Solid leadership is a combination of instinct and education. It is born of the inherent versus environment precept. It is never all of one and none of another, but a balance. Great leaders carry a charisma: some of it inborn, some of it through the development of skills that bring with them confidence. That charisma, or as we call it, that “It” encompasses more than sheer charisma. “It” is the magic that causes people to follow when it doesn’t make logical sense to do so. “It” enables groups of followers to weather storms, fight uphill battles, stretch their own limits beyond what was once thought possible, and live on long after the leader is gone. (By studying the greatest leaders in history, such as Ganghis Kahn, Atilla the Hun and Winston Churchill, we can get an education in the secrets of “It.”)

Any great leader has an “It” checklist that looks like this:

1. There is a difference between leaders and managers. Managers make sure that things are running smoothly, leaders create change and followings through vision.

2. Leaders create visions in which others can believe. Leaders enable followers to buy in to decisions by giving them clear objectives and expectations and them leaving them to use their talents and strengths to do the work.

3. Leaders understand and honor the words autonomy and empowerment. Leaders know not to do too much, but to supply their people with the resources and guidance they need to follow through on their own. Outstanding leaders lead the charge, riding on their horses with the troops, but they allow each soldier to draw their “bayonettes” as conditions necessitate.

4. Leaders see the totality of their company. Their cross-functional teams know how to work as a whole enterprise. The best of leaders teach their teams how they are interwoven, and how each team carries a vital purpose to the whole, and how they fit into the interwoven mesh of the corporate blanket.

5. Leaders understand the necessity of key subordinate leaders. They know how to hire based on unique valuable talents and remember to let those talents work for the group. They know that it is the weak leader who allows his own fears about loss of control to cloud his memory in regard to why those special talents were brought on board to begin with.

6. Leaders have followers who not only believe in the mission of the organization, but have followers who are accustomed to winning. Winners believe that goals and objectives can actually be captured. Leaders hire people who know how to win and thrive on the energy generated by winning.

7. Leaders are curious. Usually they are curious by nature. They want to know why and how things are done. They ask questions and aren’t afraid to probe into unknown areas to find solutions.

8. Leaders are instinctual. They follow their gut. Their curiosity drives them to accumulate the necessary information they need so that when decision time comes, it is the gut that has the final say.

9.Leaders understand the saying that a rolling stone carries no moss. Their organizations are not mossy. They know that the key to success is continual momentum. Momentum breeds momentum. They carry this forward from product development and reward programs that boost morale, to customer satisfaction efforts.

10. Leaders reside in the moment of today and tomorrow simultaneously. They are not short sighted, developing systems and institutionalizing their best strengths in order to succeed today and in the future.

11. Leaders plan. They know that 90% of their time is best spent planning and 10% is spent on administrative work.

12. Leaders form partnerships. They don’t pretend to be lone rangers. They know that their success hinges upon their ability to use other people strategically. The partnerships of successful leaders are win-win partnerships. They ally themselves with anyone from customers, competitors, vendors and whatever sources bring the results their organizations need.

13. Leaders are not incremental. They transform. They welcome change and use change to keep on top of their industries.

14. Leaders admit their mistakes. They know how blame casts a fatal blow to morale and trust. They do not, however, gravel and seek pity. They acknowledge, learn, and move on.

15. Leaders are masters of observation. They listen, watch, and detect what others overlook. They use the subtle cues or observations to give them the upper hand when needed.

16. Leaders institutionalize their values, visions, accomplishments and strengths. They know how, through procedures and systems, to filter their strengths through the organization.

17. Leaders may leave physically, but not spiritually. Their legacies live on long after they have exited their employment.

18. Leaders don’t hold hands, they shape their organizations through shaping minds. They provide direction and guide. They do not believe in making decisions for their key subordinate right hands.

19. Leaders give credit where credit is due. They acknowledge and reward achievement and use the momentum from the accomplishments to fuel further success in their followers.

20. Leaders don’t provide positions out of the goodness of their hearts. They create positions and fill them based on the objectives and the vision of the company.

21. Leaders remain focused on the company missions and lead their followers to do the same.

22. Leaders are global thinkers. They don’t underestimate the power of the global economy. They constantly search for ways in which they can expand or benefit upon the global and they are keenly aware of the pitfalls of turning a blind eye to the global business markets.

23. Leaders know communication. They’re savvy interpersonal and technological communicators. They know the ins and outs of dealing with various personalities as well as they know how e-mail connects them to their front line staff.

24. Leaders think outside the box, inside the box and all around the box.

25. Leaders are not afraid to take an unorthodox approach. You’ll never hear one say, “We don’t/can’t do it that way.” They go beyond the “That’s the way we always do it” mentality to the “That’s the best way to do it.”

26. Leaders learn from leaders. They look to history, competitors and mentors. They are not too proud to always learn from those they admire.

27. Leaders know that there is always something more to learn. They are constantly feeding their minds. They know that the key to progressive transformation is found in ideas. They realize that success isn’t going to happen. They have to seek new ways in which to make it happen.

28. Leaders give ownership when it is strategically advantageous to do so. They give rewards and incentives, such as stock options, in order to keep key employees. They understand that rewards give birth to new successes.

29. Leaders create teams to achieve goals. They know that the meeting of two minds can develop opportunities that only one mind may miss. They successfully manage the interactions of their teams in order to meet desired ends.

30. Leaders develop creative ways to cut through unnecessary bureaucracy or eliminate hindering bureaucratic practices in order to expedite vital activities.

31. Leaders know that in order to keep pace and be innovative, they need to educate and empower their staffs. They provide training, education, and workshops to keep the minds they lead in top, competitive shape.

32. Leaders focus their people’s efforts on the customer.

33. Leaders understand that key employees are assets. They are careful about who is hired and appointed, understanding the ripple effects of putting the wrong people in the wrong places. Gary DiCamillo, Polaroid’s Chief Executive since 1995, has suffered the woes of poor employee retention, losing key people in sales and product development. It’s reported that most of these human resource assets were lost when DiCamillo filled his executive vice-president position with Judith Boynton, previous controller for Amoco. Key employees were baffled by the appointment and lost faith in DiCamillo for putting, what they thought, was an unqualified sub-leader in such a high-ranking position. Polaroid steadily lost $166 million since DiCamillo’s reign, from 1995 through 2000. [Source: Forbes 1-22-01 p. 69.]

34. Leaders know how to eliminate the wrong people.

35. Leaders are decisive.

36. Leaders have the courage to live with their decisions. *

37. Leaders work it out when things go wrong. They face problems head on and deal with the issues at hand quickly and effectively.

38. Leaders charge forward with urgency.

39. Leaders guard all assets that give them an edge. They are careful to set in place confidentiality systems and to properly license and trademark intellectual property, inventions and groundbreaking concepts.

40. Leaders know that even the greatest product is not enough. Often criticized for not acting quickly enough to develop spin-off products from its PT Cruiser, DaimlerChrysler recently revealed concept cars based on the blockbuster success of the PT Cruiser. Why? The market will always demand something new, better, more versatile, etc. The GT Cruiser Concept has a larger engine, the PT Cruiser Convertible Concept offers a sporty, fun twist, and the Panel Cruiser Concept is offered as a light cargo vehicle with its 119.8 cubic feet and wood base floor. The original PT Cruiser is one of the most sought out vehicles by buyers today; it’s sold at full list price and backordered for months at a time. DaimlerChrysler’s possibilities are endless. What are they doing with the product to renew it, to increase demand, and to prepare to fill that demand?

Look at the list again. How can you better motivate your staff to perform at higher levels? Do you see what might be slowing down progress? What might you need to improve upon in your quest to run uphill and seize the flags of victory? Chances are you’re doing a good job already. The question becomes, what can you do to convert from good to great? Prosper and enjoy!

© David and Lorrie Goldsmith

A bio is a key part of your marketing toolbox. And a well written one is worth it’s weight in gold! This seeming simple marketing blurb has the amazing power to wow the media, impress a decision maker, or showcase your expertise to any potential buyer. And, once you have written a good bio, you’ll find a million uses for it. In addition to adding one to your website, you can use in your article byline, email signature, one sheet, promotional flyers, brochures, sales letters, and more! But how you go about writing a bio?

Below are some 20 tips for what to include in your bio.

1. Area of expertise
2. Title and company name
3. Media coverage you have received including television, magazine, and radio
4. Topic you you are a sought after speaker on
5. Number of people you have spoken to
6. Number of counties you have spoken in
7. Names of books you have authored
8. Credentials including notable awards or recognitions you have won
9. Clubs or organizations that you are actively involved in
10. Personal insights such as what you believe, your mission, your vision
11. Quirky fact about you such as “A former school teacher-turned-confrontation expert, Jane helps people communicate more effectively. Or an avid baseball fan, when Bill is not speaking, you’ll find him eating hot dogs and watching the Chicago Cubs with his son Dave.
12. Interests or hobbies
13. Occupation of your parents, if it’s interesting and adds to the story. Ex: The son of Vermont Turkey Farmers, Jim Smith is….
13. What your hometown is known for.
14. Interesting or substantial former careers
15. What led you to start your current business
16. What you help people to do
17. Events that shaped your life
18. Offices you have held
19. Call to action like “For a free report on “9 Ways to Build your Bottom Line” visit (insert your URL).

Generating MLM blog traffic depends first and foremost on what you have to say. If it is boring, lame, or focused on blatant advertising of products and services, you will get very poor results. this article discusses ten proven ways to generate MLM blog traffic.

Very good content will dominate your niche. The platform you use for your mlm blog will determine how well it dominates. And how often and consistently yo post to your blog, ping and buzz your posts and link to other bloggers will dictate how long you dominate.

Here are ten excellent ways new bloggers generate MLM blog traffic and find new readers.

Top Ten MLM Blog Traffic Tips

10. Write at least five major “pillar” articles. A pillar article is usually a tutorial style article aimed to teach your audience something. Generally they are at least 500 words but less than 600 and have plenty of very practical tips or advice. The more pillars you have on your MLM blog the better you will generate MLM blog traffic.

9. Write at least one new blog post per day.. Not every post has to be a pillar, but you should get those those five pillars done at the same time as you keep your blog fresh with a daily news or short article style post. it is important to demonstrate to first time visitors that your blog is updated all the time.

8. Use a proper domain name.

7. Start commenting on other blogs. Comment on blogs focused on a similar niche topic to yours since the readers there will be more likely to be interested in your blog.

6. Trackback and link to other blogs in your blog posts. A trackback is like a blog conversation. When you write a new article to your blog and it links or references another blogger’s article you can do a trackback to their entry. This leaves an abbreviated summary of your blog post on their blog entry – much like your blog telling someone else’s blog that you wrote an article mentioning them. Trackbacks often appear like comments.

A trackback leaves a link from another blog back to yours for readers to follow, It also gets the attention of another blogger.

5. Encourage comments on your own blog. Always respond to comments as well so you can keep the conversation going.

4. Submit your latest pillar article to a blog carnival. A blog carnival is a post in a blog that summarizes a collection of articles from many different blogs on a specific topic.

To find the right blog carnival for your blog, do a search at http://blogcarnival.com/.

3. Submit your blog to blogtopsites.com. You have to copy and paste a couple of lines of code on to your blog . This will help you generate mlm blog traffic as you will get one to ten subscribers a day with this method.

2. Submit your articles to EzineArticles.com.

1. Write more pillar articles. Without strong pillar articles you may bring in readers but they will not bother to come back. Shoot for one solid pillar article per week and by the end of the year you will have a database of over fifty strong feature articles that will work hard for you to generate mlm blog traffic and more readers

There are a number of ways to get visitors to your website but what can you do to keep them there? Below we are going to discuss 10 things you can implement to make your visitors stick around.

The number of visitors who land on a site and quickly move on is called the bounce rate. Most websites that have a high bounce rate are not currently using these techniques or have no clue as to what their market really wants and needs.

Here are 10 proven tips to keep visitors on your site longer.

1. Teach your visitors something. Visitors don’t want loads of hype, they want to learn and increase their knowledge of your product or industry so they can make an informed decision.

Provide informational content about your product or services. Teach your visitors and this will help them create a good opinion about your site.

2. Keep the navigation simple. Navigation links should be large and clearly labeled. Have you ever been to a cultural restaurant but couldn’t tell the men’s restroom from the women’s? While you may think themed titles are cute, your visitors may become confused and end up leaving your website. If in doubt, always go with the more common title.

3. Keep your content updated. Try to update times, dates, and news articles as much as possible. You don’t want your website to sound like it was published in the stone age do you? If you’re running an information based site than it is important to consistently add fresh and unique content.

4. Add a blog. Blogs can be added to your site with a few clicks if your web host includes the option within your hosting package. If not, you can always start a free blog at Blogger.com or Wordpress.com and link it back to your website.

Blogs are an easy way to add new content. It’s a great way to add user-generated content and it’s a amazing way to build a dedicated group of visitors who visit your blog everyday. Since blogs create interaction with your visitors it also builds trust and creates the feel that there is actually someone on the other side of the website.

Blogs that offer quality content always carry a loyal group of followers and often create a hefty income.

5. List and describe product benefits. Most site owners describe the product’s features, example: Rubber coated speaker, 2-ohm total impedance , etc., Your visitors don’t purchase features, they purchase the benefits that the product or service will provide for them. Is your product a time saver? Is it easier to use than most competing products? Make sure you describe how the product will make the visitors life more productive, more fun, easier, or better.

6. Provide product pictures and related images. People like to visualize things. Ever wonder where day dreaming came from? Websites with relevant images help stimulate the visitors emotions and emotions drive sales. Remember a picture is worth 1,000 words.

7. Make sure your visitor knows their purchase is secure. More than one-half of all buyers won’t buy online because they’re afraid of getting scammed.

Proudly display signs of trust like BBB Online and Verisign logos. Make sure your visitors know your site is secure or most will not feel comfortable making the purchase.

8. Make sure your informational content is accurate. Your visitors will stick around to read your message especially when you back it up with references and third party awards.

9. Ask for site feedback. Provide your visitor with a way of leaving feedback for you and other readers.

Testimonials are a powerful tool because they give your product credibility from a third party. Testimonials can be a trust builder, especially if you provide a reference (phone number, email address, ect. ) for them to contact the user that gave the testimonial. Most of the time your visitors will not contact the person that gave the testimonial but it helps build trust and provides a more authentic feel.

10. Test and Tweak. Not every site will be a home run the first time it steps to the plate. Use tools like Google Analytics to determine what makes your visitors stick around and what makes them “bounce”. You then proceed to build on the good and drop the bad.

Tweaking your website will improve the performance of your sales funnel and link popularity over time. The difference between a site that generates 100% ROI (return-on-investment) and 500% ROI is usually a matter of split testing and tweaking.

Successful sites keep their visitors interested with easy-to-find information that fulfills the visitors wants and needs. That is what separates the beauty from the beast.

1. When first starting out in the PPC search engines keep your bids close to $0.10 and never pay over $0.30 until you gain more experience. If you find yourself to low on certain keywords, just drop them and add more until you get your desired spots. Once you find a winner, raise your bids to get more traffic.

2. You are shooting for at least a 40% and ideally a 50% return on your advertising dollars. So if your selling a product that gives you a $20 commission, and a particular keyword takes 50 visitors to create a sale, than a 50% return would put your bid at no higher than $0.20 per click.

3. Fund your accounts with the lowest possible amount allowable. This will help you get started and get a feel for the system, without breaking the bank.

4. Never pay more than $50 on any particular ad without seeing a return on your investment. You need to either change the ad or start promoting a new product.

5. A great way to maximize your profits is to run two separate ads for the same product at the same time. This way you can see what ad is bringing in more sales. Drop the bad ad and add a new one until you are satisfied with the results.

6. When you decide what website or websites to promote, take the time to read the website and get familiar with it. Than pick your keywords and place your ads.

7. Make sure to keep up with your ads, watch them closely, and check your Affiliate Affiliate Bank account to see if the ad is pulling it’s weight.

8. Try to use your keywords in your ads as much as possible, it is known to give you a better conversion rate.

9. Add new keywords to your ads as you find new ones and get rid of the ones that are not producing. You need to maximize your profits whenever possible.

10. When you have an ad that’s producing nice for you always be looking for the next hit, this way you can have multiple streams of money coming in from different ads around the clock.