Network marketing is very much hit or miss, depending upon whom you talk with. Some people have had great success and some have not had so much. Most network marketing companies will probably tell you to go after any prospect, regardless of what you know about them. This means that you probably will end up with prospects who are not actively looking at network marketing. To truly build a successful MLM business, you need to find a target market and home in on it.

Network marketing can often have a bad connotation because many people think that those involved are too aggressive and may even consider many of them pushy. Network marketers often try to get you in their downline simply by explaining how much money that you can make. They do not explain how else this can be beneficial or are not effective in providing further guidance on building a successful downline. These network marketers are not using the first key to business: who is the audience?

If you work on finding a target market, you are making a complete shift within how you will conduct business. Anyone can start a business to start a business. You are starting a business because you see a need from an audience that is not filled. Your business has found a true reason to be moving forward. Your business will work to solve the needs and concerns of an audience that are not being met. You can find as many different audiences as you want to. There are many different niches which you can fill. You have to find a niche that you are passionate about and where you can make a difference through listening to your customers. You have to focus on learning their problems about the industry you are focusing on and this can help you to continue focusing in on your niche.

Understanding your target audience makes business that much easier. Instead of guessing about what your target audience wants, you are bale to provide it simply through listening to what they have to say. You can also change your role from a salesperson to a person providing advice. People enjoy buying as opposed to selling to. If you provide advice and guide them through the buying process, they will come back to you time and time again for business.

One of the best ways to interact with your target audience online these days is through social networking. This is when you interact with your online communities through such sites as Facebook. You could also decide to start a blog or to pose answers in forums devoted to your industry.

If you want to be a MLM success, you have to change your tune from the salesperson to the trusted adviser. This comes through careful research of a target audience, more careful research about products for your target audience, and providing this careful research through such methods as social networking. This can help both in customers as well as building a long downline

Tracy Garcia

Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 6-8

1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 carrot, cut in half lengthwise, then sliced
½ teaspoon minced garlic
½ cup vegetable broth
1 bunch green onions, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 ½ cups sliced Napa cabbage
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon leaf oregano
2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
2 cups chopped fresh spinach (packed)
2 15 ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed
½ cup salsa
1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Tabasco or other hot sauce to taste

Place the onion, bell pepper, carrot, and garlic in a large pot with the vegetable broth. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 4-5 minutes. Add green onions, Napa cabbage, soy sauce, chili powder and oregano. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 more minutes. Add the tomatoes, spinach, beans and salsa. Cook an additional 5 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the cilantro and hot sauce to taste. Roll up in a warm tortilla and eat.

Hints: This may also be served over baked potatoes or whole grains.

This keeps well in the refrigerator and reheats well, so it makes a fast meal for lunch later in the week.

3:30am – 3 performance formula
2 cups water

4am -Rev Abs workout /1 cup of water through out workout

5am – recovery/creatine

6:30 am – 3/4 cup of egg white = 4 large eggs
4 strips of smart bacon
1 cup of black coffee
Peak Health Pack, 2 cal mag, 2 omega, 4 liver
2 cups of water

9:30am – 4 liver, 1 vitamin E
Pinacolada Shake
BB Meal Replacement Shake vanilla
3 pineapple rings
1/2 cup of pineapple juice
1/2 teaspoon of coconut extract

11:30am – Fage, 1TBLS almonds, 1/2teaspoon Agave
2 cups of water

1pm Grapefruit

3pm – 4 liver, 1 B12
Tilapia
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
salad – 2cups lettuce, red onion, cucumber, tomato. 1 tablespoon EVOO, 1 tablespoon V
2 cups of water

6pm – P90X bar (fudge) YUMMY!

8:30pm – 4oz BB whey
2 cups water of water

A Delicious Salad to Savor

Mandarin Spinach Salad
Serves 2

• 5 ounces washed spinach leaves
• 2 10-ounce cans mandarin oranges
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, pine nuts, or crushed almonds

Mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl and serve immediately.

Are Those Fruit Smoothies Really as Healthy as you Think?

Each summer, smoothie bar sales skyrocket and lineups trail out the door. Unfortunately the unwavering belief is that these refreshingly cool drinks are a healthy snack. It’s time to shine a light on the truth: not all smoothies are good for you. In fact, you may be better off having a piece of cake than a retail-bought smoothie. The most dangerous part of a smoothie is its healthy reputation. If you believe you’ve chosen the healthy snack option, you are less likely to alter your eating habits to compensate for the snack, and therefore you will end up taking in sufficiently more calories overall. But if you’ve eaten a chocolate bar, you know it’s a splurge and are more prone to watching your diet the rest of the day, keeping the overall rise in calories on the low side.

Smoothie Danger #1:

Packing a Sugar Wallop

While fruit has traditionally been the central ingredient from which a smoothie was made, in many commercial versions, refined sugar is taking its place. In fact, many smoothies contain more sugar than a can of cola or a cupcake. The rows of flavored syrups behind smoothie bars are often made from pure corn syrup or other highly refined sugars such as beet or cane, and your smoothie may get several pumps. The added sugar content goes for ready-made “smoothie” drinks, too. Not only is this going to spike your calories for the day (most commercial smoothies range from 200 to 600 calories), you’ll also feel a sugar high followed by an energy crash that will make you crave more sugar shortly afterwards to perk you up again.

Something else to beware of with corn syrup is a possible mild allergic reaction. Because of the high concentration of corn derivatives in many processed foods, it’s common to develop an allergy or intolerance to it without your being aware. I myself discovered my own allergy to corn, which came on as symptoms similar to hay fever each spring, and disappeared after I limited my intake.

Smoothie Danger #2: “Boosted” Smoothies Contain Extra Chemicals The supplements used to give smoothies a “boost” are often genetically modified and contain chemical fillers and synthetic ingredients. Many times, the vitamin or mineral giving the “booster” its name is actually the last item on the ingredient list of the booster itself. Furthermore, the quality of the vitamin or mineral infused in the booster does not have to be accounted for, so the rate at which it absorbs in your body may be so low that it provides little extra by way of nutrition. The best way to ensure a “booster” is indeed a healthy option is to make the retailer accountable for its ingredients. The ultimate scenario is that the retailer is using a smoothie booster made from highly raw and organic whole foods in powder form, without any added chemicals. That way, the vitamins and minerals are all naturally occurring and easily absorbed in the body.

Smoothie Danger #3:

“Sugar-Free” or “Light” = Harmful Artificial Sweeteners

Before buying the smoothie with “no added sugar” to cut your calorie count, ask if there are other sweeteners added. Chemically altered sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose may be worse than sugar. Although they save you calories, they also lack any other nutrients whatsoever and still have ongoing studies exploring negative health implications such as migraines, long-term memory loss, fybromalgia, and lymphoma.

By no means should you exclude smoothies from your diet. Smoothies can be the healthiest part of your day, if done right. In fact, as a professional athlete, I know they’re essential for quick cellular regeneration.

My first suggestion is to get your smoothie fix at home, before you head out for the day. The pros of making a smoothie for breakfast: it’s quick to make, you have complete control over the ingredients, you can run out the door with it, and it’s very easy on the digestive system. I have yet to find any cons.

When making your own smoothie at home, it’s easy to unknowingly mix up a sugar-bomb more likened to a slushy than a healthy smoothie by adding too much fruit juice. Don’t be afraid to use mostly water and ice instead of juice – you’ll likely find the fruit alone makes the smoothie sweet enough. If not, you can add low-glycemic whole food options like agave nectar to sweeten it up, or use higher-glycemic whole food options like dates and offset it with plenty of fiber.

The beauty of a smoothie is that you can add superfood boosts such as flax, hemp, and even greens like kale without greatly affecting the flavor. By using this technique, you can actually ensure your smoothie contains all the nutrients of a complete meal. Good protein sources to use in smoothies are whole foods with a high pH, such as previously mentioned hemp, which has a very high protein content and high digestibility. Other great protein sources are pea and rice protein.

Maintaining an alkaline pH in the body is very important for optimal health, so I make all my smoothies with plant-based ingredients. Here is one of my favorite homemade and nutritionally complete smoothies:

Never mind the fact that this smoothie contains romaine lettuce; you’ll find it’s surprisingly delicious. The natural sweetness of the romaine leaves blends with melon to give the smoothie an especially fresh taste.

3-6 leaves of romaine lettuce
2 fresh or soaked dates
2 cups water (or 1 ½ cups water plus 1 cup ice)
1 cup honeydew melon
1 Tbsp ground flaxseed
1 Tbsp hemp protein
½ Tbsp grated fresh ginger

Blend and enjoy!

Article Written By Brendan Brazier; Brendan Brazier is a professional Ironman triathlete, two-time Canadian 50km Ultra Marathon Champion and bestselling author of “The Thrive Diet”. He is also the creator of the award-winning VEGA line of whole food products. www.brendanbrazier.com www.myvega.com

Are you a Vegetarian or Vegan?  These recipes will be just for you.  Start eating for your Beachbody.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup thinly sliced onion
• 1/2 butternut squash – peeled, seeded, and thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 (16 ounce) package refrigerated pizza crust dough
• 1 tablespoon cornmeal
• 2 tablespoons grated Asiago or Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Place sliced onion and squash in a roasting pan. Sprinkle with rosemary, salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil; toss to coat.
2. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until onions are lightly browned and squash is tender; set aside.
3. Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). On a floured surface, roll each ball of dough into an 8 inch round. Place the rounds on a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal (you may need 2 baking sheets depending on their size). Distribute squash mixture over the two rounds and continue baking for 10 minutes, checking occasionally, or until the crust is firm. Sprinkle with cheese and remaining tablespoon olive oil. Cut into quarters, and serve.

Review:  This recipe is so delicious.  If you love butternut squash you are going to be amazed at how many different things you can use the base mixture on.   allrecipes.com

Tracy Garcia