I’m writing today to those of you who are just getting started with building your list and getting your heads around this massive learning curve of updating your skills so you can build your network marketing business (or any other) online.

This is also for you if you’re well on your way but perhaps need a little validation and reinforcement to keep you pushing through your learning syllabus.

A couple of weeks ago I attended a High School meeting in a small town in the UK, with my daughter who will be transferring in September. I expected to hear more of the obsolete type of info that I usually hear at school meetings.

As an active network marketer and avid student of personal development I have long since despaired of the lack of focus on real skills that I believe children need for the work place they will be entering.

Robert Kiyosaki defined my incoherent thoughts clearly for me when I started educating myself with his ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad,’ series of books in 2003.

Anyhow back to my visit to the school; I was pleasantly surprised and not a little shocked to hear that the Ministry of Education in the UK has finally woken up to the fact that they are not equipping our children with the skills they need, and that there are no longer ‘jobs for life.’

As a result they are intending to change their approach to education so that our children will be encouraged to become independent and responsible learners. They will if all goes to plan become ‘lovers of learning.’

This is because its been recognised by the powers that be that technology is changing so fast that it is far more valuable to teach children how to learn, rather than to force feed them Pythagoras. (That’s my spin on it anyhow!)

So what does globalization mean for our future in network marketing or MLM?

Watch the latest version of this incredibly enlightening video ‘Shift Happens’ created by Karl Fisch, and take a glimpse of the future!

I was mesmerised by this video and am happy to say that I discovered it through my daughter’s high school.

Here are the key points that really grabbed my attention in ‘Shift Happens.’

The average person will have 10-14 jobs by age 38

The top 10 jobs that will be in demand in 2010 didn’t exist in 2004

Up until now the education system has been preparing students for jobs that do not yet exist, using technologies that haven’t yet been invented, to solve problems that we don’t even know are problems yet…

For those of you in the UK (like me!) you may be shocked to see the backward progress England has made since 1900 so watch closely!

1 out of 8 couples married in the US in 2007 met online

200 million registered users on MY Space as of 2008. If it was a country it would be the 5th largest in the world!

There were 31 billion searches on google every month as of 2008, up from 2.7 billion 2006.

Wow! I know it is overwhelming isn’t it? What does it mean for us and our children?

Here’s a little bit of how I see it: by positioning yourself in this field of learning you are in with a fighting chance of being ahead of the curve and to establish yourself online in this race for internet ‘real estate’ and skills as an independent business owner.

When you feel frustrated by the slowness of your learning and your lack of know how in using all the new technologies think about this video. What other options do you have?

It may be slower to start than your global compatriots who are still chasing and hustling for new team members but if you apply what you learn and build a business based around online attraction marketing you will be having the last laugh because you’ll be way ahead of the game and have your slice of the internet pie whilst a couple of years from now, others will be saying ‘what happened?’ (Shift happens!!)

This is the Information Age. That’s why I believe it is vital for you in Network Marketing to build a ‘You Inc’ business.

Get the technical skills you need asap so you can move on to working on the fun stuff which is defining your niche, creating your own unique list of subscribers who appreciate what YOU have to offer and of course building a business around your passions and interests so that business becomes playtime for you.

If you haven’t already then plug into some ‘funded proposals’ so you can start to generate some commissions as an Information marketer. This funds your learning curve and brings you targeted prospects, whilst you figure out how to convert your prospects into your MLM online.

Based on the stats in the video and on my own results so far more and more newbie and experienced network marketers are looking to get online and are hungry for information courses and coaching.

Mike Klingler of Renegade Professional (Internet Network Marketing ‘Renegade University’) passed us these figures recently:

Nearly 2/3 of everyone who goes online visits My Space
29% of them visit Facebook
35% of them visit YouTube
Users for most social media sites DOUBLE every six months
Social buyers make 20% more and spend 25% more than others
Prospects are pre-sold as they find YOU

Recently I wrote a book called the ‘7 Pieces of the Attraction Marketing Puzzle.’ I did this because I could see a real need for a clear blueprint or explanation on how to transition to building MLM online. Grab your copy here and start learning about Attraction Marketing for MLM today if you didn’t already.

If you read it then how are you doing with that? This is your time to become a student again so embrace it and get the skills you need to start building your online information empire with MLM and multiple streams of income.

As my upline, Eric Worre, says of the Network Marketing Profession, ‘ladies and gentlemen we have a better way.. let’s go tell the world.’

Yesterday, I blogged about taking the initiative to learn new social media and online skills to grow your business and how this will position you for a flood of new leads and candidates for your business as we move into the golden era of Network Marketing.

Today I want to go into more detail about the correct strategy that I mentioned because many people are valiantly starting to build their social media empire, but in the words of my 10 year old daughter it is very ‘random!’

Random and business do not go well together. As with any marketing, you require a strategy, consistency and time management skills. We’ll get into some of this today, and as I scale up my Social Media campaign I will pass on the gems I discover, and the frustrations I overcome along the way.

The feeling of being overwhelmed can come from having too much information and not knowing how to start applying it. Another thing that trips people up is poor use of time. This is something to sort out immediately because it is key to your success in every area of your business.

Enthusiasm and energy are great qualities to bring to your business. Poorly channelled however they can have a boomerang effect. With ‘offline’ marketing if you ran around accosting people and pushing your information on them they would run a mile and not even take a look.

It is the same here online. If you jump around randomly from one group to another posting comments and pitching people, not only will you set yourself up to look foolish but you will also be very ineffective with your time.

You will end your day feeling exhausted, head spinning and have nothing much to show for it. This business is about providing value and building relationships. Social media gives us the perfect setting in which to do that. (This applies in many fields other than Network Marketing of course)

What can you do to get organised? Here are 3 key areas that need to be addressed:

1) Correct Strategy.

Here you will need to create your marketing plan. It’s not so different from any other marketing plan you may already have for your activities. If you don’t have a long term marketing or action plan then really now is the time to make one!

Here you want to select at least 3 methods of Social Media to master. If you try to learn everything at once you will get a headache! Select the 3 that appeal to you the most, bearing in mind that you work better when you are having fun with it.

You might be the type who enjoys writing (as I do) so here is your chance to fulfil your dreams of being a reporter, or an author. You don’t have to be great at it; you just need to start to develop your skills. The rest will come because you’re enjoying it and want to improve. Practice really does make things get better. So you could have 1 of your methods as Blogging and/or Article Writing. (I’ll blog about how to blog and write articles in greater detail very soon because that is a whole subject on its own)

You can choose 2 others from a vast range of methods and tools available such as Networking on Facebook, My Space or Video Marketing. There are hundreds of Social Media sites and forums where you can become a member and start creating a trail of valuable content. I’ll give more detailed info on this also as we progress.

Make sure to select your 3 methods, create a plan so you can remind yourself what you are doing everyday because it is just too easy to be online and off track!

You’ll want to specifically write down the actions you intend to take i.e.: create profile on Facebook, add friends and network for 1 hour, 5 days per week.

2) Consistency.

Yes we’ll harp on about this one again! Sorry chaps, I know if you’ve been in Network Marketing for any length of time this one will be familiar to you. Most people fail to produce momentum because they fail to be consistent. If you’re plan was to invite 2 people per day to review your business opportunity, but you only invite 2 per week the results will obviously not be there.

With attraction marketing you are approaching it differently and attracting people to you everyday, and when the time is right you will introduce them, or they will find what you have to offer through your content, if they are seriously looking for solutions.

However if you do sporadic activity on Facebook, blog 3 times in your first week but don’t look at your blog again for a month, you will not be consistent and therefore will not build the following and network that you need to find the right candidates for your business. This is clever stuff!

Seriously its just common sense and I recommend you get a ‘workout partner’ who is on the same track as you. You can be accountable to each other and that way even if you are very undisciplined you will succeed.

3) Time Management.

This is a huge subject and if you can find the time you should read some books on it… Just kidding, schedule it into your time so your personal development becomes a priority. My favourite books are ‘Eat That Frog,’ by Brian Tracy, and ‘The Four Hour Work Week,’ by Tim Ferris. They’re both great but the latter blew my mind. Tim totally changed the way I think about using my time.
Just because we are using Social Media tools it does not mean that we work on semi focus, distracted mode because we jump from one activity to another like headless chickens. To produce quality content and to build a marketing campaign we need to be focussed.

So on a final note make your plan and make your schedule. Keep them on your wall or in your diary so you follow them each day. On your schedule you need to divide your hours available i.e.; if you are part-time and have 15-20 hours per week to do the business then allocate a portion of those hours to your primary methods of marketing.

Allow some time for making calls and networking with your qualified prospects. As you generate more and more interest in what you have to offer, you’ll need more time for this but initially blast off with your marketing campaign and build up consistently. Try to do something towards your campaign every day and stick with it so that you stay in the game long enough to see results.

See you at the top!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rachel Henke coaches people to be more successful and to have more fun in their home business. Get Million Dollar Training Info by subscribing to the Professional Networker blog

By Rachel Henke, (c) 2009 If you’d like to use this article for quality content on your website or blog please do so with our blessing but ensure the author’s links remain intact.

I have been working at home and from home for many years now, with many different hats on. I studied just about everything I could think of that would in some way enable me to have a shot at working from home. I’m not quite sure why I was so set on it but I just recall that it was my ultimate goal from a very young age and that I never enjoyed working for someone else and on someone else’s schedule. Yuk!

By the time I officially joined the network marketing industry some 5 years ago I had already had a lot of experience in working at home in a varied range of careers such as; party plan direct sales, and as a professional beautician so I could work from home around my baby daughter.

Well it didn’t take long for me to get totally fed up with waxing ladies’ hairy parts and squeezing commodones (posh word for blackheads!) out of recalcitrant nostrils, whilst enveloped with whooshing steam, in my spare bedroom.

Then I progressed to home study to be a fully qualified book-keeper (partly to get a promotion at work, or rank advance as I would think of it now, and partly because I was still on the quest for independence. I also studied creative writing (from home of course!) in my maternity leave to fulfil my dream of being a writer.

My second baby came along and I got really brave and undertook a BA in English Literature with the University of London. And yes you guessed it … I did that as an external student as well.

Now that was really tough at times, but the whole point of this rather garbled potted history is to demonstrate that I have done a ton of things from home, all directed in some way with a view to making money, whilst bringing up a young family and often running a business or attending a job alongside.

What I have learned along the way is how to make best use of my time and how to produce results whilst surrounded by many elements at home such as babies, children, husband, guests, TV, noisy neighbours, window cleaners, children’s friends, unsolicited salespeople and surveyors at the door, phone calls from family and friends wanting to chat because ’she’s at home’ and the list goes on….

So how am I raising two daughters, whilst being there for all those special highlights in their life at home and at school, doing homework with them as and when needed, ferrying them around for this and that, and still running a business from home, working on many other projects, and keeping my sanity?

Well I started off about 12 years ago ducking and diving at home from those regular distractions we grew up with such as, the phone ringing rather a lot and Aunty Mabel wanting to tell me all about her ingrowing toe nail.

Then we had things like babies crying and needing to be fed every 3 hours, then they progressed to demanding children who simply wanted to eat a lot, and who were much fussier about what I gave them than when they were babies!

Then there were those boring jobs to juggle, and dinner needing to be made, housework, endless laundry, etc. etc.

Welcome to 2009! Now we have all of those things still going on (fortunately not quite so hectic for me any more as my hungry daughters have grown a lot and are able to feed themselves in between meals)

What we are up against now is the incessant demands of technology. We have regular phones, mobile phones, skype phones and I’m sure lots of other phones ringing. Often at the same time!

There is email to be checked and answered, and of course we still need to fish through the snail mail and deal with that also. There are blogs to be updated and not to forget online banking which runs itself but can get a little out of hand if you don’t keep an eye on your spending!

If you are new to working at home, or have been at it for some time but are challenged by some of the aforementioned and would like to be more productive in the hours available to you then this blog is for you.

• Plan your days the night before and have that list in front of you every morning. Number the list in order of importance. Allocate a portion of time to each activity and don’t allow anything to distract you. (Unless you have a baby or small child of course, and then you will need to trade favours with friends for baby sitting or pay a childminder, and become very good at bargaining for quiet time with your children as they grow) By accomplishing even 1 or 2 profit making activities from your list on a daily basis you will be way ahead of the masses.

• Put a start and end time in your diary for appointments and only work to appointments. Get off the phone as quickly as you can. Start the call by telling the caller that you have i.e. 10 minutes. If you also have an Aunty Mabel calling you then you will need to become a bit ruthless with your time. Either arrange to call her back at a time that suits YOU, or deal with the crisis and then say that your next appointment is calling on your other phone and you must go now.

• Remember that we teach people how to treat us and that includes how they respect our time. This goes for your team members, and your family and friends.

• For online networking have a ‘Power Hour’ where you have your networking groups, Skype etc. applications open and actively network to meet new people and add to your candidate list.

• Now this is a biggie and this is the most difficult. (At least for me) Don’t leave Skype running 24/7, email notifications on your blackberry pinging, with incoming calls, and outlook being checked every hour for new emails. If you are available and disturbed constantly you will find it very difficult to complete the tasks on your list. You may also find that you develop the attention span of a gnat!! Stop multi multi-tasking and focus on one thing at a time.

• Let your team know when you are available for 3 way calls and coaching sessions. That way everyone can plan their schedules efficiently and accomplish much more with their time.

Most Network Marketers have other jobs, businesses, interests that require their time as well as their network marketing business. Make sure to concentrate on each part of your life and give it the full attention it deserves.

All of these wonderful technologies that we have at our fingertips can be used to improve our productivity, but if you allow them to disturb you constantly you may just find that your schedule is being run by other people!

As Jim Rohn says ‘wherever you are, be there.’

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  Rachel Henke coaches people to work from home with a  proven system and millionaire mentors.  Find out how you can get the lifestyle you deserve at her website: http://www.AgelDirectors.com  To arrange a consultation with Rachel complete the call back section on the website.

  by Rachel Henke, (c) 2008 If you’d like to use this article for quality content on your website or blog please do so with our blessing but ensure the author’s link remains intact.