The Smith Family

The Smith Family

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30 March 2012

Dog Gone Faith

Wednesday morning seemed to be the same routine fixing breakfast and lunches, loading up the car and dropping off the kids to school, until I made a sharp left turn and the hummer nearly missed a small dog. Kailey my oldest daughter, was passing me and screamed, "Mom, you hit that dog!" I jumped out and approached him as he lifted his tired body and began to wag his little tail. He was filthy, hungry and thirsty, but before I took him home- I went to the vet, where he was scanned for a chip. The owner never registered him, and the stray was shooed from the office. Home we went and after he was bathed, fed and quenched, the signs were posted and the neighbors contacted to no avail. He was a grateful little guy, sweet and well trained. Thursday my mom came down to watch Conners baseball game and she brought her shitzu Saddie. At the baseball field a neighbor of a player Kim came to watch the game, she saw Sadie and said that her dog had just passed away. We quickly told her about the stray, hoping she would be interested, but she said she thought she knew someone who was looking for the "right dog." Friday morning, the little guy welcomes us as we walk down stairs, sweet, happy and grateful. I go through the same school day routine, but with a twist of heading to the beach for a hike with Shagay and her friends. After we greeted each other, I decide to give the pooch promotion to Shagay, She's always polite and listens with a smile, but I can tell that there is NO interest! I never noticed her friend Sabrina listening, who puts 2 and 2 together.... The gal Kim at the park had called Sabrina last night and told her about the stray. As we walk Sabrina confidently says, "That's my dog", she had been telling her 2 little girls that a perfect dog was going to come to them. Do you speak favor into your life? When you do, great miracles happen, and isn't it nice that even strangers can be touched by beautiful blessings of belief.

28 March 2012

“Change the Channel”


“I was hurt, angry, and I felt like a victim because I couldn’t take action. I had to kiss what I thought was mine- goodbye. I had to walk away, I was completely discouraged, blaming myself, filled with disappointment, unable to put closure to it. Everyone around me sympathized and told me I had a right to feel I had been wronged. My friends fumed, and that wasn’t making it any better.

My mother, however, knew when it was time to move on. Over dinner one night, as I was replaying my sad story for a hundredth time – should have, could have, if only I had- she decided to help me break the pattern, “Darling,” she said, “Change the Channel.” That was her famous expression, used whenever someone seemed anxious, fearful, agitated, or blue for too long.

“What should I change it to?” I asked.

“Anything,” she said. “The Gratitude Channel, Life Styles of the Rich and Famous, try the Inspiration Channel! You’ve been switching between the Disappointment Channel and the Blame Yourself Channel for too long.”



We don’t have to be at the mercy of our habitual thinking: we are the ones holding the clicker. So decide to change your channel! You can move on, start all over again with a newfound enthusiasm!

- Unbinding the Heart, by Agapi Stassinopoulos

"To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you."  - Lewis B. Smedes









10 July 2010

MO.MEN…..TUMMMMMMMMMM

When I hear the word momentum the first thing I think of is a train.
A train starts slow and then builds up Momentum.
I have an 8 year old who loved trains but now is fascinated now with the space shuttle, which reminded me of a little story I read Did you know that the space shuttle is still influenced in size by the roman horse carts? It’s true!
Even today the size of the shuttle is determined by the width of the horse cart, which determined the width of Roman roads, which were the first roads, the Roman roads were designed and because they were the "first" roads, the width of train tracks copied the measurements. Train track width has determined the width of the parts of the shuttle because parts of the shuttle are made in Utah, then placed on a train to Florida… and it had to fit!


Why do I tell you this?
Because I believe Momentum is created one person and a time and it starts with you!
How can you re-create yourself and become a tool to attract and keep new people?
You like the train have to stay current. The train instead of just becoming history had to become a current tool to become useful in getting us into outer-space!

Are you current? What new information are you reading to get you ready for lift off?
I laugh because it’s still “Contact, STP, Follow Through and Register…Repeat.”
But today I call it “Collect, Capture, Communicate and Close." If you’re interested in this concept you can read my past blog post.

We can use new words and tools to keep on the same "PROVEN Roman Roads" that have given us so much success. We may have new tools like BDB or Video Connections; we may use new words like "Let’s Meet Up” instead of "Want to Attend a Meeting” or we can say “Reach Me” instead of “Call Me”.
But all in all, we still are using a proven system and are staying on the "Road to Success."
I believe that we must start with ourselves… You want to lead? Then you have to dive into a system like Legacy (www.lbgint" to keep current, gain knowledge and sound interesting when you talk!

FYI: I hope you know that we have new current ways to get information like "Video Connections" or 'Audio Source."
Check out: www.lbgint.com, we are always committed to make your marketing easier and therefore more profitable.

If you want Momentum –Commit, Perform, Re-Create, Share and Inspire.

07 July 2010

MyMarketingFunnel

I remember the first time I heard the “funnel example”. My husband Lance was describing a new product that was hitting the market to me. He said that everyone should take this product for their health and that they would notice results within a few days, it was attractively packaged and had an unparalleled compensation plan in our market. Needless to say the “everyone should statement” got me thinking and literally kept me up all night.

“Everyone should” is such a true statement when it comes to health and wellness. Will everyone “Do?” Obviously not!

So should we approach “everyone” as we try to market our products? This is our topic today.
The first thing we should do is to determine “Who is our prospect base.”

Let’s go through some fun examples:

Let’s take Home Depot –]
Who needs Home Depot and who does Home Depot advertise to?
Home Owners, Do it Yourselfers, Fixer Uppers and Repairers…
Home Depot isn’t going to target Prom Dress Shoppers.

Let’s take MTV-
Will the commercials be different on MTV than the advertising on Baby channel?
Of course the answer is YES! So the question is Who are your best prospects? Where do they hang out and how do we make our prospecting easy?

The first thing I believe we should do is to make a list of everything that your prospects need. Let’s develop a Target Base.
Let’s say it’s January and we are talking about Weight Loss:
First thing is first, let’s head to the gym! We pick two or three gyms walk through them and decide on one, we sign the contract and hand over our credit card. Is that it? Or is that just the start, what else do we need for the pounds to drop?
Training packages, exercise magazines, baby powder (you wouldn’t believe how much big people use), sneakers, work out outfits, water bottles, hair ties, gloves, supplements and energy drinks….

Here is my point, what other products market around the product or service that you have? Because: “When someone makes a major purchase they almost always make other purchases to validate their first purchase.”

May be the people who need your product are:
1. Mature people over 30 who can afford the product let’s “collect them.”
2. Is it someone with family histories of degenerative diseases? Like: cancer, arthritis, fibromyalgia, heart disease, immune deficiencies, diabetes.
3. Athletes, who strain their bodies.
4. How about the Baby Boomers?
5. A mom who wants to provide better nutrition to her kids?
6. A person who shops at health food stores like: Henrys, Jimbo’s, Whole Foods, Fresh N Easy, Farmers Markets etc…
7. Someone who wants to find alternative ways to increase their income?

Another question you may want to ask is:
1. Are they willing to dream?
2. Learn?
3. Are they self motivated?
4. Do they like leadership positions?

We can develop a prospect base by knowing why someone needs the product /service.

Let’s close this post by talking about 3 people:

1. Let’s take my new prospect Lisa. Lisa is a diabetic and she has started taking our product and has actually been able to stabilize her insulin and she loves the way she feels. She can’t stop talking about our product because she knows what it feels like when her sugar is out of control. Lisa can’t stop talking about what the product can do for her. She isn’t selling a product or a business opportunity she is the Diabetic Warrior with a self proven product.

2. Let me introduce you to Elvia, Elvia has fiberomyalgia, it makes her ache in pain and when she drinks our product she notices results overnight. Elvia knows that her fiberomyalgia doesn’t just go away when she drinks the product but her pain is noticeably, unbelievable reduced and she can’t keep her mouth shut! She is the fiberomyalgia poster child!

3. And then there is Tracey. Tracey has a long family history of Cancer and although she knows that by taking her product she can’t determine if she will get it or not, but why not do everything you can to be as healthy as you can as long as you can. She has taken supplements all her life and hated the taste of omega and alfalfa (and when she tasted our product and read the research), she can’t believe how enjoyable a supplement can be and tells all of her friends.

These girls are marketing solutions. They know how people feel when they are sick or worried and they can be a resource to help them feel better because they have been there. They aren’t selling a product, but they are a marketing funnel and they will have people buy from them all day long.

Well, that's it for now. Hope it makes you think about your “Prospect Target Base” and who will easily fit into your funnel! By the way the picture on the post is one of my favorite memories that I shared with my Girlie-friends, we used to go to the water park and sit and suntan, why the kids played. One day I stood up and said "We’re sliding today" they were startled and moaned a bit, but agreed and we have had a heck of a ride!

Stand Up Make Today A Day 2 Remember!

27 June 2010

Collect, Capture, Communicate and Close

My daughter Kailey has recently graduated from High School, I'm so happy for her and congratulated her by saying, "Aren't you excited to be the bottom of the totem pole again?" She immediately gave me that look of shock and said, "Oh no I forgot about that!" I laughed and reminded her about her promotion to middle school and waving goodbye to the elementary play ground, followed by the promotion to high school and that this, was not the end, yet another new beginning!

I love new beginnings because they should come with a new hope and a new attitude!

Everytime Lance and I get someone started in our business, The first question that they usually ask is "What should I do first?"

The answer is clear, start with a clean and fresh attitude! As I talked with my daughter Kailey before she headed off to register for college, I told her that college is quite different. She would be entering the new school with people of all ages and experiences, some would have junior college degrees, some would have work experiences, while others would enter like her at age 18. The number one thing was to remember to lose the senior attitude and adapt the freshmans hunger for learning.

Lance and I started our first business while we were in college while some of our associates have had multiple business experiences, but all of us have entered our current industry at “Point 0” ….

So here is what I've learned.

Ready to get your business started?

Let us begin at the beginning…

The 4 C's of Business Development

1. Collect- I like the word “collect” because it isn’t “scary”! We at Legacy have a very simple way of collecting contact information. Just today, I was at the hair salon when talking to my stylist I said “I’m going to send you a e-mail where you are the star in your own movie presentation”, she was intrigued and actually thanked me in advance for what I was about to send her!
Collection is easy. If it isn’t for you let’s talk, reach me at Tracey@TeamFQI.com

2. Capture- How do you capture people? It should be one of the easiest things you do today because of the internet!
Things to capture, Name, E-mail, Phone #, etc are basic, what else can you capture?
Are they on FB? If so, go to their info link and take note, they will tell you everything about them!
What works for you? Some people work well with individual index cards, some people log information on their cell phones, while others just review peoples social media sites to get a fresh look before they talk to their prospects.
*The more you capture, the more a person believes that you believe in them and their aspirations.

3. Communicate- We must/ have to have a way to communicate.
This is the “biggie” you must be able to regularly communicate with people without slamming a product or service down their throat. I laugh at a regular FB poster who is always self promoting and only talks about his product, every time I see his post’s it makes me want to “hide him”. That said his communication is terrible.
Things to think about, auto responder’s that sound genuine and not cut and paste.
Note: People see sales people as predators. I know, nobody wants to accept this, but it is true! We all have “caveman” ancestry, when they see people as predators they want to run for their caves, UNLESS you have built up a trust then they will feel safe.

4. Close- This is Big you must Collect, Capture and Communicate before you Close. If it was a one subject blog it would be called “Crush”. But to start with the “Crush” approach, it will not get YOU where you want to go. "Crush It" is a great audio book found on www.lbgint.com this is the cheapest place to download audiobooks by the way!

“Crush It”.
Note: Some people and systems will want you to believe that “Crush” is the best practice. But as we know we are a “Relationship Business and "A Crush" comes from the heart and stays with you for hopefully your lifetime”.

I heard this quote and it has stuck with me for years,
“Some people believe that I’m a great salesperson, yet I sell nothing, but people buy from me all day”, that is beautiful stated!

Here are a few more notes that I like, but lack the time to comment on:

1. You can buy a list, but you cannot buy a following.
2. To “capture” you must start with a story that someone will get emotionally involved with. So that when they don’t want to do something they will continue on, because of…..
3. When you communicate you need to ask for help. Do not just ask people to buy your product or service, tell them your story and ask them to refer people to you that need your service.
4. A hint, The internet has grown beyond secrets and lies (Thank Goodness) You have to be sincere, tell the truth and be transparent. Great audio book found of www.lbgint.com is called “Truth Agents”.

I hope that the 4 C’s have made you think about your approach to building a Legacy Business. All content was stolen, LOL! I would be a liar if I told you that it all came from me, it did not and I am proud to tell you that I am on line listening, reading books and asking questions. I believe in this process: Collection leads to Capture which leads to Communication which finally leads to Closure. Closure sets you FREE

BeFreeWithMeIn2010!





17 June 2010

My5NetworkFromHomeTips

Even when you've got the right tools and ways to meet, communicating with others from home is still different from working in an office. I hope these five tips improve how you communicate with others from home.
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1. Make appointments
You set aside time to meet with someone in person, so why not make appointments for important telephone calls? By booking a specific time, you can be assured that your potential prospect will be prepared and more focused on the conversation. Like you, they may have done some prep work/research beforehand to make the call more productive.
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2. Stay focused on your phone conferences
It's easy to stray when meetings get long, but keep multitasking to a minimum during phone conferences. The other party can almost certainly hear that keyboard clicking while you respond to an e-mail. People want to feel valued, have you ever had a deep face to face conversation and someone is checking their cell phone, how did that make you feel?
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3. Attend weekly “meet up’s”
Try to attend at least one weekly meeting to keep in touch with others, this will keep you fresh and up to date on new practices and hey maybe even a little bit motivated to reach the next level! Have you noticed how many “social media meet up’s” there are in your community? People still like to meet “live”!
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4. Make sure you check your online sites
If you're never there, it's likely that people may think you're not actively building your business—even if you're working multiple hours a week. Responding to e-mail messages and social media posts will help remind people that you're still there and being productive.
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5. Be assertive
Don't always wait for people to contact you.
This is the number 1 success key:
Pick up the phone and contact people if they have visited your site - call them, if they made a comment on your site – call them, if you read something interesting that can lead you to a conversation and it could lead to a relationship personal/business – call them.

You need to be the one in control, Be Assertive!
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I hope my 5 network from home tips is of value to you, Tracey Smith http://wwwtraceyfqicom.blogspot.com/ , http://www.facebook.com/Tracey.Davis.Smith