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[Andrea Thornton Company: Global Domains International, Inc Contribution Level: 2]

Fellow newbies,

If enough of us got together and put all our cards on the table - we'd have our own dang "secret". How come so many new businesses are failing? We keep buying secret after secret...after secret...until we go broke and disappear. (Is THAT their secret?)

There is a popular set of videos going around right now in which a bunch of successful internet marketers are on stage telling people how they made their money. One of them makes a crack about how he is SO good at selling that he has sold the same product to the same person MORE THAN ONCE without that person even realizing it. Crowd response: Laughter. What's truly ironic about that is, that guy just stood there and told everyone in the room "why" they shouldn't trust him...and they laughed. (Seriously?)

I'm not saying the established gurus don't know what they are doing - clearly they know something or they wouldn't be successful; it is just as clear to me that if they really *were* selling us their secrets, there would be a heck of a lot more millionaires. Fair?

Now, I don't have a whole lot of experience or tricks to work with, and maybe you don't either, (that's why we are called newbies) but if we all got together and put in a piece of the puzzle WITHOUT going broke, I'd call that a win-win.

If you agree, please connect with me, so we can talk.

[Lynda Cromar Company: Empower Network, LLC Contribution Level: 9]

Well Andrea not exactly sure what set of cd's you are referring to, but the ones that I connect with do give value. Now with that said its obviously not useful to keep buying everything in sight. The key things I do believe you need is:

* A mentor who has already proven success in her/his life and can show you a proven path.
* A proven system (set up steps to take) that you can do, not that you have to build up to
* A funnel from a reputable group of people that helps you capture leads
* A Proven method of talking to those leads once you have them

Feel free to message me if you want.

[Andrea Thornton Company: Global Domains International, Inc Contribution Level: 2]

Thank you Linda, for responding. I appreciate your taking the time to read and reply to my post. Next stop - your link.

Andrea

[Jesse Jameson Contribution Level: 2]

Andrea,

A lot of people who are just getting started feel your pain.

The truth for the most part (with few exceptions) is that there are no secrets or magic bullets. And if some has a "Secret Fishing Hole" chances are they are not telling anyone about it. And typically when they do "Sell" people about it, is when they themselves have stopped catching fish.

They show you all the pictures of the fish that they have caught, and tell you that they will show you exactly what they did to catch them. Yet most of the people who buy the roadmap to the "Secret Fishing Hole" never catch any fish, or they catch a few. They seldom ever get the results suggested by the seller of the map.

So how do you avoid being stung by products and services that don't serve your best interest?

Stop buying secrets and magic bullets. Stop buying maps to "Secret Fishing Hole's" and start learning to fish and improve your fishing skills.

If I was starting over from day one... I would do exactly as Lynda suggested. Find a qualified mentor.

This is someone who really resonates with you. Someone with demonstrated success who has consistently produced the kind of results that you would like to duplicate. What do you have to offer them if you do not have the money to pay them for coaching? Your time! You'd be surprised how many top earners would take you under their wing in exchange for some slave labor. Yes, I suggest that either you pay them for coaching or trade your time. Work for free doing anything that they need in exchange for their direction and guidance.

I would also form a mastermind group with about 6-8 of my peers. The goal here is to form a group where you are the real estate equivalent of the smallest house on the block. Meaning that you want a group where the majority of people in the group have higher success standards than you presently have so that they raise the bar for you. If the baseline is too high they won't want you because it will be more of a mentoring situation. If the baseline is too low then you will be doing all the mentoring. There is a "goldilocks zone" where everyone is able to give and receive.

BetterNetworker is a great place to find both... A mentor and a mastermind group.

Now you might be thinking that neither of these equal money in your pocket today. Perhaps not, but they are the foundation that teach you how to fish and how to become a better fisher "person" . And... They hold you accountable.

So as I started this reply... I feel your pain. The road to success is paved with a whole lot of roadside vendors selling junk. However junk is pretty easy to spot once you know what you are looking for.

We promote a lot of products and services here at BN, and you can rest assured that each and every one of them has passes by my desk before we promote it. You might be surprised to know how many are rejected.

BetterNetworker is nearly 100,000 registered members. I assure you that the overwhelming majority of them are "Newbie" who experience the same challenges. One of our primary goals here at BN is to help more "Newbie's" cross the chasm. Meaning that we want to bridge the gap between getting started, and consistently making at least $1,000 per month.

If a person can do this, then they have learned the fundamentals. Once the fundamentals are in place the next step is to improve your skills which in turn will grow you and your bank account.

To your success,

[Andrea Thornton Company: Global Domains International, Inc Contribution Level: 2]

Thank you Jesse,

I hadn't thought of it like that. I went fishing with my Father when I was six...and caught him in the shoulder with my hook. Better start practicing my swing, then. If it's a swing, in fishing. (?) At any rate, I appreciate your reply.

Andrea

[Tom Kerr Contribution Level: 2]

Boy can I relate to your pain. The industry has caught many people but still has a long way to go to produce the results it perports for . Fortunately I have begun to work with a group that is, with integrity, showing results. Message me.

[Mario Sanders Company: Life Force International Contribution Level: 6]

I can relate to your stuggles.
I bought plenty programs and training materials. I learned from many mentors. I came to the Betternetworker site to learn how to be a better networker. To really get a mindset into a business development.
Now it is time to clean house. The things that did not work, I threw out. The things that did work, I incorporated into my programs and used them to benefit my training.
I used several mentors and learned a lot from them. I used their training every day and tried their methods.
The last mentor on the BN is Joyce Penner. She has been a wonderful mentor
She has suggested ways in which to do this business better and a lot of personal development is involved with that business development.
Stay on the BN and learn what will work for you and practice them until they become a habit for you.
You just may be teaching others to do the same.

[Andrea Thornton Company: Global Domains International, Inc Contribution Level: 2]

Thank you Tom and Mario

It is difficult weeding out trash from treasure, and I hope I am not the only one seeing all this good advise!

Andrea

[Jim Ticehurst Contribution Level: 4]

Andrea I think that your comments are both valid and relevant. Of course I think that most of us deep down inside know that when we buy something with the keyword 'Secret' in the offer that we are not really going to get a secret at all, but there is no doubt about it that that is a very powerful word, and that's no secret.

I recently joined an affiliate program and when I signed up for it I opend a new gmail account, and I only used it just to join that program. When I joined up I got the usual assurance when I signed up: 'your email address will never be shared or sold' ....well within a week I had recieved at least five emails from other well know people (some from on here) with new offers and secrets.

One of them even asked me to 'like' him on his facebook page, when I didn't bother I recieved nasty emails from him asking why I hadn't liked him?. I had really trusted the person that runs that affiliate program but he sold that email address (or swapped it).

But there is a lesson for all of us regarding these 'Gurus' ( thats a stupid word anyway?).

We do not have to be like them. Learning what not to be is often more important than learning what we should be. These people justify everything and often they do it so convincingly and so often that it starts to take on the shape of 'well everybody does it, so it must be ok" well it's not ok so don't get sucked in to it.

Most of the real treasures are from men like Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar, Dale Carnegie and of course there are some great women instructors also that give away guidance for free, don't try and value the quality of free help, most of it is priceless.

In closing, in learning how to help both ourselves and others we must become the hunters, never the hunted, regards Jim T.

[Andrea Thornton Company: Global Domains International, Inc Contribution Level: 2]

Jim T

I'm sorry that happened to you

I probably never would have caught what the guy in the video had said if I had been watching it, but I was only listening to it. I was practicing a listening exercise for phone calls, so I was sitting there in the dark, only hearing the information. The crowd he was speaking to didn't seem to catch it, but they were pretty revved up, I guess.

Another thing that popped up several times was "position yourself as an expert" by "creating" value. hmm. I'm pretty sure that means lie. Better advise would have been "become" an expert and "provide" value.

Andrea