Mariangie Says:

OK first thing I have to say... do not attempt this at home!

Very early this morning, I had the brilliant idea to "switch" my blog and websites domains, meaning that I thought that my website's url was better suited for my blog and viceversa.

I'm sure (now) that it was SO early that my neurons were still sleeping, some of them are still (I'm sure) on Spring Break.

Anyway, I go to my hosting account and start making the changes to the databases just like the guy from customer support explained to me yesterday.

I also open the wordpress.org help section where it says "moving blog from one domain to another"

According to the help section at wordpress.org, the last step was "That's it!" I was SO happy and proud that I could do this myself, and that I had proved the guy wrong when he told me, "it is a rather complicated procedure..."

Then I go on to check on my website and blog in their respective new places....

Ohhhhhhh, noooooooo!

Blank! Everything was blank! You know what blank is right? Just WHITE EMPTY SPACE!

Then I remembered, "oh, it's just that I need to go to my domain control and change the nameservers..."

After I did that, I went back again and checked... INTERESTING!!! My blog posts were showing in the wrong domain but with the right blog name and trackback urls...and they were just floating in a white sea of plain html file...

How cute!

I'm missing my neurons and growing a headache by then, I try to restore my database... or whatever, it didn't work either, I installed a new blog, I couldn't find my old posts.

In the end I found a way (don't ask me how, I DON'T KNOW how it happened!) to make it through the admin page of the old blog and I could export the blog.

I had to create a new blog, and import the old blog. It's there now (www.home-4-wealth.com) I still have some editing to do since it didn't import exactly like it was before, but at least I didn't lose a year + of work.

Lesson learned: Forget what your web host tells you, everything you need to know and do is in your blog's platform... instructions, plugins, everything! Go there first if that doesn't work, THEN ask help from your hosting company.

PS I'm still waiting for my other domain to work, but it will... Update: It took from 10am this morning to 8pm for my other site to go back to normal... but it is up! (www.MariangiesBiz.com)

By: Mariangie Gonzalez

First of all, let me start by saying that I am by no means a MLM expert. This is just what I have learned in the past year or so.

Years ago, MLM guru’s advised that in order to have success in your MLM business, you needed to do the following:

•Place newspaper and magazine ads
•Hand out samples
•Hand out audio cassettes, videos (WAY back then), CD’s and presentation DVD’s
•Use the 3-feet rule (talk about your business with everyone you come in contact within a range of 3 feet)
•Make a list of 200 names and cold call on them
•Send postcards and other direct mail pieces

Recently, the guru’s have shifted to another approach… “The Law of Attraction” they call it now, “Attraction Marketing” meaning that you now need to:

•Post articles on blogs
•Interact in Social Networking sites and message boards
•Create and give away free reports
•Create eCourses
•Write eBooks
•Become the “expert” in your field

I have done both… first one and when it didn’t work, I did the other, which didn’t work either… and just recently I discovered the REAL secret in MLM sponsoring and success.

Let’s forget for a moment that we’re talking about a MLM business. Let’s think of a business, ANY business… I’ll choose a franchise… McDonald’s…

Let’s forget again about their product, let’s just focus on their marketing approach. Mc Donald’s is involved in many charities, they have foundations, they sponsor events… that is all related to “attraction marketing” they are “attracting” the attention to their brand by giving away either products, money or time.

But then, I see their commercials every day on TV, in the newspaper, their banners on the street, the posters in the bus stop, everywhere! That is traditional marketing.

On top of that, they keep their image fresh to the public’s eyes by having a new toy on their Happy Meal every 4 weeks or so and by creating their own local events for the community.

With that in mind, I turned my attention to the people online that were successful in their respective MLM’s… those who did not jump from one new opportunity to the other, but stayed with a company for many years and were really successful with it.

Guess what I discovered…. Duh!

They conducted their businesses, just like McDonalds’ they use attraction marketing; they have their own blogs, they post in message boards, they publish articles, they write hold contests, and they are active in social networks on a regular basis.

But just like McDonalds’, they advertise their businesses daily and they find new ways both offline and online to create a fresh image of their business opportunity and products all the time!

I have been doing this since I started my MLM business and I have been able to sponsor an average of 1 new distributor every 3 days, since I started... I know it doesn’t look like much, but most “regular” people never sponsor more than 5 in a year!

In order to make sure it was the combination of the two methods I took 2 weeks to conduct a trial:

Week 1: I advertised but was inactive in the “attraction methods”
Sponsored - 1
Week 2 : I was active in the attraction methods but didn’t advertise
Sponsored -0

As soon as I went back to “The Combination” I started to sponsor new distributors to my team as I had been doing since I started “The Combination”.

So, in order to be successful in MLM or in ANY other business, you need to advertise consistently AND use the attraction methods mentioned above. Take it from me, a regular Jane and don’t let any guru’s tell you differently!
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The author is the owner of the online pet remedies store http://www.MindBodyAndPaw.com since October of 2004 and is an Independent Distributor for Forever Living selling Aloe-based health & beauty products and helping other start their own businesses from home, you can learn more about her products and business opportunity here: http://www.mariangie.myflpbiz.com. She lives in Puerto Rico with her husband, 2 children, 2 tuxedo cats and a pit bull.

Two days ago I was having a conversation with my husband, we were talking about work politics, the economic situation, continued education, etc.

My husband started college after we had our first child, back in 1998, after 2 years he got a new job, the new work schedule didn’t allow for a regular college curriculum anymore, so he dropped out.

About 2 years ago, his company announced that they will be reimbursing their employees for their college education, so he grabbed the opportunity and started studying again. He studies in one of those 5-week class programs.

Anyway, during our conversation, I asked him when the new session was going start and what class he was going to take this time, (he had been off since Thanksgiving and to be honest I saw that “not-planning to-go-back-to-college” attitude in him).

This is how the conversation developed:

Hubby- “You know what? I’m so unmotivated this time, there’s no use for me to keep studying, I’ll never advance in my company”.

Me- “What do you mean there’s no use? Are knowledge and a free college degree not enough?”

Hubby- “No, I mean, no matter how hard I work and how prepared I get, other people will get the promotions, not me”

Me- “Well, if that’s how you feel, then finish the education, and when you are finished, you serve your company a year or two, whatever they require you to work for them because they paid for your education, and then you leave and get a better job with your “new” degree or even start your own business.”

Hubby- “The only require 3 years of service for those that they pay for their master’s degree; there is no requirement for those that they pay for their bachelors degree”

OK, at that point I wanted to slap my husband.

Me- “I can’t believe that you don’t want to do something for yourself! I would have like 15 bachelors degrees if I had the money, it’s not about getting promotions is about LEARNING! NOBODY CAN TAKE KNOWLEDGE AWAY FROM YOU!!!!”

Yeah I had to raise my voice a little, I was so mad…

Me- “Dad, always told us that we should learn about EVERYTHING we could, because we never knew when that would come up handy, I hated that he forced us to take music classes for years, but how was I able to purchase and pay-off my car when I was in College?... Teaching music lessons!”

Me- “Years later, when I was offered the Landscaping Teaching position in the Vocational School, if I hadn’t had previous teaching experience, I would have not being hired and helped to get my teaching certification or would I…? And you know that has been my BEST job ever…”

He nodded his head and said: “Yeah… maybe you are right…” (of course I’m right!, LOL!)

But, seriously, sometimes we don’t have a clear purpose or we have the wrong one to begin with, and that is why we lose our motivation, that’s what happened to my husband.

In life and in business, we need to carefully define our purpose, why we want to do this or that, and we can’t have a purpose for outside reasons, it has to be for us.

We may want to get a higher degree, increase sales, homeschool our children, get out of debt, but NOT because of the reasons the world thinks we should do it, but because of what we want to accomplish, what we think is best for us, what will makes us happy, what will makes us grow as a person, as a professional, as a parent, etc.

What is your purpose… is it YOURS really? Sit down and define your purpose, put it down in writing so you never forget…

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The author is the owner of the online pet remedies store http://www.MindBodyAndPaw.com since October of 2004 and is an Independent Distributor for Forever Living selling Aloe-based health & beauty products and helping other start their own businesses from home, you can learn more about her products and business opportunity here: http://www.Home-4-Wealth.com. She lives in Puerto Rico with her husband, 2 children, 2 tuxedo cats and a pitbull.