary to move beyond their own desires and instead work to flame the fire of their recruits.

This is the speed bump. The point of difference, where the leader is either born, or dies on the vine.
This is the place where I spend 99% of my time with my people – helping them to move beyond their own agenda, and into the ‘why’s’ of their recruits.

Part of your development here is to believe in others … which of course means you must first believe in yourself, in our industry, in your company, and trust YOUR leaders enough to follow them.  One of the fastest ways to develop that level of belief, until it burns in you and is unshakeable – is to attend company events.

Yes, that’s right – attend the EVENTS! That’s why your upline is so adamant about dragging you to every event they can! Because they know that events will change the way you think – raise your level of believe and fuel your actions to propel you into the next level of leadership.  If you don’t/ won’t attend, the probability that your business will stall and ultimately fail, is certain.

And if you are, right now, a developing leader – whose business is not growing at the pace you’d like, ask yourself how well you promote events?  How many people did you have at your last company event?  Conversely, how many people did you NOT drag so that their level of belief would grow, and they would become leaders in your organization?

My friend, this is not about YOU. This is about your team.  Find out who your people are, what drives them. Make it a priority to help those who WILL move forward to make the biggest check they can earn.

Standing in the front of the room boasting about your rank and your check will likely discourage people rather than encourage them to move forward to achieve their goals. When you actually lead your people, and are instead boasting about THEIR achievements you will find that you will have a team who loves you and are happy to follow – and RUN boldly in the direction of their dreams!

Are you ready to be a 2%er ? You know, the visionary leader type? We have to be good before we are great – and this time, practice, and baby steps.

Take this easy step, now:
You must always stay in phase 1  – recruiting. But now, when you recruit, know that the focus is not on growing your check – but on growing your newly sponsored person’s check!

NEXT, we will learn how to create MOMENTUM in your organization. Stay tuned
 

The inspiration for this article came from John Maxwell’s Leadership Ladder, as published in Success Magazine : http://www.successmagazine.com/article?articleId=1569&taxonomyId=21

It was the end of May, 2011. I got an email notification that one of my YouTube videos had been ‘flagged’ for inappropriate content. “Inappropriate content”? I thought, what the heck could someone object to on my channel?

A Youtube channel that I had been building up since 2006 with videos. A Youtube channel that had hundreds of thousands of views… one video that had 200k views and counting that was getting me major traffic to my ViSalus site.

SOMEONE found my videos to be offensive.
My guess is that they found the competition to be offensive and took a low blow to a woman’s empire – and flagged my vids to effectively not have to deal with my competition on YouTube!

When I clicked to find out what video it was, or how to contest the ‘flag’ , my channel was already gone.

All of the blog posts over the last few years where I had made videos specifically for those posts, now had big blank YouTube screens in them stating that my channel had been shut down due to SPAM content! Imagine that.

So I create videos to help educate YOU, the home based entrepreneur, and you go to click to see my video… and find out that I’m a ‘spam artist’. That’s gotta be good for business, right?

This is all ugly enough to freak out an entrepreneur  – but to make matters WORSE, I was running for Ambassador in May, which meant a $25,000 bonus check for my family.

As an internet entrepreneur, one of my main strategies for building my home based business is to run promotions using video to make the call to action. I was at a crucial hour, where I would most certainly get that video promotion out to my list… and my channel was dead.

Think about that – and how YOU might react?

How DO you react in times of adversity?

It took about 7 seconds for me to realize this was a LESSON, a Lesson in Network Marketing Success Principles.

You see, over the last 2 years I have undergone a radical transformation in my understanding of what makes this MLM business model work.

In the past, I worked with sub-par network marketing companies. Of course while I worked with them I thought they were great – but they all had major flaws, and my whole ‘funded proposal/ME FIRST’ marketing funnel was necessary in order to effectively generate leads and massively recruit.

I’ve enrolled more than 600 people – with full product packages – into companies using those methods… and made a six figure income… but I NEVER saw the true leveraged residual income from my MLM business. So I kept this blog up, and kept building my list through selling ‘How To Be Successful at MLM Online’ information, and of course teaching ‘List Building for MLM’.

And you know what, I was successful at building a huge list of home based business buyers and seekers, and I certainly DID enroll many of them into companies… and still do. But I can tell you now, after working with an excellent company for 2 years, that those methods are absolutely NOT necessary to have success with ViSalus, or with any other GREAT company (are there others?).
In fact, I would say that those who know the least about such ‘attraction marketing’ methods will make the MOST here.

Why? Because the ‘old school‘ model works beautifully here, and in this economy everything relies on the speed of trust.

I’d much rather sponsor someone  who has no experience in the MLM industry and let them follow the simplest of systems and help them get all the way to Ambassador and beyond, rather than enroll the ‘MLM Junkies‘ who don’t want to share what is NEEDED by their community for fear of what people might think… so they hide behind a computer instead.

So in the hour when my YouTube channel was shut down, did I bug out?

NO, because to hit Ambassador with ViSalus it wasn’t going to be based on how many more sales I could make by blasting out a promotion.
Instead, it would be based on the awesome people on the Dream Team who would meet their goals, by making their list and promoting using the simple system in place to WIN.

I already had the people sponsored in order to get Ambassador done, I just had to dive to them – to give them the encouragement they needed to KNOW they too would one day soon be running for that $25,000 Ambassador bonus.

It wasn’t about how ‘attractive’ I could be… with my ‘attraction marketing model’, it was about helping people follow the simplest of simple systems.

OH MY.
Sounds Familiar, doesnt it?
You’ve heard it before, right?

K.I.S.S.

Keep It Simple Stupid!

Ok, so I’m NOT stupid… just over educated. I’ve been doing this online Network Marketing thing since 2001. I know too much for my own good.
But when my YouTube Channel got shut down, It was abundantly clear that I really had to just K.I.S.S. my strongholds goodbye.

I had to dig down deep into my organization and work to develop leaders… and guess what?
I got to Ambassador in May.

And the next month – I literally traveled from Florida to Michigan to live with Skip and Cindy Taylor for a week – to help them earn THEIR $25,000 Ambassador check.
We didn’t make any fancy videos. We didn’t do webinars, or email broadcasts… we just followed K.I.S.S – and got it DONE.

Melanie Milletics with her $25,000 Ambassador Check and Skip & Cindy Taylor with theirs! Their reaching Ambassador meant I'm a 1 Star Ambassador

My friends and I got to get our great BIG $25,000 checks together, and then travel to Presidential Paradise and get royally spoiled by ViSalus!

This should be encouraging for YOU. If you don’t know how to do all the fancy internet ‘stuff’ I do – consider yourself lucky!
Just TRUST me when I tell you the simple system works – and follow it!

I hope you will also listen to your upline who tells you to follow the system. If you can’t trust them, you may as well QUIT now.
If they are making six figures… listen!

That is… if you are with a GREAT company that doesn’t need any distractions from a funded proposal system. If not, I have something to share with you.

I suppose you can choose what you want in a business.
I chose the leveraged residual millions of MLM over the distraction of affiliate income.
Therefore, I have chosen to K.I.S.S. those many small affiliate checks goodbye as the income from my MLM grows.

I can THANK the jerkface who had my YouTube shut down. It was the final straw that cut me off from my old convoluted ways…
I’ll still make videos and blog, cause I love it -
but if you ask me how to build ViSalus - I’ll tell you to Keep It Simple, Stupid!

“Fact, Fact, Heart” : The Art of Proper Edification On the  3 Way Call Will Make You a Fortune

The 3 way call is one of the most powerful tools you have to build your Network Marketing business. Unfortunately, lack of skill in this area has given the 3 way call a bad ‘wrap’, and for fear of losing the sale, many simply forgo this incredible closing tool. I’m going to show you how a 3 way call can WOW your prospect, and get you more sign ups into your MLM with the help of a simple formula known as ‘Fact, Fact, Heart’.

Its GO time! You have a hot prospect on the line who has watched your company overview and has questions. If you have been instructed properly by your upline, you should know that YOU are not to answer those questions, but are to instead get your upline leader on a 3 way call to bring in that third party validation, answer questions, and enroll them for you.

Sounds easy enough, right? You press the flash button on your phone and bring your upline onto the line, and say … what?

“Um Jim, this is Melanie… she can answer your questions?” – NO

How about “Melanie, this is Jim. He has watched the overview and is a very successful realtor and is real well connected in his community and I just KNOW he’d be great at this.” — DOUBLE NO!

You NEVER edify the prospect to your upline. If you want to fill them in on how incredible this person is before, or after – fine. But you never do that on the 3 way call.
You must learn to edify your upline properly and use the very simple formula we call ‘fact, fact, heart’.

To edify means to build up, and in this case, you are building up your upline as someone with the credentials to answer their questions – someone your prospect should respect and listen to. When you use the simple formula, you will find it is an easy transition. And if you are using your upline for 3 way calls a lot (as you should be) , it is just another simple ‘script’ you use as part of your business.

So what is ‘fact, fact, heart’? It’s simply 2 facts about your upline that give them credibility, and a heartfelt statement.

Something like, : “Jim, this is Melanie. She is an Ambassador with our company, and a top enroller. She is also someone I consider to be a friend and mentor who is more than qualified to answer your questions. Melanie, this is Jim from Arkansas”.

Ahhh… proper edification of the upline that will have the prospect wanting to hear from the highly qualified leader!

How do you get the 2 facts and heartfelt statement to use? Ask your upline! Ask them for 2 facts they would want known, and fill the heart part in yourself… This is Network Marketing. It’s a relationship business. There should be some heart in there!

Now, it is YOUR job to absolutely, positively, without any exception, MUTE YOUR PHONE. Do not speak unless spoken to! Your upline leader will take the conversation over for you. If you interject, you will kill the deal. I promise you! There is nothing worse than a prospect getting bombarded with two overzealous people about the opportunity.

The 3 way call, with proper edification of the upline, will without a shadow of doubt make you a fortune, if you learn to master the very simple ‘Fact, Fact, Heart’

Melanie Milletics, ViSalus Ambassador

Melanie Milletics is an Internet Entrepreneur

who has been working to integrate Internet Marketing and Network Marketing since 2001 when she looked for a home based business that would enable her to raise her children without ever putting them into daycare.

She learned how to master phone prospecting and used purchased leads lists to build her business and consistently hit the enrollers bonuses for the company she worked for.  However, she knew there was more success to be had, and more to earn! Her search led her to a fact that would change the course of her families future forever  –  the entrepreneurs who earned the most money in the industry were those who generated their own prospects.

Committed to a better life for her family, she began to study internet marketing and began to use online strategies to generate leads for her Network Marketing Business.  With that one change, she began to build what she calls her ‘Golden List’.  Since 2005 she has been generating lists of opportunity seekers and buyers and has mastered online relationship marketing using email, blogging, video, and of course the phone!

Melanie became an instructor

for Mike Dillard’s Better Networker, and a trainer in Ann Sieg’s Renegade Professional while being the #1 woman affiliate in the MLM niche.  She even released her own information product “MLM List Building Exposed” in 2009 and became a consultant to the industry for those who sought to have a successful online Network Marketing Business.

In July 2009 she joined ViSalus Sciences and got awards for top production every quarter as a Pioneer in the launch of the Body By Vi Challenge, and even became the company’s #2 enroller.  At the end of 2010 she stopped ‘distracting herself’ with affiliate income and discontinued mentoring anyone who was not on her ViSalus Dream Team.  Instead she focused on duplication and developing leaders – and reached the pinnacle position of Ambassador with ViSalus.

In this exclusive interview with Jerry Chen, Melanie explains her journey,

and her relief at finally finding the key to success in Network Marketing – laser focus on her company, ViSalus Sciences!

Part 2 reveals the SECRET to real residual income in Network Marketing

Learn More about how YOU can be a part of the DREAM TEAM when you sign the guest book HERE!

>>>Check out Melanie’s Interview with George Fourie of thatMLMbeat <<<

I’m sorry I steered you wrong! When I went against ‘convention’ and sold out to my excellent Network Marketing Company, our financial future was secured!
I made a public apology on my interview with George Fourie of  ThatMLMBeat

Click here to view the embedded video.

Back in 2009 I was the #1 woman affiliate in the MLM niche. I was made an Instructor for Mike Dillard’s Better Networker and provided content for Ann Sieg’s Renegade Professional.
I will be forever grateful for what I learned during this time, and of course for the money I earned – BUT…

In July 2009 we helped launch the Body By Vi Challenge and I made the major shift to promoting my MLM – ViSalus Sciences first and foremost.

Now, As an Ambassador with ViSalus we make a six figure residual income and drive BMWs paid for by ViSalus.

My affiliate marketing? An unnecessary distraction from the million a year+ I will make in Network Marketing!

What pays better? Developing leaders in our ViSalus Dream Team!

ViSalus Ambassadors earn a $25,000 bonus!

Join the ViSalus Dream Team and Claim your $25,000 Bonus from ViSalus Sciences!

>>>See the video interview I did with Jerry Chen here<<<