Goals Setting Is A System Of Planning

What is a goal?  It is important to understand what a goal is.   Goals define what needs to happen in order for your business to be successful. It is a system of planning that brings results to all businesses, home or otherwise that incorporate them into their business plan.  Your goals should stretch you slightly.  They should be reachable so you feel you can do it but and but also stretch you to make a real commitment. Goal-setting is the process of deciding on something you want, planning how to get it, and then working towards the objective. Goal-setting is not wishing or dreaming. It is something you progressively work towards. Goal setting is a process and a system of planning that will guide you to your destination.

Goals Must Be Written Down

Written goals are attainable.  Mental or not-written down goals are just dreams.  Start by jotting down the goals you want to reach and then make a plan on how you will accomplish it. Look at each goal and evaluate it. Each goal should be written out in detail and include the following criteria in your plan:

S – SPECIFIC

M – MEASURABLE

A – ACHIEVABLE

R – REALISTIC

T – TIME FRAME

Business Goals Need To Be Specific

Use the above guidelines to structure your home business goals and make a plan that will really work.

Is your goal specific?

Example: I will reach earn a commission of $3000 per month. Avoid vague terms like “some” or “a little bit”, or “more”. Be specific! Keep your goals simple, clear and focused.

What are your measurements?

You can’t achieve a quart of happiness. “What gets measured gets done.” However, you CAN achieve a 4 mile jog, get 8 new customers this month or achieve the next sales level. Define your goals in terms of height, weight, dollars, inches, or hours.  Measure your progress periodically until you achieve your goals.

Can you really attain your goal?

If a goal that is important to you it should be included. All of the goals must be attainable though.  Earning $3000 per month starting next week is not attainable if you are currently earning $300 in your home business.  So, be realistic and make your goals attainable.  If it is meaningful, you will develop the attitudes, abilities, skills and financial capacity to reach it so think big!

It is important to be realistic!

A high goal is frequently easier to reach than a low one because people with low goals do not exert much motivation. Earning $300,000 in your  home business company is unrealistic if you just started.  Maybe with time it is possible so your goal setting should include stepping stones. Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished.

Include a time schedule in your goal plan.

When your goal has a time frame it creates a sense of urgency. Time must be measurable, attainable and realistic.

A Home Business Goal Setting Plan Includes

There are many things that should be included in a goal setting plan.  Other things to consider when writing our home business goal setting plan are:

You deserve a reward!

Reward yourself along the way. My favorite reward is a one hour massage at a day spa. That is something I truly enjoy. What kind of a reward would you like when you reach your goals in your home business?

Share your goals.

When you share your goals with family and friends they become easier.  They will support you in your goal setting and also hold you accountable.

When you make your goals achievable and they are CONSISTENT WITH YOUR VALUES they will be easy to attain. One of the biggest reasons people fail to achieve their goals is that they have conflict between their behavior and their values. However, when your values and your goals are in agreement, there is no stopping you! Clarify your values first, then set simple, specific, measurable, tangible, written goals that are consistent with those values. You will achieve them every single time! Use this SMART Goals Home Business Tracking Form.

Have you ever set goals? Would you like to share your goals? Please feel free to share your questions and comments in the comments box below. In my upcoming articles we’ll talk about setting Sales Goals and Team Goals.  Deb’s program The Power UP For Professional Results training program includes an IRS approved home business plan template that establishes realistic goals in a format that protects your home business for the home office deductions.

To Your Goal Setting Success!
Merilyn Strange
Avon Leadership/Beauty Trainer

Home Party Plan Business Success

Home party business success depends on a positive attitude. Is our team sabotaging their success? If you and your home party sales team believes that Summer or January is the worst time of the year to have a show, then you are correct. If you believe that these times are the best time of the year to have a party plan show or be in business, then you are right again. You can provide home party training to your team and book a year-round business.

Home party bookings can be consistent year round. Many party sales consultants actually sabotage their ability to be successful because of what they believe.

Often times we hear from other sales consultants that a certain month is a bad month to book a show or that summer is a bad time for a home party business. These thoughts or belief systems get passed down to your team and actually make the problem worse. You can book a year-round business by changing your belief system or that of your team. Start taking actions all year to change this and begin to fill the calendar equally in every month.

Home Party Bookings Seminar

We talked about many booking strategies that a leader could use to teach the team how to fill the summer calendar on the last party bookings seminar training last week. Click here to listen to this Power Hour seminar that is all about finding parties, bookings and more business. (Sometimes you need to click the green button twice.)

Team Motivation – Tips For Party Plan Training

Keeping your team motivated sometimes is all about fun. Incorporating team training games into your home party meetings will keep your sale consultants coming to meetings and your business growing. The Team Training Scavenger Hunt is a good way to include party plan booking tips into your meetings and help your home party consultants find more bookings. What you do today will affect your business most 3 months down the road, so now is the time to get the team geared up for a great Summer. Print the PDF “Team Scavenger Hunt For Summer Shows” for your next home party consultant training seminar.

I have been invited to present and moderate a workshop on internet marketing in Los Angeles for the 2009 DSWA Celebration. The DSWA Annual Celebration will take place April 17-19, 2009, in sunny Los Angeles, California.  There will be many remarkable sales leaders, trainers, executives and distributors networking together.  The Celebration is the pride of the direct selling profession! It’s an investment in yourself and in your business that will return to you 10 fold!

Early Bird Registration Expires March 1st

Don’t miss the opportunity to register for this event with the EARLY Bird Registration. Direct sales professionals, home business owners, team leaders as well as new sales consultants will network, learn, laugh and have fun while learning how to grow their business.  You’ll be amazed with the words of wisdom shared during the leader panel and presentations.  Check it out! I am psyched!

Electronic Preview Call Book

This e-book is an overview of the preview call. Left click on the link then go to file in the upper left corner of the screen then save the electronic preview book to your computer. You can then attach it to any email to send to friends or team members.
DSWA Conference Preview E-Book

More On Accelerated Learning With Anders Gustavsson-Part 3 of 3

Related Posts:

• Accelerated Learning – Network Marketing Training -Part 1
• Anders Gustavsson on Accelerated Direct Sales Training -Part 2

In recent years many teachers have proven that when you are entertained, and involved in a training experience, rather than just told what to do you will absorb the lessons much quicker, and you will remember more.

There are multiple things you can do while speaking that create engagement, and you can get creative and create your own fun and engaging games. You do not need to go out and buy anything to create an accelerated learning environment. Accelerated learning techniques work for many reasons.

Here are some ideas that you can use to create accelerated learning environments.

• Make your own card game about your product. Make some questions T/F or multiple choice. Then get together with your representatives and play the game.
• Use metaphors in your language which creates pictures in people’s minds and helps them to relate and remember topics through linking imagery, this creates mental engagement. Mental engagement can sometimes be equally as powerful as real hands on engagement!
• Engage your trainees with each other, stop at certain points of your teaching and have them share personal insights with the person to the right or left of them in regards to what you are teaching.
• An additional way to teach network marketing concepts through an accelerated learning technique is by using MLM The Game.

When you do create a game type environment, people love rewards, so creating a small reward for a winner is a good idea. Maybe the winner gets a small gift certificate or a great motivational CD, anything that has any value will work. Both of Deb’s CDs Host Coaching For 1000 Shows or Makin’ Gravy With Catalog Shows are very affordable prizes.

Keep having fun training your downline!

Please feel free to comment below if you have more ideas as to how we can create accelerated learning environments.

Be Well and Thrive!

Anders Gustavsson
Co-founder & CEO
Infinite Synergy, creators of
MLM Training Game, MLM The Game

Effective Network Marketing Training With Accelerated Learning Part 2 of 3

This is the second in a three part series contributed by MLM expert Anders Gustavsson, Co-founder & CEO of Infinite Synergy, Creators of MLM The Game.

It can be a challenge to understand and learn Direct Sales/Network Marketing and all that is involved. The simple learning method of listening and memorizing may work; however it is not the most effective. This method works for some people, but is not the best way to teach groups of people that individually have different learning preferences.

Stages of Learning

Did you know that there are several stages of learning that one must go through to fully grasp any concept? This is especially true in MLM and direct sales because the last stage involves teaching, and if any concept is not 100% understood it will not be able to be taught to others correctly.

These are the 5 stages of learning:

1. Unconscious Incompetent – You don’t know, you don’t know
2. Conscious Incompetent – You are aware that you don’t know
3. Unconscious Competent – You are unaware that you know
4. Conscious Competent – You are aware that you know, and make conscious decisions to further your education in specific areas
5. Mastery – You have a firm grasp of the subject, and can teach others with efficiency

Accelerated learning processes use a mixture of techniques to teach a particular subject. When multiple teaching techniques are used it creates more interest and causes you to move your audience through the 5 stages of learning faster.  The more engaged they are in the learning process, the more likely they are to retain the information, and the easier it becomes for them to teach it.

“Each one, reach one. Each one, teach one. Until all are taught. ”
- Mark Victor Hansen
Accelerated Learning (Part 1)
Effective Network Marketing Training (Part 3)

Introducing MLM Trainer Anders Gustavsson

I would like to introduce you to my friend, Anders Gustavsson , Co-founder & CEO  of Infinite Synergy, creators of MLM The Game.  I have played MLM The Game and I am really impressed with the fun learning environment it provides.  The game teaches new consultants the realities of network marketing, and/or shows a potential sales consultant the realities of network marketing in an entertaining manner.  I can see MLM The Game being used to share your opportunity with friends and family as well as in team training.  It is a spiffy tool and a fun game.  I asked Anders to contribute an article for the blog.  The first part follows.

Accelerated Learning Provides Effective Network Marketing Training (Part 1)

Direct Selling is about effectively teaching people to duplicate your successful efforts.  The teaching style of only listening and memorizing is outdated, boring, and is not the most efficient way to learn or teach.

Accelerated learning practices don’t just tell you the information; they engage trainees in the process. While involved this way, people will learn with multiple senses. When you are training your downline, your lessons will be much better remembered if you create accelerated learning environments that will interest a broad range of people.
These are some of the main effects of Accelerated Learning;

1. There is interaction with others which not only elevates the energy and blood flow to the brain but also offers even better memory retention.
2. This creates a positive mental attitude which further contributes to learning.
3. Both sides of the brain are being used simultaneously, making it much easier to remember and truly understand new materials.

Do you have any ideas as to how you can use or create an accelerated learning technique  by engaging your trainees in the process?

If so, please post a comment below. In part 2, I will share information about the learning process, and in part 3 we will wrap up with many ideas for you to utilize and test.
Accelerated Direct Sales Training (Part 2)
Effective Network Marketing Training (Part 3)

Be well and thrive,
Anders Gustavsson MLM The Game

Free Team Building Training

Do you like this free team building training graphic? Share it with your friends. Link to this page or print out the bookings tree and use it in your sales team training. Print Team Training Theme Bookings Tree

Training For Team Building – Create Meetings With Themes & Exciting Topics

One of the best ways to keep up the attendance at your direct sales consultants’ meetings is to have fun and exciting team training meetings. Creating team meetings with exciting topics and themes will keep your team guessing as to what is coming next. Good meetings will keep them coming back for more!

Chickens and Stars: A week or so before the team training, send a postcard or email and do a phone call, telling everyone to bring a can of Chicken And Stars soup. No other explanation is necessary. You are creating an aura of intrigue. “What is she up to now?!” Then at the meeting, have a segment on networking, phone calls or anything you want, and the “theme” is “Are you a STAR?” Define being a STAR: Do you talk to people everywhere you go? Do you make a commitment to ask three people per day to host a show, and then DO it? Or are you a CHICKEN? Define being a CHICKEN: Do you make plans and then chicken out? Tell everyone to keep the soup can next to the phone and look at it until the next meeting to decide if they are a chicken or a star.

Team Building Ideas – Seasonal Themes – Christie Northrup

Christie Northrup is the number one authority on team building themes. Well-known for putting a sweet twist on sour situations, the Lemon Aid Lady, as she calls herself, has a wide variety of seasonal or unique team training themes. One of my favorite themes is the October meeting theme of “Them Bones” which is part of her theme training programs.

(Save this to your computer by going to file at the top left of the screen, then “save” or “save as”. After saving it, push the back button to return to the website.) Invitation For October Theme Meeting

The objective is to have a fun Halloween theme and use it to illustrate that something is the back BONE of your business. The back BONE is the most important part of your body and the back bone of your business is the most important part of the business. I used to use this theme to talk about host coaching, which I believe truly is the back bone of the direct sales business.  Good hostess coaching will help your team find more bookings & recruits. More themes from the Lemon Aid Lady.

Johnny Appleseed Meeting: Tell everyone to bring a package of seeds. This is another one of my favorite theme meetings. Is your team planting the seeds for the future? What we do in our business today will affect our business most in three months. Creating a theme and asking everyone to bring a package of their favorite seeds will generate curiosity and a meeting topic that is fun. Everyone will bring different kinds of seeds showing that we all run our business differently. Are you planting the seeds today so that you can reap the harvest down the road?

Sales Meeting Tips – Creative Meeting Ideas Connect Team Members

Sometimes it is important to bring another speaker in to talk with your team.  Outside speakers who bring in new ideas and team building training tips will keep the team interested.  Even if the speaker is presenting the same message that you are it will make a huge impact when heard from someone else.  A simple topic that you may already have presented like the value of fairs and expos to generate new business will be more powerful when presented by a new messenger.  Creating meetings that are unique and different every month will insure that your team sales consultants keep coming back. When a team connects at the meeting, they become more committed to their business because they are committed to friendships. Be creative with your meeting ideas by investing in team building training programs and make every meeting different.  The Power UP For Professional Results team training program will increase your team’s direct sales recruiting and lead generation.