I got a great piece of advice a few months back from Mike Dillard about keeping all negativity out of our lives. It’s some of the greatest advice I’ve gotten and has since saved me tons of time and even more aggravation and second-guessing. Here’s why we can’t let people suck the positivity out of us…

I always love hearing from you…
So make sure you leave your feedback
and let me know what you think!

Your partner in success,
Ryan McMullen

I know what you’re thinking, “Thanks genius, and the Pope is Catholic; tell me something I didn’t know.” I think we can all agree that Oprah knows how to market, but I didn’t know the level of her system until this morning.

So, my lovely bride, Kendra and I were talking this morning over breakfast like a good family and we started talking about how Oprah is probably the greatest marketer today. We’ve all heard stories of obscure products going on her show and that appearance exploding their businesses.

When you really analyze what she is doing, it is the exact same principle that we as online marketers use. It’s pretty awesome and she has a well-oiled machine working 24/7. Whether or not you like her (I personally think she’s very entertaining), you cannot deny how great of a marketer she is.

Here’s an example of what Kendra experienced. A few months back, Kendra bought something through oprah.com that she had seen on her show. I don’t know what it was; probably something none of us could live without like candles that align our chacras through the power of lavender. Who knows?

In any event, as part of the ordering process, Kendra naturally gave her name and email address. At that point, she was on Oprah’s “list” and can be sold anything at the touch of a button.

Here’s what Oprah did: She sent out a mass email to her list about the dangers of talking on your phone while driving. If you haven’t seen the show in awhile, this is Oprah’s latest push. It’s great to make people aware of it and watch how she capitalizes on it.

So, Kendra got the email from Oprah asking her to sign a pledge that she will not drive and talk on her phone. Okay, great, now what? Once Kendra “signed” the pledge and submitted it, she was immediately taken to Oprah’s sales page with a video of Oprah saying, “Thank you so much for this… Oh, by the way, to show your support, you should buy this keychain, bumper sticker, etc.”

Genius! I’m guessing the proceeds for those products probably go to charity, but how awesome is that? She drives you to her website, offers you valuable content 80% of the time and then sells you targeted products the other 20%.

Kendra was around the 200,000 person to sign the pledge, so can you imagine how big Oprah’s list is? I’m sure it’s well over a million. That means that she can craft ONE email, send it to her list and easily make millions of dollars in a single day off of that alone! You don’t become the world’s first female billionaire by not knowing the system.

This is why it’s so important for us to build our own lists and really connect with it. I jokingly refer to it as, “Making sweet love to your list”, but that is really what you have to do. Obviously, Oprah has the benefit of a TV show to help build relationships, but we can do the same thing by constantly offering value to the folks on our list.

Please leave me a comment and let me know who you think will be the first online marketing billionaire.

Your partner in success,

Ryan McMullen

My last post about Dr. Suess got such rave reviews; I decided to crossover my bedtime story skills with my motivational skills once again. This won’t be the last because my two-year old daughter, Maeve, may actually have his entire catalog. Today, let’s focus on “Green Eggs & Ham”.

For years and years I’ve thought about this book and how it relates to not only sales, but your goals and dreams in general. In the book, he asks in various ways 31 times, “Would you like green eggs and ham.” 31 times!

At first, I thought Sam I Am was just a pushy salesmen who wouldn’t take no for an answer. I thought Dr. Suess could have just written a book called, “What’s It Going To Take To Put You In This Car Today”. How naïve of me.

Turns out I was way wrong. Sometimes it takes a two-year old to force you to look through innocent eyes. When I first started reading it to Maeve, she didn’t have too many questions, but now that she is in the phase where she asks “Why?” about everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, I’ve been forced to supply her with answers.

I talk to Maeve like she is quite a bit older than two, so the following account is 100% accurate. Also, I listen to “Think & Grow Rich” on my iPod a lot.

So, when she asked me, “Why does he keep asking him?”, here was my response: “Well, Sam I Am has a genuine desire to get him to eat green eggs and ham. There is nothing that is going to stop him from getting him to eat green eggs and ham. That’s why Daddy works in his office all day.”

As far as I can tell, she got the moral of the story. Our current challenge is getting her fingers to show the number three – “Use your thumb to keep your pinky down.” When we’re trying it, we talk about how Sam I Am didn’t give up and that she will learn how to do it. As of today, she’s very close, but not quite there.

Every day, I kick myself for the years I wasted in network marketing by not having the right mindset. That’s where it all starts. Maeve knows that, no matter what, she is going to learn to show the number three with her fingers. She gets it and she is just getting started in this world. I didn’t get it until my 30s! It took me two and a half years to get my mind right, commit to my business and tell myself that no obstacle or wall can be put up that I can’t either smash through or go around to get to where I want to be.

Relative to Maeve and the fact she is about two and a half, I literally wasted an entire lifetime. Where is your mindset? Are you on the path of wasting your entire lifetime by not committing yourself?

If you take one thing away from this post, it’s to please, please take the time to work on your mindset and really commit yourself to success. If we put in the work, every single one of us deserves it.

Your partner in success,

Ryan

Please leave a comment below and/or contact me if you have any questions.

Yes, I know you’re thinking that Ryan has lost his mind. But, bear with me for a minute. I talk to tons of network marketers everyday who have spent substantial money on training and I want to share with you why most people fail.

Let’s back up for a minute. There is a 97% failure rate in network marketing. Yes, 97%! That is a HUGE percentage. Turn that around and it means that only 3% of people will make this their living. Sounds terrible, right?

BUT, let’s take a closer look at that 97%. How many of those associates treated it like it was a real business? How many came home from their 40-hr jobs and put in one, two, maybe three hours every night? The answer is not many.

Even further, who talked themselves into believing this was a really easy way to get rich quick?

Who did their homework and aligned themselves with a leader and team who can teach them how to, step-by-step, build a business?

Who got themselves in the mindset to take on a business and all of the effort it entails?

When you add up all those people, you get to 97% pretty quickly. Now, the encouraging part: There is NOTHING extraordinary about the 3% who make it. Anybody can be in that 3%. All you need is a genuine desire to build your business. That’s it!

When you have that desire, nothing is going to stop you; no wall can be put up that you can’t break through; no amount of failure will break your spirit. Once you’ve got that desire, its game over-I’ll see you in the top 3%.

If you take one thing away from this post, it’s to get your mind right. Once you’ve got that desire, you will be light years ahead of most network marketers out there. Then, all you need to do is join a leader with a team who can teach you how to build your business. You’ll be on your way!

Your partner in success,

Ryan

Last night, I was reading a book to my 2-yr old daughter Maeve before she went to bed and was not only pleasantly surprised, but almost floored by Dr. Suess’ message. I will never forget that “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” was Maeve’s first in a long line of personal development books.

Did Dr. Suess mean to have this effect? Not sure. Am I crazy? Perhaps. But, take a look at the following passages and tell me how you would perceive it:

You can get so confused
that you’ll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place…

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.

“A most useless place…The Waiting Place…” That is brilliant! Maybe it’s because I value self-development so greatly that I took it this way, but can you really deny his point? I think it is absolutely awesome!

I explained it to Maeve (let me reiterate that she is two) that you cannot wait around for things to happen; that you make your own way in life. Those folks that wait around for the world to come to them are the same ones complaining about how unlucky they are. Do you think she got it? I do.

It was really a great learning experience for the both of us and I’m so happy we got to share it last night. I gave her a big hug and kiss and thought to myself, “That little girl is going to be alright.”

Even if you don’t have kids, please take the five minutes it takes to read this book. It is totally worth it and it will make a great gift for the little entrepreneur in your family.

I love to hear all of your feedback, especially if you had a similar experience, so please leave a comment and pass this along to anyone you think may enjoy it.

Your partner in success,

Ryan

So, this is probably going to be my easiest, shortest and most enjoyable post ever! For those of you who don’t know, my wife Kendra, daughter Maeve and I extended our family by a factor of one very big baby boy. Murphy Michael McMullen entered the world on February 17th and tipped the scales at 10lbs 9oz!

I took a sabbatical from my business for the rest of Feb. and am ready to return to a contributing member of the community. With all of that time off, I was really able to think about the new techniques I’m currently not employing to run our business…I just keep adding pieces.

As usual, anything I can do to help, please let me know and I absolutely appreciate any comments you have and apologize for contributing NOTHING the past two weeks. I will make it up to you.

Your partner in success,

Ryan

For those of you have spent any time with me, you know that I hold a special place in my heart for Napoleon Hill. If you haven’t read “Think And Grow Rich”, run out right now and buy it. It literally changed my life.

Recently, I made one of my best Amazon.com purchases in awhile. On a sidenote, Amazon should pay me some sort of affiliate commission for as many people I send there. I bought the aforementioned book on CD. Now, I can listen and be inspired while I’m driving, running, cutting the grass, you name it. I’m not cutting much grass these days in the St. Louis winter, but you get the gist.

In the spirit of my acquisition, I wanted to share one of Mr. Hill’s quotes that I thought was particularly applicable to our industry.

Big pay and little responsibility are circumstances seldom found together.

It makes you really take stock in how much time you are really spending on your business. It’s so great to go online or your company’s newsletter and read about the top producers who drive the Ferrari, live in the house on the beach and take ridiculous vacations.

We all want the big commission checks and the time to go to these far off places. But, how many of us are willing to do the work? The numbers say ONLY 3% of us!

I don’t want to bring you down because there is hope. I talk to a lot of network marketers and that 3% stat is skewed. In my experience, I would estimate that about 90% of associates in any given company do NOTHING with their business. The other 7% just don’t have enough direction or guidance to make them successful.

That means, assuming you are putting forth a legitimate effort, you have a 70% chance of making it. Those odds are not too shabby. If we take the responsibility of owning a business seriously, you will reap the rewards.

Now, to cleverly tie this all together. When Mr. Hill uses the word seldom, I believe he is referring to the MLM/network marketing industry. This is why…once you have taken that responsibility and built your business to the level you desire, the leverage of your downline is going to carry the majority of responsibility for you, thus leaving you with the big pay.

If you want true time freedom, there is absolutely no other game in town. Sleep well at night knowing that you are in the right industry and, if you haven’t already, take the responsibility seriously and you will be in the 3%.

Your partner in success,

Ryan

When you create blog posts, write articles, have forum ideas or anything else of value to share with our online community, it’s important to have an efficient distribution system to follow. Should I post to Twitter, my Facebook Fan Page and my blog? Where are the appropriate places to share?

The answer is EVERYWHERE. As long as you are offering valuable content and not trying to sell everybody on everything, then other business owners will appreciate your information and look to you as a leader.

I fumbled around with this for a little while until I got organized and came up with a very simple system to make sure I send it to all of my different outlets. I created a video for you that explains how, where and why valuable information should be shared…

Click here to view the embedded video.

What’s the point of having all of these great ideas and training if you can’t share it with everyone? Keep offering great value and people will be drawn to you.

Leave a comment below and share your thoughts, insights, stories, and questions! And take just a moment to share this video with your friends and followers on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social site you like! Looking forward to hearing from you…

Your partner in success,

Ryan