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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Her name is Helene Hadsell. And she wins every contest she enters. Seriously.
She’s won 5 trips to Europe, a luxury home, televisions, boats, etc.

In fact, by 1982, she’d won 5,000 different contests she’d entered.

Freaky.

Back in the 80s, she wrote a book called “Contesting” that’s a bit of an underground best-seller. If you can find a copy today, they usually cost $300 or more. In it, she explains exactly how she did it and how she’s actually got it down to a system so that others have been able to get similar results in contests, business, relationships, etc.

Well, today she’s 83 years old and she’s at it again. You can check out the story here…

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Well, maybe not EXACTLY an idiot. But, one of his key pieces of “personal finance” advice is just stupid. At least for most people.

David Bach is the author of a series of personal finance books like “The Automatic Millionaire” and “Start Late Finish Rich”.

I’m not quite sure why these books have caught on since they don’t seem to be much different from the same basic information you’d find in any personal finance book. It’s the same message you’ve heard before: save 10% of your income for a long time and you’ll get rich.

Bach puts a modern spin on this advice by appealing to the Starbucks crowd by calling it “The Latte Factor”. Basically, his point is that — if you skip the $5 latte every day — that’s $150 a month you can save. And, invested at 10% interest (yeah, right) then you can wind up with a million dollars in 40 years.

There are two problems with this formula as I see it:

1. This is great advice for a 20-year old. But, the largest demographic in America are baby-boomers who are already in their 40s and they’re trying to figure out to solve their financial dilemna. They don’t have 40 years to save up. They want a solution now.
   And the second problem is…
2. It’s the same old “deferred living” formula that requires you to hoard like a miser for the most productive years of your life….so that by the time you get to the end of your career, you’ve got some money but you’ve missed out on all the lattes!

David Bach isn’t really an idiot. He’s just immersed in the 1950s fairy tale about how saving money for retirement is the best way to create wealth. And it’s not.

Go make your money now. Make so much money that you can drink 5 lattes a day just for spite, if you want.

The solution to creating an abundant life for you and your family isn’t deferred living. Or working your ass off for 40 years.  The solution to creating an abundant life is to make sure that you’re engaged in a business that will pay you handsomely for your efforts…and which will allow you to enjoy all the sunsets, cruises, vacations, family time and lattes you can stand WHILE you’re doing it.

Seriously.  Read that again.  And then read it a third-time.

If you’ve got the sense to understand the words I’m typing, you have the ability to earn AT LEAST $20,000.00 PER MONTH.  At least.  I kid you not.

That’s what’s possible for you.  But it will never happen as long as you’re in the mindset of “skipping lattes” and “turning off the cable” so you can save enough money to save an extra $6 a week.

Start focusing on wealth…and abundance…and prosperity.  And you can create as much as you want….AND drink all the lattes you want.

Life is a choice. Choose well.

Tony Rush

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