One of the things that great network marketing companies do is to offer incentives and contests for its distributors to participate in. The interesting thing about contests in Avant is that the pay plan is so lucrative that — to win a contest — you put so much money in your pocket that you could easily buy whatever the grand prize is!

But, in this case, the prize was even more interesting: rather than another big-screen TV, a trip to the Caribbean or an Apple iPad…….Avant decided to create a prize that actually touches people’s lives: an all-expense paid trip to New Orleans to join Avant founder, Brent Payne and the Avant leadership team for four days doing humanitarian work in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans.

Did you know that there are still people in New Orleans who haven’t recovered from Hurricane Katrina? It’s true. And while some people have chosen to say things like, “Well, those people don’t want to help themselves” and do nothing…..Avant is choosing to be part of the solution by actually spending time with these people, teaching them some basic concepts about personal development, planting gardens, and stocking a community food pantry.

So, on July 22nd, I got a phone call from Brent Payne congratulating me for being the winner of the contest.  During the last week of the contest, I was averaging nearly one new Elevate sale per week ($1k profit each).

Do you want to know the dirty little secret? It was the easiest stretch of business I’ve ever conducted. It was relaxing. It was simple. No rushing around. Just simple, relaxed movements. Here are some thoughts that come to mind for why I believe it was so simple for me to win:

#1 Begin With The End In Mind

When I heard that Avant was doing humanitarian work in New Orleans, I sent a note to Brent asking him about the dates so we could go ahead and start arranging for someone to keep our kids while Jessica and I went to New Orleans.  That’s important.  I’d already decided to be there. When I learned about the contest, I thought, “Even better.  I’m still going but Brent’s going to pay for my airline flights.” And, here’s the thing:  that isn’t intended to sound like bravado or to be arrogant; it was simply a stated intention:  I’m going to New Orleans and I might as well be the one to get to go for free.

#2  Be Authentic

This isn’t a tip for winning contests; this is a tip for winning LIFE.  I remember when I first got started in this industry, I was always worried about how I was coming across to my prospects.  The phone would ring and I’d rush around closing the doors, worried that the dog was going to bark or that I wouldn’t appear professional.

Screw that.  That’s for the birds.  When I decided a few years ago to start just living my life and stop worrying about all that nonsense, here’s what I did:  I started doing all my business from my cellphone.  Even today, if you call me asking about Avant, you’re just as likely to catch me floating around my pool, driving in the car with the family or waiting for a table at our favorite restaurant.  You might hear Easton in the background laughing like a maniac because he crashed into Mom while they were playing Mario Kart on the Nintendo Wii.  Or you might hear Will and Pate splashing in the pool.  Or, if you’re like Leo (a fellow I spoke with earlier this week), you might hear me signing for packages from the UPS man and wondering who sent me a big box of Omaha Steaks!

My point is this:  people are tired of marketers who try to be something they’re not.  Be authentic.  Whatever that means to you.  For me, it means living my life in a way that I don’t have to change who I’m being just because the phone rings.  And because there seems to be so few authentic people around, I promise your prospects will notice when they look at you and see you just being yourself.

#3  Keep The Main Thing The Main Thing

Let me give you a quick image:  picture a construction site where a beautiful cathedral is being built.  The scene has lots of construction workers but something strange is happening…

Most of the construction workers are sitting over to the side admiring their new hammer….or showing someone their new saw…..they’re filming videos of themselves trying to explain to other people how to drive a nail….and you’ve even got some of the workers saying, “I just don’t seem to be getting good results with this saw.  Maybe I need to buy that new course for $3,000 on ‘How To Use A Saw Like A Pro’.

But as you continue looking around the construction site, you see something else:  a much smaller group of people are — gasp! — actually working on the cathedral! They’re driving nails.  They’re sawing wood.  They’re laying bricks.

They are, by God, getting the job done.  And they don’t waste their time sitting around worrying about whether or not they’re using a hammer that’s as fancy as someone else’s.

Heck, if you look closely, some of them may not even be holding the hammer right.  Some of them might not even HAVE a hammer:  they’re driving nails with the side of a pair of pliers!  They’re so focused on actually doing the thing that they can’t be sidetracked to sit around and spend their talking about the work.  They’re too busy actually DOING THE WORK.

The network marketing industry looks like that to me.

I see a lot of people who say they’re professional network marketers but they’re really just sitting around talking about the business.  Or worrying about their business.  Or spending time designing blogs, making friends on Facebook and making videos of themselves.

And there’s nothing wrong with any of those things…….unless the person is doing that stuff instead of making money and actually driving nails in their own business!

Don’t misunderstand me.  I have a blog (obviously).  I make videos.  I use Facebook.

But ALL of those things are secondary to actually driving the nails every day.  My primary focus is always, “Who are the 4-5 people that I’m introduce to AVANT today?”  “Who did I talk to earlier who’s probably ready to get started on my team?”

THIS is the actual work of network marketing.  Not all that other stuff.

It’s all about keeping the main thing the main thing.

Make sense?  Great!

So, I’ve pulled my workboots out of the closet and we’re packing our bags to go to New Orleans next week to get our hands dirty.  We’ll do a ton of masterminding while we’re there and it’s always good to hang out with Avant’s founder, Brent Payne.  If you’re in the New Orleans area, call me on 334-655-8194 if you’d like to get together and talk about Avant, meet the founder and find out more about what we’re doing!

Lastly, do me a favor.  If you like this post, comment on it below and retweet it or share it with others!

To your IMMEDIATE success!

Tony Rush
+1 334-655-8194 mobile

http://www.best7minutes.com

http://www.weareavant.com/main

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Quick video for you today:  “How To Get UNSTUCK In Your Business”.

If you have a broad and general complaint that you’re “not making money” or you’re “not enrolling enough people”, this simple diagram will demonstrate how to pinpoint EXACTLY what you need to do in order to get more enrollments.  Enjoy! — TR

NOTE:  the video is in HD so it won’t fit here.  Click here to watch it in all its HD glory.

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“Lead generation is easy.”

How does that statement make you feel? Do you agree? Do you disagree? Why or why not? Does it feel like it should be true but you just haven’t experienced it? Would you like to believe it but just can’t bring yourself to say it out loud?

Or are you nodding your head up and down right now and saying, “Absolutely, Tony! Lead generation is easy”?

If your answer is anything other than the last one, you’re probably making your task much harder than it has to be. Because the statement that “lead generation is easy” isn’t a matter of perspective….not a matter of expertise…not a matter of experience. It’s simply a matter of understanding what a lead IS and how simple and easy it is to get people to say “Yes” to getting more information about your business.

But, where did this idea come from that marketing was hard? Or that lead generation was hard?

The biggest culprit for spreading this message is very obvious:

A. 99% of the people who will lead you to believe that marketing and lead generation is difficult are people who are making their living by selling you a solution. Think about it. They can’t sell you a solution until they convince you there’s a problem. So all their ad copy and language is spent affirming how difficult it is to get leads

B. The second culprit are people who have experienced lead generation as hard themselves….so they need to be “right” about their experience. They’d like to solve the problem if they could….but not if it’s going to mean they have to give up their story…their struggle….and their “rightness” about how difficult the game is.

There you go. Those two categories take care of the vast majority of people who preach “lead generation is hard”.

But here’s the basic point:

People who tell you that something is hard are generally those people who have experienced it as hard. It’s best not to take those people as your advisors.

After all, if you wanted to learn how to sail a boat, and you have a choice of two successful sailors to learn from……do you really want to spend your time with the guy who constantly talks about how hard it is?

Give me the successful guy who says, “You’re not going to believe how easy this is. Check this out….”

I’ll work with him all day long and I’ll learn for myself how easy things can be when you decide for it to be that way.

Lead generation is easy. Don’t ever let anyone tell you any different.

Tony Rush

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Hey guys.

If you’re marketing a product, service or opportunity online, you may have already heard some news about how the FTC is changing the rules. It’s true — they are. And it’s a good idea for you to be familiar with the changes.

(By the way, I am not a lawyer and this should not be considered legal advice. Be responsible for your own business, look at the data and know for yourself what you should do.

With that disclaimer out of the way, here’s the scoop:

In the past, it was completely permissible to show testimonials of your product, service or opportunity and share with the general public what kind of results someone got as a result of using the product or being involved with the opportunity, provided that you offered some sort of disclaimer that you weren’t “guaranteeing” that everyone would have the same result.

In other words, as long as you smacked a line at the bottom of the website saying something like “Results may vary from individual to individual”, you were in the clear.

That was yesterday. That’s history. Today, the rules are totally different.

Here’s what one FTC lawyer had to say:

“…The most significant change to the revised guides is the deletion of the “safe harbor” that has long allowed advertisers to use testimonials who reported specific successful experiences with an advertised product or service as long as the advertiser included a disclaimer such as “Results not typical.” Under the revised Guides, advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect.”

Let’s put that into plain English.

Let’s say you’re in network marketing and you have someone new in your business. Let’s call her Fanny. Fanny starts following the system EXACTLY as it’s taught…works the business with integrity and consistency and — lo and behold! — she winds up creating a $20,000 per month income in her first 6 months.

Then let’s say that Fanny writes you a testimonial that says, “I got started in XYZ International six months ago and now I’m making $20,000 per month.” And she’s got the check stubs to prove it.

So far, so good, right?

Well, up until the FTC changed the rules, you could just put a disclaimer on that page that says something like “Results may vary and are based on the time, energy and commitment you invest in your business” type of disclaimer you’ve seen 100s of times.

But here’s the key phrase that the FTC has added to the mix: “required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect”.

What that means is that — if you’ve got someone in your company making $20k per month and you want to display that testimonial on your website, you would ALSO have to disclose the amount of money that the average person earns in your company.

Stop. Wait a second.

You and I both know what the “average” person earns in any business. Zero or close to it. Why? Because “average” people are never successful. That’s why they’re called “average”.

They don’t follow the system.
They don’t do the work.
They don’t attend the events.
They don’t go to the training calls.
And they quit before you can say the phrase “you’re responsible for your own results”.

What does the average person in YOUR company earn? $100 a year? More? Less? Whatever it is, you can be damn sure it’s nowhere close to Fanny’s results. Because Fanny is someone who’s choosing to be very UNaverage in her life.

Wait, there’s more.

The FTC lawyer went on to say:

“The FTC also said that it believes that it is “likely” that testimonials that present the specific experiences of a product user (e.g., the number of pounds or inches lost) will be viewed as claiming that those experiences are typical of what consumers will generally experience.”

Did you get that? Read it again: “testimonials…will be viewed as claiming that those experiences are typical…”

What that means is that — if you put a testimonial on your site of someone who makes $20k in a month….then the FTC says you’re claiming that the typical consumer should expect to earn $20k/month. Substitute any number in that sentence with any other number and it will also be true.

And this is true for non-financial testimonials, too.

Do you sell a weight loss product and say that someone lost 20 pounds? Then the FTC says that you’re claiming that everyone will lose 20 pounds.
Do you have a testimonial on your site from someone who used a miracle fruit juice and their cancer was cured? Then the FTC says that anyone with cancer should expect to be cured using your product. (The FDA will get involved in that one, too.)

In short, if you use testimonials with specific results AT ALL….then you’re affected by this change in the rules If you want to continue to use those types of testimonials, you can’t just say “individual results may vary”. You have to say “Individual results may vary. The average person experiences ______.”

It’s my understanding, though, that not all testimonials will be affected so seriously. If someone is just expressing how happy they are that they use a product…they like the way it tastes….they’ve joined a business they’re excited about…..they’re a satisfied customer, those are probably okay.

It’s only when you’re offering a testimonial where someone is talking about a specific result of some kind.

So, what should you do with all this?

You should COMPLY, by God!

Seriously…I’ve been tracking this conversation for a long time and it’s amazing how many people are investing their energy into trying to figure out how to “get around” the FTC…or how to outsmart the FTC….or how to shortcut the system so they can still offer wild testimonials and not be affected by the changes.

Let me give you a word of advice: your energy is far better invested into some other income-producing activity. The best thing you can do on this issue is to simply play by the rules. Because, if you ignore it and get a phone call or letter from the FTC…I promise you will comply or lose.

Here’s the good news…

I’ve not used testimonials in my marketing in YEARS. And it hasn’t kept me from making a ton of money in my business.

Why?

Because, while testimonials are a great form of “social proof”….testimonials are not the only thing that matters when someone is looking at an offer. In fact, it’s arguable that they’re not even in the top three reasons why people choose to raise their hand and ask for more information….or just outright buy right in the moment.

People are more attracted to your product, service or opportunity because of WHO YOU ARE BEING in your marketing than in how many testimonials you can pile up.

I know one thing for sure: the people who get started with me in my business don’t get started because I show them a bunch of people who are making multiple six-figure incomes in their first 6-12 months. They’re getting started with me because:

A. They want what I’m selling
B. They can see themselves easily duplicating what I do to earn a great income
C. They can clearly see a path from where they ARE to where they WANT TO BE.

It’s not rocket science. Testimonials are great. But they’re not the “be-all, end-all” of marketing.

So, my advice: don’t use testimonials with specific results. Feel free to use all the testimonials you want about how happy people are with the decisions they’ve made.

Tony Rush

P.S. One other thing: in times of change like these, plenty of people will not comply and will be out of the game. Another bunch of people will have talked themselves into the belief that “they can’t make money if they can’t use testimonials” and they’ll just quit altogether. Either way, there will be fewer people out there marketing or marketing correctly.

People who take the approach I’ve described in the latter part of this article will be in a GREAT position to rack up some serious cash in the coming months. Be one of them. There’s never been a better time to earn the kind of income you deserve!

“In times of change, the LEARNERS will inherit the earth….while the LEARNED will find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” — Eric Hoffer

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I passed this around to a private mastermind group and the response has been overwhelming.

It’s a handwritten note that was written by a multi-millionaire on airplane. In it, he shares a perspective that is so refreshing and exciting that you can’t help but shift your own thinking.

In fact, you will discover SEVERAL key differences between the way wealthy people think….and the way the masses think.

It was taken offline for a week due to bandwidth issues but — for a limited time — it’s back up. You can download it here. (Note: report is in PDF format)

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I get asked alot, “Tony, if you had to pick ONE thing that would allow me to create accelerated, positive results in my life…what would it be. ”

I confess it’s hard to pick just one principle. But, if I had to…this would be it. And it’s probably not something you’ve heard before. I hope you enjoy hearing about it. Feel free to post your comments and experiences! — TR

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Here are some tools that I use to make Twitter more productive for me:

– TweetDeck — this a desktop client that will allow you to manage and view your Twitter stream in a small window, much like a buddy list. Because I can do everything from TweetDeck, I don’t have to leave my Twitter page open to see my feed. Also shortens long URLs to save on Tweet space.

– Twittelator — this is, in my opinion, the best Twitter app for the iPhone. Twitteriffic is also a good one. You can get both in the App store on your iPhone or in iTunes. Has built-in photo-support

– TwitExplorer — Better to give you an example. Say you’re following someone you respect and you notice they only have a handful of people they follow. It’s a safe bet that you might be interested in what they say, too. TwitExplorer lets you find out who someone is following so you can decide whether you’d like to follow them, too

– Twellow — is another great way to find people who have similiar interests. It’s basically a directory that you can add yourself to certain categories and find other people in the same category.

– TwitPic — Easily post your photos and share them on Twitter

– Grader for Twitter — scores your Twitter profile based on content, frequency of updates and the amount of “influence” you have. (For instance, a score of 98 means your profile is higher than 98% of Twitter users). http://twitter.grader.com

There are lots of Twitter tools available but these are some that I use regularly to make my Twitter experience more powerful.

Tony Rush
http://www.FollowTonyOnTwitter.com
http://www.AddMeOnFacebook.com
http://www.tonyrush.com

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You hear a lot in the marketing industry about “The Top Five Percent”. These are the people who are making it happen.

They’re earning large incomes.
They’re being an example of what’s possible.
They’re leading the charge.
They’re making things happen.
And they’re getting all the rewards they deserve.

One group that we do NOT talk about much in this industry is the “The BOTTOM Five Percent”.

These people are basically those who exist for the sole purpose of tearing down whatever a productive person is doing. The most appealing emotional payoff that exists for these people is when they feel that they are successfully impeding someone from achieving their desired end.

They don’t do anything.
They don’t produce anything.
They don’t achieve anything.
They don’t get anything done.
They’re not making things happen.
And they make NO significant money in the industry.

In fact, most of them have never earned more than $500 in any home-business despite the fact that many of them have been involved in the industry for years. In most cases, whatever success they’ve was long ago. And their lack of results since have caused them to become focused on DESTRUCTion rather than PROduction.

And — to me — the saddest part is that many of The Bottom Dwellers actually get most of their traction by positioning themselves as an “experienced” person.

They know the lingo.
They keep track of the gossip.
They know all the different pay plans.
They’ve read the books.
They’ve been to some seminars.
They’ve done just enough to fail and call it “experience”.

So, at first glance, they can actually come across as someone who’s actually knowledgeable about the industry and whose opinion would be worth hearing. But, most of us who ARE productive and successful have learned to spot the Bottom Dwellers by watching their language. Language is a great clue for where someone’s mindset is.

The Bottom Dwellers usually say things like:

– “The reason so-and-so is successful is because they probably brought over a big group from another company.” Or “Well, you know that person is friends with so-and-so…that’s how they made all their money”. (The Bottom Dweller cannot imagine that it’s possible for someone to actually start from scratch and be successful. Or that someone else became successful in the same business that the Bottom Dweller failed in.)

– “That company is a scam”. (The truth is that there really aren’t as many scams out there as you’d think. A ’scam’ is when you were defrauded out of money because something was misrepresented. If the Bottom Dweller joined a company, worked the business and didn’t succeed…..that doesn’t mean the company is a ’scam’.)

– “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” (This statement always amazes me. Are they really saying they only want get involved in things that sound bad enough to be realistic? It seems to me that if one never gets started in something that sounds unusually good…..they’ll always only get started in things that are average or mediocre.)

– “That company’s products are too expensive!”. (Never mind that thousands of people are buying them and that those marketing them are seeing sales growth from month to month. What the Bottom Dweller should probably have said is that they can’t AFFORD it.)

– “That company marks up their prices just so the reps can make a large income.” (Well….duh. Isn’t that what every company in the world is doing? How much do you think Nike has to mark up their shoes in order to pay Michael Jordan for his marketing efforts?)

– “That stuff doesn’t work. You can get the same thing at _______ (insert name of healthfood store, bookstore, or cheap competitor’s name here). (That may be true. Of course, it’s also true that there are millions of businesses who make a fortune selling products similar to someone elses. So?)

– “I found three typos on that guy’s website. How can he expect people to take him seriously if he misspells words?” (Nevermind that that website has produced millions of dollars in sales.)

– “That pay plan isn’t as good as the _____ pay plan.” (Yes, I’m sure you’re right. Even though you’re living in your Mom’s basement and sitting on rented furniture, I’m sure we should all bow to your wisdom when it comes to understanding the cash flow of various pay plans.)

– “You’re in a scam — oh, just relax, can’t you take a joke?”. (Classic passive-aggressive behavior. Attack someone and then, when they respond appropriately, tell them that you were just kidding. It helps if you put a lot of winks and smiley-faces in there, too.)

We can go on and on. (By the way, if you’re still reading this, you’re probably not a Bottom-Dweller. The only reason a Bottom-Dweller would still be reading this is because they’re arming themselves to make a defensive attack on me on some internet forum and to make sure they misquote me properly or take my comments out of context).

The basic point is this: just KNOWING that this group of people exists goes a long way to understanding how to deal with them. Simply put, some people get an emotional payoff by trying to take the wind out of someone else’s sails. And they’re hell-bent on doing it to as many people as they can.

The “Kryptonite” for these people is simply to ask them to talk about their own results.

What have they created?
What have they produced?
What kind of income are they earning?
What leadership positions have they achieved?

You’ll find that Bottom Dwellers are allergic to these questions. After all…they’re about DEstruction…not PROduction.

Life is good!
Tony Rush

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