First let’s look at the company itself – Lightyear has been in business since 1993 in Louisville, KY where they have served both residential and commercial companies. They are an Accredited Member of the Better Business Bureau with a solid rating and they are a publicly traded company as well. The network marketing opportunity with Lightyear began in 2008 and is currently still in the pre-momentum phase – this means massive opportunity for those that see the vision now!

So what is this vision? Well the flagship product offering is no-contract (formerly known as pre-paid) wireless which offers unlimited talk, text and web on the Sprint and Verizon 3G (soon to be 4G) networks. This product is no contract, no credit check, no deposit, no overages – NO HASSLE and is offered at $59.99/mo. Unlike contracts, this product does not tack on huge fees and taxes – in fact, only about $5 worth – so for about $65/mo – you get it all – Talk, Text and Web. Okay.. so what – lots of companies offer stuff like this. Well,  coming soon customers will also get a referral site and when they refer 5 – their service becomes FREE! Not just for the month but for LIFE – as long as everyone remains active – and why wouldn’t they? The demand for no contract wireless has skyrocketed with over 70% of new customers in 2010 moving to a no contract option – folks there are over 4 million cell phone users in the U.S. today and that number grows daily – the upside potential here is enormous.

Well, what about the iPhone? The exclusive deal with AT&T expires in October 2010 and then the iPhone will also be available on Verizon. And, in the future, all the major carriers will be available under the Lightyear umbrella so… no worries! (Also.. AT&T has recently decided to discontinue unlimited data plans)

Well… okay but I have time left on my existing contract with my current carrier and/or, I have an iPhone and I don’t want to give it up to be a Representative with Lightyear – No Problem! Lightyear understands this and there is absolutely no requirement for representatives to also be customers (WHAT? That’s just UNHEARD OF in Network Marketing!) yes, it’s true. You can own your business, participate in 100% of the compensation plan and NOT even be a user of the services – this is what is called a customer acquisitions platform. Of course if you want to – you get a free phone and can also get your phone service for free when you refer three customers or representatives – Free Service for LIFE – nice bonus!

So far, so good but how do I make money? Glad you asked! As a Lightyear representative you make money by acquiring customers and opening new stores with new representatives. Lightyear handles all the customer service for you -you get paid a percentage of each customer’s monthly payments for their service as well as on the revenue generated by your team. In addition you get paid a very generous portion of the new business start up fee. Of course the percentages go up as you advance in the company and all of that is best explained at our informational site..

So what do I get as a representative to help me run and grow my business? Your Lightyear Wireless business comes fully equipped with top notch websites for business and customer interest, outstanding training and education all online, and as a partner with me, you get the full support of my team which includes veteran network marketers that have all built multi-million-dollar companies in the industry. Oh, I almost forgot – Lightyear also offers standard contract wireless, VoIP, MIFI (internet) and more!

My question for YOU is… Why NOT Lightyear? Take a tour of my site (you’ll get one just like it) or, to become a customer only – hop on over here

I look forward to speaking with you soon -
Peace~
Leanne

What will you spend $25 on this month? A movie? A bad lunch at a fast food restaurant? Some gadget you picked up at the check out line at the store? Whatever it is, most likely it will be something you really didn’t need and that will not hold any real value to you after you spend the money. Hey we ALL do it – sometimes it’s more than once a month! LOL!

Now let’s say you can turn that $25 into a monthly residual income . What if I told you it was guaranteed to be $22,300 per month, every month – FOR EVERYONE that completes the steps as they are laid out! I know it sounds too good to be true – I thought the same thing – until I investigated it. It is legal, ethical and very exciting! This is NOT cash gifting, it is not MLM, it is not a Pyramid – it is a marketing strategy that is just brilliant! And the BIGGEST risk is your $25 – which you are going to spend anyway. Wouldn’t you shout this from the rooftops? I know I did! But the good thing is that you only need to tell 5 people that are serious about changing their lives and are willing to complete the steps. That’s it – no more, no less – 5 people in your first 20 days.

NOW… it get’s even better – you are just 100 days away from the income. Here’s the most important information that you MUST absolutely understand – you have 20 days to qualify or you lose your spot forever – qualifying is helping your 5 people get started – that’s IT. You don’t have to do anything else – you are responsible for them alone – you don’t have to get them qualified, you don’t need to have more than 5. If one quits – we guarantee to fill the position FOR YOU – you do your job, we do ours.

If this holds any interest – and you are ready to get started – you can proceed to step 2 (here’s a hint, Pam in AZ learned about this on Wednesday morning before she went to work. Wednesday evening she called me up – I spoke to 5 people – they all said they are IN so get me started!) How easy is this?

Step 2 – Hop on over HERE and register for the free tour. Once you do that, I will be in touch to answer your questions and get you set up – My team and I will even help your people get set up as well. (By the way – this available in over 250 Countries!)

Step 3 – Get your 5 to follow steps one and two! Easy Peasy, Rice and Cheesy!

See you on the Beach!
Peace~
Leanne

PART DUEX…

After getting some feedback and talking to a few folks I thought it might be useful to provide you some more information so this doesn’t seem so mysterious!

So… What exactly is THIS? Well it’s called ASHMAX, named after it’s creator Ash Muhfareh. Ash is a master marketer and actually came out of ‘retirement’ to put this together because he wanted something extraordinary for folks to really be able to make a better than average residual income in a much shorter than average time-frame.

Ashmax itself is a marketing tool that leverages the pay plans of two well known, stable and respected internet based companies – GDI (Global Domains International) and Freeway to Success (FTS). Ashmax is free – it doesn’t collect or pay any money – all of that is done through GDI and FTS. It’s actually very smart and very simple so here’s how it works:

Register through Ashmax and get your login information.

Work with me or a member of my team to get signed up correctly with GDI and FTS – it will cost $10 for GDI and $15 for FTS (this is your one time out of pocket cost of $25).

Now this part is CRITICAL and it’s the ONLY thing you are responsible for doing – share this with 5 people that are interested in creating a solid residual income in 100 days or less – you must have all of them become full members within 20 days of the day that YOU started (they will have the same requirements only their 20 days starts on the day they sign up). After you have completed this step you don’t have to do anything else – Ashmax handles the rest including guaranteed spillover and filling in any dropouts on your team (if someone or even ALL 5 – fail to get their 5 in 20 days they are removed – this is strictly enforced because the 100 day time limit must be met for the residual income to start but YOU are protected by the plan and your income is NOT at risk – you did your part and the system does the rest). NOTE: just because someone is removed from the Ashmax, does not remove them from GDI or FTS – they may keep those and build on their own or they may cancel at any time – the only thing at risk here is the $25 start up).

Once the matrix is filled and you begin receiving the first residuals (because you will start getting smaller checks along the way) and you are in profit with FTS – everyone will use a little profit to upgrade in FTS to the Gold package ($15) – this creates a third compensation level and completes the process to start receiving the $22K checks – it will actually be three checks – one from GDI and two from FTS. There are never any fees of any kind for Ashmax. Ultimately the “auto ship” is a total of $30/month but when your income is more than $22K/month – it’s pretty much a no brainer.

So.. that’s it… how great would it be to be able to help five people discover this and change their lives? To me.. that’s priceless!
Peace~
Leanne

I know you might be thinking – but Leanne, I do all my business on the internet or telephone – no one sees me so why does it matter if I’m in good health. OR you might be saying I have this home business BECAUSE I am not in good enough health to work outside the home. Listen, I’m not saying you need to be a fitness model or body builder. If you have health issues already then keeping yourself in the best level of health you can attain is just as important. But a LOT of us out here in cyberland lead rather sedentary lives that get more sedentary the longer we “live” online. In addition, we often don’t eat, forget to eat, don’t eat well when we do eat. I’m guilty here too so I’m not pointing fingers anywhere but in the mirror. However, I have made some recent changes in both my activity level (I now do high-intensity weight training three days a week and get some activity in at home in between) and my diet which includes things I have said I would NEVER use (I mix up a protein shake concoction twice a day now and not only do I feel so much better, I am losing weight too). The shakes are not the worst thing I have ever had – I make them with fruit – and they include things like Whey Protein, Egg Protein, Fiber, Essential Oils, Vitamin C and a special blend of liquid vitamins. It took a little getting used to and I have a secret ingredient that makes them taste a little better – 1/4 tsp of Organic Cinnamon – it really gives it an extra kick and Cinnamon is good for you too! I tried a 1/2 tsp but it was too much – it’s VERY strong stuff! LOL!

Anyway… I want to spend a little extra time in this post talking about the liquid vitamins I use for my shake because not all liquids are created equal and I have found, what I believe, to be the best blend on the market anywhere today. It would be shorter for me to list what’s NOT in this stuff – of course it has your expected Vitamins and Trace Minerals but it has so much more – if you are a JUICE person it’s got it – Acai, Mangosteen, Pomegranant… how about bone and joint health? Yup, it’s in there! Cardiovascular support? In there! Mood enhancer and vision support? In There… in fact it’s 10 levels of support in one! IT’S IN THERE!!!

So here’s why I started using this product – I was already using a liquid vitamin in my shakes but it was not as complete as this one AND it was costing me the same amount of money every month – even a couple dollars more and I wasn’t even having it shipped. This product replaces what I was using, it costs a couple dollars less (even WITH the shipping) AND, the best part… I got a completely free home based business out of it too! So now I can share this product with you – you can try it out 100% risk free (because the company offers a 60 day, Empty Bottle, Money Back Guarantee). You won’t pay an “inflated price” (remember I am actually SAVING a few dollars a month over what I was buying retail locally), AND if you like it, you can refer folks and make some money for it just like me! To learn more about how to get the product and see the business, just hop on over to http://BizOnABudget.com and check it ALL OUT!! You won’t be disappointed!

Peace~
Leanne

While it may be somewhat true that if you have the plan and the skills, you could make any business profitable – the old “selling Ice to an Eskimo” idea…. but the truth is, not all business opportunities (and I’m talking about the network marketing industry here) are created equal – and we all know that.

So with the “net” constantly swirling and turning out a new “biz op” every 15 minutes or so… what does one use to filter these? Let’s look at some at some key indicators here and then have you, my reader and or group member, contribute your own criteria!

1. One of the BIG deals that has come up recently is Company Ownership – this happened because some of the newer “ops” out there have had very questionable ownership – so there has been a trend on “who owns the company” kind of questions. I think disclosure of the ownership and corporate officers is a reasonable thing to expect if you are buying into a company and so, if that information doesn’t exist, that should be a red -flag. If it DOES exist, do your due diligence (and NOT just a GOOGLE search because anyone can write anything).

2. Business Model – does the company have a business model and business plan that makes sense and that can be reviewed before you buy in? The home-based business industry generally revolves around the direct sales of products, services or both. The questions then become, does the product line offer real value to an end customer that is either on par with or cannot otherwise be found in the regular consumer modality? One thing that kills me is when I see folks trying to make a living with a company that is competing directly against them in their own marketplace by offering direct to the consumer channels (I hate to name names but there is an AVON store at my local shopping gallery). Or how about “me too” products like in the health/nutrition genre – look there’s nothing wrong with that and every company has their own proprietary “blends or delivery mechanisms” – the general challenge here is getting people to buy into the new products – think about how hard an established company like Kraft or Coca-Cola have to work to introduce new products in an effort to increase market-share. They test market before they roll out and even then, it sometimes doesn’t work – anyone remember “New Coke”? The moral is, the public is fickle but also loyal and getting people to change, even for their own good, can be a losing battle and a big hit to the wallet in the meantime.

3. Compensation Plan – Okay.. this is a big one. How do you get paid AND where does that Money Come From? The “rule” is that compensation must be derived in whole or in a majority part, from product sales and not from business kits or marketing tools. But the one thing that is not stipulated is WHO is buying the products – if your customers ARE your distributors… well that pretty much becomes a problem because it’s really hard to make money on product sales if you are more likely to get another distributor than you are to convert an actual retail customer. I worked for Gap, Inc after college for a while and the employees, at that time, got a HUGE discount on EVERYTHING even sale items (I could buy a $70 sweater off the sale rack for like $3.00 – NOT even kidding) but Gap did not make it’s money from sales to employees or even on sale items – it made it’s money on the retail customer buying first run fashions at generous mark-ups. Those folks were actual customers, even the sale shoppers were still revenue generators – but not the employees buying deep discounts on everything in the store. Okay.. so… if your compensation is REALLY dependent only on new distributors, and those same people are your customers… well… what happens when your distributors start to quit or become inactive? Your PAYCHECK goes away! And this discussion doesn’t even go into the many actual compensation plans, qualification requirements and pin levels …. suffice it to say… KNOW your PLAN and UNDERSTAND where your $$ comes from.

4. Who Shows Up For Dinner? – A lot of companies have “celebrity” endorsers – the question is who and why? Are the endorsements from Paid Endorsers or from folks actually wanting to be associated with the company? There’s nothing wrong with paid endorsements of course and they can do a LOT for sales – look at Nike or Gatorade! But in the home-based business there is a culture of trust that is slightly different than in the “regular world” and that has to do with the idea that “regular” folks can make “extraordinary” financial returns by really caring about each other an helping each other to succeed. So… an endorsement that is come by “organically” because the company is really offering something of value to the global community is a great thing to be able to point to. Hey I’m not naive here, I know that everyone get’s something out of it – it’s not just pure altruism – but corporate giving is something that “regular” businesses take great pride in and that should not be any different here.

5. The Balance Sheet – This may be one of the most elusive areas to research and many companies out there will state they are solvent or debt free but that may or may not be true and since most are NOT publicly traded, they don’t have to “show” their books. The trouble these are, for the most part, expensive endeavors to start up and keep running. Remember, in the U.S. more than 70% of small businesses fail in the first 3 to 5 years. Imagine now, all the moving parts required to keep a business that has to manage people, products, and down-lines all moving in the same, profitable, direction. This business is really BIG business, wearing a robe and slippers and pretending to be “grass roots”. If you are looking at a more established company this issue will be easier to ferret out but with so many start-ups out there and the propensity for OP-HOPPING, it’s worth it to consider if your money is going directly to “start up capital” and therefore if your ability to get paid will be questionable.

6. Income Potential – How many times have you seen the chart with your “perfect world” scenario and then that gets knocked back to “real world” of just 10% production and you think ‘Yeah, I can do that much’… but those boards are always built on the idea of “sponsoring”. Do you know that 97% of people in business opportunities fail to sponsor more than 2.7 people, ever. And have you ever considered that the “$10,000/mo” benchmark is $120,000 /yr and the average annual income, nationwide in the United States in 2008 was: $50,303 (US Census Report INCOME, POVERTY AND HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE IN THE UNITED STATES: 2008). That includes skilled, unskilled and professional labor. So if the entire country cannot average more than $50K how likely is the average distributor to earn $120K per year? I’m not saying that it is impossible, in fact, it’s more possible in the network marketing industry than in any other, however, it is improbable since we do know that barely 3% make a living (not make 6 or 7 figures, just make a living) in the industry at any given time. So when you look, be wary of income claims, know HOW you get paid and for what activities and be sure you can plug in an income figure that is realistic and then that the pay plan allows for that – anything over a “living” is bonus!

7. Training and Support – Okay… here is where there is a BUNCH of concern. When you change jobs or change careers, you have to get trained to do the new job or career right? I mean, unless you are the Dos Equis Guy, you just don’t innately know what to do. That being said, the old saying in Network Marketing is that we have all been doing it all our lives whenever we tell people about a movie or a mechanic… we are using word of mouth or network marketing. However, that does not mean that we instantly know how to employ this skill in our new career as a home based business owner. In fact, most of us don’t and most of us fail, not because we don’t have a “WHY” or our “WHY” isn’t big enough. Not because we don’t believe in our product or our company. Not because we aren’t putting in the hours. But because we either don’t have the right training and right skills OR we are not actually following what works. For some reason, unlike pretty much any other part of life, we think that when it comes to network marketing, we can build a better mousetrap than our up-line who has had years of success, even though we have never earned a dime in network marketing. Another old saying is – if you want to be wealthy, hang out with wealthy people – but it’s not Osmosis, folks.. it’s skills, vitalized by people that teach those skills and then perform them with you – in other words, learn what they do, do what they do and don’t think you can suddenly do it your way and get the results they did.

I think I will leave it here… I am sure there are many other criteria and I hope you will add to the discussion by posting your comments. As always, until next time…
Peace~
Leanne

I have probably heard it 1000 times if I have heard it once. Heck I have even paraphrased it myself. But it wasn’t until literally the other day when I had an ‘ah-ha’ moment that made this quotation take on new meaning for me!

You see, I have heard it used so many times by people I thought of as leaders involved in one business opportunity or another and so the meaning always seemed to be that if I helped others get into that opportunity that it would somehow BE what they wanted – it would therefore solve their problems and, by extension, solve my own!

Then, somehow, like a light from the clouds, it dawned on me…. that was NOT what it means. Actually, I can tell you how it came to me. I was talking with my friend and Mentor, Luc Despres. We were discussing our Free program which is open to anyone in any business… and that’s when it hit me… I’m not supposed to help people get into my business to solve their problems and there by solve my own… I’m supposed to help people make the business they are already in work for them. If, through the process of helping them, they then CHOOSE to go into a sponsorship with me – that’s just icing on the cake!

Remember when you are about to do something that feels uncomfortable – like calling someone to talk to them about business – this is NOT about YOU! You want to focus on them – not with the idea that you will then use their own words to somehow ‘manipulate’ them into doing business with you – but rather with the idea that you really want to know what they do, where they are struggling and how or IF you can bring them something to help them!

If you are already in our free mentoring program, then you know you do have something that will help them. If you are not but would like to know more, please contact me directly and I will be happy to help YOU!

Peace,
Leanne
leannelasky@gmail.com
623-2347-9100

Well… I don’t have a speech writer or a copy editor but I have some things to say – no.. not about the politics of the US – about home based businesses in 2010…

This is a very interesting time for those of us who are network marketers, small business owners, and entrepreneurs. One in Ten people in the US (alone) are out of work and are desperate for a way to make income for their families… this presents a certain set of issues for us as professionals in our industry.

In addition, unlike any other time, our industry is open in a global market faster and more connected than ever before.

First you might think – yah! Loads of prospects flooding the market everyday – nice problem to have! But let’s really consider what kinds of prospects these people are.

Never before has our industry had more opportunity to change lives but with that comes a tremendous responsibility. The new prospects coming to us are from all walks of life and now, more than ever, they are displaced laborers as well as white collar and executive level employees. There are more and more men in a traditionally women dominated industry.There are more and more young adults, not just stay at home Moms. There are more and more retirees. There is a diversity of educational levels, basic skill sets, ethnicity, and economic means.

The speed of our business has changed dramatically even in the last year. Internet Marketing was still more or less a “buzz” at the beginning of 2008 and now it is part of our everyday language. Business and Product Launches are practically a business in themselves. An explosion of “mentors”, “coaches”, “leaders”, “gurus” at every turn, in every niche it is truly the industry of opportunity and opportunists… it is this later group that we, as professionals, MUST be aware of and help to guide the new flood of prospects away from.

We, as professionals, MUST protect our beloved industry from those that WILL “set up shop” and woo the desperate into thinly veiled money laundering schemes and scams – these kinds of things have always been around the edges of the home business industry but the “BOOM” here will have the same effect the real estate boom did – anyone that could fog a mirror could get a real estate license but they were not professionals and would not survive the bust… the same is true for us. Anyone creative enough to put up a flash site can draw in paying customers, take their money and be gone before anyone knows what happened.

But let’s also consider our own responsibility to the people we speak to each day. There are going to be many people that probably really NEED income and there are no jobs for them… but that may not mean that they are really suited to being in business for themselves. Yes, we are supposed to focus on duplication, and yes, there are always people that get started and do nothing, but I think it is our responsibility to say “NO” to prospects that really have no business putting up money for an opportunity they are never likely to succeed with – and you can tell who these folks are – these are folks that really need a job – not a business.

So… treat your business like a business – you wouldn’t let just anyone represent your business, your story, your name – there are a lot of people in need of what we have but, as one of my early mentors was fond of saying: “Life rewards for deserve, not need – if you do the do, good will come to you”.

Go Forth and Build and Remember… Enrich Yourself And The World Around You,

Peace,
Leanne