After all has been said and done

It’s time to say so long, adieu, adios, farewell, arrivederci, au revoir, hasta la vista, sayonara, and goodbye!

But before you think of anything permanent about my departure, think again. Of course not! Yes, I will be away for awhile but not that I’ll be gone forever…I’ll just be on…vacation!

Finally! A Vacation!

All this talk about My Dream Vacation has finally pushed me to the edge, so to speak, and I’m packing my bags, bringing my wife and children, and jetting off to a place where there’s going to be fun under the sun!

Imagine…two weeks! That’s 14 days or 336 hours or 20,160 minutes of bliss! And while I frolic under the sun, it unfortunately means you will not be hearing from me at all during this time. I’ll be totally locked out from the virtual world and immersed in a whole new world, discovering new things, and exploring new places with my loved ones!

So in the next two weeks, there will be no blogposts and no blog comments.

I’ll be sad to be disconnected from all of you for this long and I know I’ll probably miss a lot but I know that everybody agrees that we all deserve a break. Right? Right!

And we also know that I’ll be fired up when I get back to dish out something new and exciting to share with all of you.

So, until then, hope you all have a great two weeks ahead of you as I will definitely have.

Keep Safe, Everyone!

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To Your Success,

Elmar Sandyck

Remember the post I made back in May about Compelling Content Ideas While On Vacation?

Briefly, I just wanted to come up with an excuse for apparently still “working” while enjoying a drink by the beach this summer.

You know how it is when you’re away somewhere and your mind drifts off to Never Neverland and you have the tendency, well, more like a penchant, for forgetting other things like deadlines.

Well, thank heavens for my amazing commentators, I have elicited some compelling content ideas from them!

From Marcus Baker:

Here are some possible vacation oriented ideas you could play around with –

*Mini vacation ideas for entrepreneurs who can’t take a real/long one
*Practical ways to take care of business when you’re away on vacation
*X Places I’d rather be writing a blog post from than here

Cheers
Marcus

From Janet Callaway:

Why not write about why you go on vacation, what it does for you, how it impacts your attitude towards your life and your work?

Also, how and why do you select the spot where you go on vacation.

How is enjoying the work you do like being on vacation?

Best wishes for a terrific week, Elmar. Aloha. Janet

From Raverture:

Talk everything about the place where you will spend your vacation. Discover new things while you are there at that area. Let the readers feel the bliss and exciting activities while staying there in that place.

From Calli:

I love the beach too and we share the same visions for a grand vacation. I’d surely be envious with your summer vacation post. But to answer your question, I’d like to hear how you relate online entrepreneurship from your vacation or from the business environment of the place where you’re going.

Just to respond to these compelling content ideas, I thought I’d just fill in some things about my dream vacation!

I prefer to go on a holiday with my wife and the kids so I eventually choose places where there’s room to play, to swim, and where they can amuse themselves.

A great vacation for me should have the following: sun, nature, a swimming pool, good food, friendly people, tranquillity (not too much noise), enough sleep (I do lack sleep sometimes!) and, of course, in the company of my wife and our children.

Summer ain’t over yet and now I’m dreaming about the Seychelles Islands next. Don’t you just love the perks that come with being your own boss?

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To Your Success,

Elmar Sandyck

Every year, Americans celebrate their Independence Day on July 4th and it is always coupled with so much pomp and pageantry! (Not to mention family outings, road trips, and of course, the ubiquitous sales happening all over the country!)

In the hustle and bustle of all of these and everything in between, I just hope that the real essence of what this special day holds to every American still ring true. A look back into history would reveal that the July 4th marked the declaration of independence of the US from British rule. I am then, of course, referring to the precious concept of independence.

I know that you will have to agree with me that everyone in the Internet marketing business has declared our own independence day from the moment we said “yes!” to emancipating ourselves from the traditional business set-up and shifted to a career that we can truly call our very own.

The very reason why we are enjoying the good things in life at our own leisurely pace, at our time, and at our own direction, is because we have become independent.

And we relish it!

We Are Our Own Bosses.
We Call The Shots.
We Decide.

And We Can Go On Vacations Anywhere At Any Time With Our Family! And, this for me is the best thing about being independent.

The fact that we are able to earn money and yet enjoy the good things in life is amazing, right?

How Often Do You Get This
Chance Of Getting The
Best Of Both Worlds?

Only Network Marketing
Can Do This!

If you look at my personal profile and read my story, you will know and have an inkling of what’s the story behind this smiling face that you always see in the blog comments section. Perhaps, then, you will understand where I’m coming from and realize that I am just putting a face to all the independent men and women of the Internet marketing industry!

To everyone in the business and to all those contemplating to join in the fold, Happy Independence Day!

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To Your Success,

Elmar Sandyck

Has Time sped up its clock or is it just me feeling the urgency of the days?

I look at my calendar and I’m really surprised to see that this week is the last week of June! And July will be upon us this Friday! The mid-year mark is almost over and we’re well on our way to the second half of 2011.

I just realized this when I read Janet Callaway’s blog post recently and after reading Jayne Kopp’s recent respite.

How’s everybody holding up?

I know of some friends, especially in the sales industry, who’re busy trying to reach their quotas this early to ensure a stress-free holiday vacation in December.

How about you in the online marketing industry?

Do You Have Mid-Year Goals?

Me, I don’t have one. I keep more of a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly goal. I just feel that my long-term goals should be compartmentalized into shorter ones. Mid-year assessment, maybe, not mid-year goals; just to check whether I’m still on track and probably take a breather if necessary.

Is anybody experiencing any mid-year crisis? I hope not!

The last thing that we need to have at the close of the first half of the year is to start unraveling. We may be down in the dumps at some point but we just need to re-energize ourselves a bit and get on with our long-term goals!

Did You Know That A Crisis Is A
Situation That Allows Us To Make
Quick Judgments Or Decisions
Based On Our Set Values?

So, if and when you are in some kind of mid-crisis, then, just let it be, not resisting the current, and let your values guide you into making the right decision!

When you’re faced head on with something that needs quick thinking, I believe that you’ll eventually know what to do. Perhaps it may not be the wisest decision that you could make but at that moment, it will be the best that you could do to address the situation as it unfolded.

My point being is, mid-year goals or not, let us not be too harsh and exacting with ourselves all the time. Let’s take time out and enjoy the sun. Let’s enjoy life with all its many imperfections. Learn from it and then move on with a fresh start.

Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below. If you enjoyed this post, don’t forget to share, retweet, or bookmark! Thank you!

To Your Success,

Elmar Sandyck

There are some people wanting to enter a new business,

an entrepreneur, that doesn’t really think much about what he’s venturing into:

He doesn’t read up on the industry he wants to foray in, he doesn’t do research, he doesn’t make a feasibility study, he doesn’t get advice from people in the business, and he doesn’t believe in equipping himself with the proper training in business.

He Does Have One Thing, Though:
Belief In One’s Self.

Belief in one’s self is a good start, actually. It’s one of the most difficult traits to have. Not everyone is self-confident and sure of himself and what he really wants. Belief in one’s self or one’s faith that he could do it and make it big really ranks high in terms of a person’s capacity to withstand adversity.

But, do you think that’s enough?

Let’s even put in patience, determination, and perseverance, or, even lots of money in the equation.

Do You Honestly Think
That This Could Make You
Successful In Business?

It depends, actually.

For someone who’s really a whiz or a genius, perhaps, belief in one’s self may be all that he needs. But for most of us, especially if you’re the type of person who had to give up a lot of things from your previous work and had to start from scratch to jumpstart a business, you just wouldn’t leave it all to chance, would you?

• Yes, you need to risk but it has to be a calculated one.
• Yes, you need to jump into the water but you have to know how deep it is first.
• You need to know and you need to be informed.
• You need to learn.
  

Like a new student taking up an entirely new course, you need proper training in business.

And it’s never too late to acknowledge the fact that you need help. Despite all your good intentions, good motives, and good predisposition, you should enter your new business prepared and ready to face the daily battles head on.

Learning and undergoing training is your weapon in this battleground that is business. You don’t lose anything and you gain everything.

Remember that in the end, ignorance is more expensive than a good and proper training in business.

Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below. If you enjoyed this post, don’t forget to share, retweet, or bookmark! Thank you!

To Your Success,

Elmar Sandyck

The mere fact that we are doing business online is already a clear indication that we are going green.

Doing business online means doing things paperless. Just imagine the number of trees spared from cutting due to the less demand in actual paperwork like printing, photocopying, mailing, and filing as we have been accustomed to in a traditional business set-up.

Online, we store everything in the computer. We can go around sending and receiving documents that were scanned and sent to us/received by us via email. And it’s all stored and filed away for easy access whenever we need it. The challenging part, though, is keeping track of all these files. But, it’s all a matter of organization and deserves an entirely different post altogether!

But, How Green Are You In
Your Internet Business?

In an era where doing business online is not just enough; we have to do our bit of social responsibility in making sure we also help the environment for the common social good. In the first place, we live in a global village and we look out for one another.

Your internet business, although paperless, runs on energy. To begin with, you turn on the lights, the computer, and the airconditioning unit or heater when you work. Then, you could probably be turning on the TV or the radio and charging not one but two of your phones and other gadgets, too!

Well, believe it or not, we could still do our bit part in going green in our online business!

According to Mashable.com, here are the ten things that we could do:

1. Environmentally Friendly Web Hosting

2. Offset Your Carbon Usage

3. The 350 lbs. Project

4. Join 1% For the Planet

5. Offer Eco-Incentives to Subscribers

6. Encourage Green Lifestyle Changes

7. Simplify Your Design

8. Speed Up Your Site

9. Use Printer-Friendly Versions of Content

10. Consider Your Colors

One simple step from our end could already make a significant impact on the environment and the common social good.

For more details on going green while doing business online, you could check out the full article here:

http://mashable.com/2010/01/01/green-your-web-site/

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To Your Success,

Elmar Sandyck

Ahh. Marriage. Love. Liquor.

I don’t believe they go together but, well, hear me out first.

Entering marriage is one of the most serious things that one can get into: the promise of lifelong commitment, of fidelity, of starting a family, of unending love, of taking a vow to cherish someone in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, ‘til death do them part. In short, it’s a no-way-out-kind-of-commitment. (Of course, we do have divorce and in some countries, annulment. So, you do have a way out; just a little harder and expensive).

The point is, right from the very moment you popped the question to your loved one, you knew why you were marrying him or her. And, right from the moment you said “yes,” you already knew what the promise of lifelong commitment or partnership entails. As a true romantic, I’d like to believe that you married or will marry for the right reason – LOVE.

But, the harsh reality is that, most people marry for a variety of reasons like getting pregnant at such a young age, forced by parents, wanting to escape something, etc. And when you marry in Vegas, you may have just married out of a drunken stupor, thus, the inspiration for the title of this post.

Ok. So, what’s really my point in discussing marriage?

Not that it’s June, the marry-est month of the year.

I cannot even claim to be a marriage guru. (Although, I’m really happy to note that I have been blessed with a happy marriage for years.)

My Real Point Is:
Goal-Setting.

In everything that we put forth a promise of lifelong commitment, we have to be truly firm with our goals.

• What is our aim?
• What is our reason for entering this partnership?

Same is true when you are doing any kind of business like the MLM business. You need to understand the very core of why you’re doing it in the first place. Once you’ve made that commitment, you have to realize that there will be ups and downs, trials, defeats, failures, and yet, at the end of the day, you ask yourself: why am I here?

And when you go to that safe place of knowing your goals, you persevere, you trod on, and you don’t give up easily.

Unless, you were really, really drunk.

Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below. If you enjoyed this post, don’t forget to share, retweet, or bookmark! Thank you!

To Your Success,

Elmar Sandyck

I chatted with my niece back in the US and in her animated 4-year old voice she told me that they had an Easter egg-hunting in school.

She managed to hunt some bunnies that hold Easter egg chocolates. I was so happy to hear her tale when her smile suddenly left her face and told me with furrowed eyebrows that she was “tiny.” I asked her what does it have to do with Easter egg-hunting? “A lot,” she said, “because I couldn’t reach it!” (referring to the bunnies). I nervously laughed but over the weekend this got me thinking – the first of my Easter weekend reflections – how tiny we feel sometimes.

Tiny Means Very Small; Minute;
Diminutive; Little; Teeny.

I could’ve just laughed about my niece’s predicament and dismissed it offhand but maybe it’s because I am already “big” that I couldn’t relate to being “tiny” anymore. For a moment there, I closed my eyes and imagined myself being surrounded by taller and bigger people and all of us trying to reach for something above.

I could picture myself scared that I might be crushed from the weight of the people bigger than me and I thought I could barely thrust out my hand so high up it might just get smacked. Then, while the rest got most of the Easter egg chocolates I am left with perhaps just one because it accidentally fell on the floor from the commotion and I happen to be tiny enough to have just picked it up. And I understood what my niece felt.

Funny how a simple tale of “tini-ness” could spur an Easter weekend reflection.

We do feel tiny sometimes. Insignificant. Not a stand-out. Hampered by a limitation. Remember my post on Overcoming Limiting Beliefs? I had to get back to it and refresh my memory about going past beyond our limitations.

Even If We Are Literally Tiny, We Could
Actually Become Big If We Only
Believe In What We Can Do.

Easter heralds a new beginning. Let us welcome it with a renewed fervor to feeling big despite being tiny.

What was your Easter weekend reflection?

Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below. If you enjoyed this post, don’t forget to share, retweet, or bookmark! Thank you!

To Your Success,

Elmar Sandyck

When you go out and meet people in the networking industry, what do you bring with you?

I assume you have a laptop for your presentations, brochures and other marketing materials?

What else?

Well, more than all the trappings of a networker, what you bring with you is YOU! Yessirree! Yourself. You are who you represent. And in our niche in MLM, we pretty much are like turtles carrying our entire package on our backs.

This is what you call personal branding.

So, can you tell and can they tell what is your brand?

Look And Dress The Part.

Just like any product brand, one should have some sort of personal logo that best identifies with what you represent. In my case, my logo is my brand. Empowered online entrepreneurs. It pretty much says what I really am.

I Am Empowered and I Am An Online Entrepreneur.

And with this sense of empowerment, I should represent myself to be someone strong and credible. That means, I shouldn’t dress sloppy but dress with confidence. As it is my mission to influence other people to join in the industry, I have to make sure that I look pleasant, respectful, and great. My presence should be commanding enough to draw attention.

Speak The Part.

Looking great could already generate lasting first impressions. I would probably be remembered for a great-looking suit I wore in a first meeting. But what is really crucial is the first time I opened my mouth and uttered my first word. How confident did I sound? Did I speak eloquently and clearly? Was my message clear? Did I come off as someone who is really sure of what he was talking about? Your communication skills could really affect your overall personal branding.

Act The Part.

How did I behave? Was I courteous? Was I pleasant? Did I give a firm handshake? Did I observe proper decorum, business etiquette, and addressed all the persons that I meet with their proper titles? Was I punctual in my meetings? These things are often neglected and taken for granted but these have such great bearings in your first impressions that if you bungle up in this department, it may be the last time you would ever see your client.

Do The Part.

Part of your personal branding is of course, the lasting impression. Did you achieve what you came to the meeting for? Did you get information from the prospect? Asked questions well? Answered questions well? Promised to get in touch? Did a follow-up some days later? A follow-through is very important after giving someone enough time to think about your proposal. In fact, doing a follow-up is one of the most important things you will ever do in order to make your prospects feel special.

So, what is your personal brand?

Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below. If you enjoyed this post, don’t forget to share, retweet, or bookmark! Thank you!

To Your Success,

Elmar Sandyck

Do you see yourself as a hero?
And, do you believe yourself to be a hero?

The answer to these questions may just surprise you as you unveil the hero inside of you.
Ilka Flood of The Enlightened Networker, a very good friend and one of my greatest supporters, has recently reciprocated my invitation to her to do a guest blog here by likewise extending to me the greatest opportunity to address her followers and readers through a guest posting. And, my, what a challenge it was!

I admit I had some apprehensions because she already has a formidable following but I was at the same time so excited because I would have a new forum to air some of my thoughts.

And the first thing that came to my mind while thinking about the best topic to discuss is about tapping the hero in us.

Largely inspired by Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero’s Journey,” I felt that an inspiring outline of how we can make a difference in our lives as well as other people’s lives could generate a good sharing of positive feedback and opinions. Sometimes I feel that we really underestimate the power to do something good in all of us because we are just held back by an unbelieving self.

If We Only Start Believing That We Can, Then We Can!

So, dear readers and followers do join me in this hero’s journey by reading my guest blog over at The Enlightened Networker’s website entitled, “How To Tap The MLM Hero In You.”

The Enlightened Networkers’ followers gave some great comments! Hope to read what you think of it, too!

Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below. If you enjoyed this post, don’t forget to share, retweet, or bookmark! Thank you!

To Your Success,

Elmar Sandyck