Don’t you think it is quite amazing the feeling of total “freak out” that a person feels when they realize that they have lost their phone?  Well, that is nothing compared to the freak out that I felt when I thought that I had lost everything on my blog last week!

When my blog was hacked the idea of losing the central nervous center of my business had the hair on the back of my neck standing on ends.  Luckily for me, I was able to get it fixed and not lose anything, and it was a great relief when all was well with my blog.  Below you will find how I was able to recover from this.

In reference to my freak out, I know there is the whole topic of being in a state of equanimity, where nothing is good or bad, it just is.  Or the idea of being too attached to material items or the outcome of said event, however, that was the furthest thing from my mind and fodder for another post.

So, a little about what happened, last week I got an error message from my AVG virus software saying that they blocked me from my site because it was infected.  So, I said, “Well, fix it.”

As I learned however, that’s not how it works.  To get it fixed you have to go to the source, i.e. your hosting site and have it removed by them.

According to several reports, shared hosting sites such as GoDaddy, Blue Host and DreamHost have had their customer’s open source WordPress blogs hacked.  No private server WordPress installs have reportedly been hit.  GoDaddy said that they were working with their customers to help them get their blogs up and running again, as well as, with authorities to find the source of this hacking.

So, to begin with, here are some suggestions from WordPress.  I like the first statement, STAY CALM, are you kidding me!!  I just lost the main drain of my brain!!!!

• Stay Calm

  • You have to stay calm to be able to deal with this situation. The first step before you respond to any security incident is to calm yourself down to make sure you do not commit any mistakes. We are serious about it.

  Ok, let’s all take a big deep breath.  Now let it out slowly.  As you exhale, feel your shoulders relaxing as you find peace in the moment.  Now repeat after me… My blog is safe, My blog is safe.  Let this feeling seep into the very center of your awareness.  As you are becoming more aware of your blissful state….

Snap out of it and get to work!  

• Scan your local machine.

  • Sometimes the malware was introduced through a compromised desktop system. Make sure you run a full anti-virus/malware scan on your local machine. Some viruses are good at detecting AV software and hiding from them. So maybe try a different one. This advice generally only applies to Windows systems.

• Check with your hosting provider.

  • The hack may have affected more than just your site, especially if you are using shared hosting. It is worth checking with your hosting provider in case they are taking steps or need to. Your hosting provider might also be able to confirm if a hack is an actual hack or a loss of service, for example.

Next, here is the site where you can see the rest of the steps to restoring your WordPress blog,

http://codex.wordpress.org/FAQ_My_site_was_hacked

Thirdly, for those of you that use Merge Domains or GoDaddy for your hosting here is a form that you can fill out and send to them so that they can remove the malware from your site.

https://www.godaddy.com/community/contactus.aspx?ci=15534&section=support

Lastly, a very important step, that I did not follow the first time, yes, it happened to me twice in 7 days, is to make sure that you change your passwords to your hosting service.  In addition, and this might not be the same for all hosting sites but for Merge Domains and GoDaddy there is also a password that you have for your hosting section of your back office.  That also needs to be changed.  One caveat, do not change your password to your database in your back office or your blog site and the hosting account will not be able to communicate.

Lessons learned:

• Stay calm
• It is only time
• Back up your blog, in case you need to restore it.

It is my sincere hope that you do not have to go through this.  To help make sure that it does not happen to you, if you have not already done it, make sure you have the latest version of WordPress which is 2.9.2.  Then change your passwords to something you have never used before for this account.  If your user name on your blog is admin, you also may want to see about changing that too.

Here’s to Happy and Safe Blogging,

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In the sister/brother (just trying to be fair) post Advanced Tools For Online Marketing Part 1 I listed some resources for outsourcing marketing tasks to enable you to be more efficient and effective in your marketing without working 70 hours a week.  As promised, I am now sharing with you Advanced Tools 2.

So, the next level is to have someone available to do customer service via a phone call.  Wouldn’t it be great to have a professional person call your potential clients to let them know how important they are to you, direct them to training that you provide, and get them started.

A possible scenario could be, the professional customer service assistant in your virtual office has helped set these clients up in their back office of My Lead System Pro, and these clients were already on their way to the next  step, marketing.  At that point they get the opportunity to get a personal phone call from you, the leader.

The advantages of this are numerous, first of all you would already know that they were willing to do the initial work, i.e. they were not “tire kickers.”  Secondly, they would be ready to start marketing.  Thirdly, having reached the marketing stage, utilizing affiliate tools provided in the sales funnel, they are already providing profit for you.

So, you may say that you are not there yet.  Well, there is no better time to plan than now.  To help you set your sites on the future I am providing some resources for you to put in your planning folder for when you are ready to use them.

For those of you that are ready to take that next step I hope that this is useful.

For more expert customer service or client contact help, the following four companies can offer you high quality assistance.

What makes the following companies interesting is the advent of cloud sourcing.  This is similar to outsourcing, in that you are going outside of your company to have a task preformed, but with cloud sourcing there is more emphasis put on using off-site computer services.  Cloud computing is simply the fastest way to generate high value from IT infrastructure, platforms, and software all delivered as a service.  Another great aspect of cloud computing is, if you your need increases, there are services available, that is, the scalability is virtually unlimited.

First we have LiveOps.  They deliver full-service outsourcing solutions that can meet any call center need. In addition to handling all call types, they offer on-demand access to expert services for a variety of inbound and outbound calls.

http://liveops.com/

• Inbound Direct Sales
• Commissioned Agent Services
• Casual Dining Services
• Customer Care
• Licensed Insurance Sales
• Outbound Consultative Sales
• Bilingual Phone Services (Spanish & French)

The second one is Alpine Access Consulting, a provider of a wealth of hands-on experience and current industry best practices that comes from 11 years of implementing more than 100 at-home programs.  They offer access to their extensive knowledge of proven at-home business processes, technologies, workforce management tools, knowledge management and talent acquisition.

http://www.alpineaccess.com/en/

Next is West Corporation, who pride themselves on providing a higher level of customer care.  They want to make a difference in your bottom line.  They are a leader in providing outsourced communication solutions.  West at Home utilizes thousands of home-based agents located across the country combined with the industry’s most robust and advanced infrastructure to deliver superior service to you and your customers.

http://westathome.com

Lastly, Working Solutions claim that their advantage is their extensive agent network, proven technology, unmatched knowledge and expertise, and their tenured management team.  They have worked with many industries, you can see case studies for each of those industries on their site.  They have what they refer to as agents on demand which are  highly educated home-based call center professionals that are trained and available, as needed for specialized industries.

http://www.workingsolutions.com/

So, there you have it, your future!!  There were some interesting aspects of outsourcing that I learned from collecting these sites.  One is, the age of cloud sourcing has arrived and the virtual office is more useful than ever.

Hope you find this useful, let me know by leaving a comment below.

Sincerely yours,

Kathy Sammons

To help you grow in your business here are a few books that I would suggest that you read.

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If you want to work with me, learn how to generate leads, and become successful in your online business you can send an email to kathy@kathysammons.com, please indicate in the subject line the that you are interested in joining me.  The training that I provide is extensive and unparalleled in the online marketing industry.  Hundreds of Internet entrepreneurs  have achieved success in their online business with this training in the last year, now it is your turn. Online Success For You

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The evolution of network marketing continues to happen and it is getting more and more fun.  People are no longer willing to consume a product that someone says is good for them and will do XYZ, and start selling it.  As Internet Marketing grows, people are exposed to a lot of different types of companies and different types of products.  In this post I am going to explain where I see these changes happening.

Avon was at the very beginning of the wonderful thing we call network marketing, all the way back in the 1890’s.  In the 1940’s most of the new direct sales/network marketing companies sold household products or natural vitamins, such as the ones from Shakley, which are still around today.

As Americans started aging in the 1990’s and we became more health conscience, there were more and more wellness products sprouting up every day.  Every type of juice, pill and powder can be found in abundance.  From the Acia Berry of Brazil to the Aloe based products of Hawaii, they are everywhere.

Now I am seeing a shift to more intellectual products, ones that are computer based, such as data collection, personal and business training and development, and even personal finances.  Another trend is towards commodities such as, gold and silver.  I see us moving into the golden years (no pun intended ) of network marketing.

Because these companies are making money and are becoming very popular, and people see how well they are doing, there are going to be copy cats.  As always it is in your best interest to preform your due diligence in researching the company and product.  Many times these copy cats are not well thought out or well developed.  They are created on the fly by people that just see an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

These copy cats many times make it very easy to sign up.  That is, for free!  Well, we all know that free never pays out.  How can it?  When they “launch” they will come asking for money, but for what?  Be cautious when looking at companies like this.  It is best to get a second opinion from someone that you trust and check it out on MLMWatch.org (although the information on this site is a little dated and is focused on MLMs selling wellness products) or you can check with MLMWatchdog.com.

So, as this evolution continues be reminded to ask lots of questions and search upline to find where the money is.  Once you find it, ask what it will take to get there.  You have to know when you can expect a return on your investment and then, when you will actually turn a profit.

Keep your eyes open for more of these data collection companies to come along.  This is the information age and data is king.  Data has always been in great demand and the use of network marketing to do the collection is a trend that I see just starting and one that will continue far into the future.

What do you think?  What kind of data collection do you see that can be converted to an MLM?  Remember there needs to be some sort of product to be a legitimate MLM.  Leave your comments below.

Kathy Sammons

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If you want to work with me, learn how to generate leads, and become successful in your online business I can be reached at 314-882-7622.  The training that I provide is extensive and unparalleled in the online marketing industry.  Hundreds of Internet entrepreneurs  have achieved success in their online business with this training in the last year, now it is your turn. Online Success For You

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Hello, I wanted to talk about my journey in the MLM industry and where I am today.

I started in this industry in… 2005.  I believed in this industry as a way to a better life, a better life that was not going to be realized by working an 8-5 job.  I also realized that I was just trading my time for money and saw that there was a better way.

When I started, I was trained to market using sales techniques that are traditional for this industry.  I talked to my warm market, invited them to meetings and prayed they would show up.  I talked to my friends and family about what a great opportunity this was, and how it was going to change their lives.

I was lucky enough to work with some really great companies along the way.  One was a wellness company that has a product that has really help a lot of people with health problems.  I could not image why everyone would not want to take this product.  I could tell them stories of how it was bringing people back from the brink of death, but they still did not see the value.  I could not understand why, but there I was struggling along trying to get people to join me in my mission, but they would not follow.

Another great company that I am doing business with showed me how to pay my mortgage off in 1/2 the time.  Boy, if I could just show people how to pay off their debt, there would be no reason for them to not join me in this business.  This business was revolutionary, because they utilized advanced software to help my customers get out of debt and save thousands of dollars in interest.  But again, they could not see the light.

So, there I was with 2 great companies.  But I was still not making as much headway in my marketing efforts as I had planned on.  This just was not making sense to me.

I decided to try online marketing to promote my businesses, that is were I was exposed to MLM Lead System Pro.  If you have not heard of this or you have not heard of Mike Dillard then let me explain some very important marketing tips that I have learned.  I had been a student of Mike Dillard for sometime learning about attraction marketing, however, I was still working in the traditional manner not realizing what I was missing online.  I had not connected the dots that would help me do what I am doing today.

The marketing tips that I learned focused on attraction marketing.  But the biggest realization was that I was not talking to the right people.  The people that I needed to be talking to were the people that were already in direct sales.  These people did not need to be convinced of the value of this industry, they were already in it.  They were actively seeking a better way to support themselves, so all I had to do was to provide them with what they needed to succeed.  Wow, that was a BIG aha moment.

Well, that is where I am today, showing people how to succeed in this business where they once only found failure.  It has been quite a journey but as most stories go, it is all well worth the travel.

Happy Trails,

Kathy Sammons

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Want to see how Kathy teaches people to generate leads and become successful in their MLM business?   Get your DVD now at Conquer The Internet Hundreds of Internet entrepreneurs  have achieved success in their MLM business with this training in the last year, now it is your turn.

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[ 2009 ] Tax-time tips for at-home workers

* Story Highlights
* Obama stimulus legislation offers perks for home-based entrepreneurs
* Package offers more incentives to buy equipment (TAX CREDITS)
* Small-business owners can carry back losses for additional years

This is one of the reasons why Bizpack is so valuable…. One of the 6 business operations, Udeduct, is a revolutionary analysis tool that can show you legitimate and ethical tax deducts that you can take.  Check out Bizpack and then read on to see how this can help you.

By John Blake
CNN

updated 9:56 a.m. EDT, Tue March 10, 2009

Here’s online link to story: http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/03/10/tax.changes/index.html

(CNN) — It is at least 1,000 pages long. It costs $787 billion. And it’s as thick as two telephone books.

Experts say home-based workers can benefit from tax changes in the stimulus package http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/base_skins/baseplate/corner_wire_BL.gif

The size and scope of President Obama’s stimulus package is staggering. But for many Americans who work at home, their concerns about the package can be reduced to one question:
What’s in it for me?

There are indeed some goodies in the stimulus package for people who work at home, several tax experts say. They examined the package to see how its tax changes would help those workers who go solo and they highlighted several areas.

At least one, Heather Villa, CEO and founder of IAC-EZ (www.iacez.com), which offers bookkeeping and tax preparation software for small businesses, came away impressed with the entire package.

“The tax changes in President Obama’s stimulus package are going to help everyone, not just work from home individuals,” Villa said. “The variety of incentives, credits and breaks that the government has devised are well rounded.”
Don’t Miss

* In Depth: Going Solo

Tax experts said there are no tax changes in the plan that specifically target people who work at home. Yet it does contain several provisions aimed at small businesses.

The highlighted provisions include:  More incentive to buy equipment

Michael Lloyd, a tax attorney with Miller & Chevalier in Washington, said the stimulus plan gives a “little shot” in the arm to people who work from home and want to buy equipment for their businesses.

He said IRS guidelines generally dictate that businesses must depreciate equipment purchases over the economic life of the property.

But the stimulus plan’s small-business equipment expensing rules generally allow a business to immediately write off the cost of equipment — up to $250,000 in the year of purchase, Lloyd said. The result: small businesses will pay significantly less income tax than they would otherwise pay if they make significant equipment purchases.

The stimulus package increased this one-year deductible threshold from $125,000 to $250,000 for small businesses. The package also included separate bonus depreciation rules that will benefit larger businesses, he said.

“It’s just a way to entice people to go out, buy equipment and make investments,” Lloyd said. “Being a small-business owner is tough. There are all kinds of obstacles.”

Expanded broadband Internet access

“Although it doesn’t save home workers any tax dollars, the stimulus package does include incentives to expand broadband Internet access to under served areas, which may allow more people to work from home,” said Kathleen Pakenham, a tax partner with White & Case law firm.

The incentives include grants and loans to local governments and nonprofit groups that are designed to improve broadband Internet access and service, Pakenham said.

A boost from the new Making Work Pay Credit

The Making Work Pay Credit is equal to 6.2 percent of the individual’s earned income or $400 ($800 for married filing jointly), whichever is less, said Villa, founder of IAC-EZ. She said 6.2 percent is the rate of Social Security tax. The result: A person receives a credit equal to Social Security withholding.

“The big news here is that many credits are never applicable to self-employed individuals,” Villa said. “This credit is.

Small-business owners can carry back losses for more years

Under previous law, small businesses could only carry back their net operating losses for a maximum of two tax years, Villa said. A net operating loss occurs when your deductions are more than your income for the year, Villa said. A loss from operating a business is the most common reason for a net operating loss.

“With the 2008 stimulus package, this will permit you to carry back losses for up to five years for small businesses with gross revenue of $15 million or less,” Villa said. “This is an excellent benefit.”

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Want to see how Kathy teaches people to generate leads and become successful in their MLM business?   Get your DVD now at Conquer The Internet Hundreds of Internet entrepreneurs  have achieved success in their MLM business with this training in the last year, now it is your turn.

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I was thinking about the evolution of direct sales, looking at how far it had come from door to door peddlers in the late 1800s, to the sleek PPC (pay per click) capture pages of today.

Many well known businesses have had their start… in direct marketing.  In 1890 David McConnel started selling perfumes from his company in New York City, by 1906 there were 10,000 representatives.  In 1937 they changed their name to Avon.

Then there was the, always familiar, Fuller Brush company that started in 1905.  In 1931 Frank Stanley Beveridge, who was the former vice president for Fuller Brush Company started a company called Stanley Home Products.  They sold household items that people used every day.  Starting in the depth of the great depression their idea was that many people could start their own business with little money down, and be very successful.

It was during this time that they figured out a way of increasing sales by promoting to groups and organizations.  Along the way they moved into the home and thus the home party plan was born.  It was this training that produced leaders like Mary Kay Ash founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics and Brownie Wise of Tupperware, as well as others.

In 1934 a vitamin company, selling food supplements, became the king of the vitamin world.  Nutrilite went on to develop the first MLM style compensation plan in 1945.  In 1949 a couple of buddies started working with Nutrilite and became some heavy hitters in the business.  In 1959 these two men had a falling out with Nutrilite and started their own business, the Amway Corporation.  Interestingly enough, in 1972 Amway acquired Nutrilite.

Companies continued to improve products to bring to market and there were many product breakthrough in the direct sales industry.  In 1956, for instance, Dr. Forrest Shaklee developed a method of extracting minerals from vegetables and created the Shaklee Vitamin Company.

I find it very fitting that in this time of economic distress, we are again seeing an increase in companies and distributors using this form of product marketing.  Many people today fill the internet, seeking a better way of making a living.  It is in their hopes and dreams, that companies are moving ahead and developing new products and services that continue to build our industry to the force that it is today.

For more information see: The History of MLM

Kathy Sammons

Kathy has worked with many entrepreneurs that are now successful in their MLM company by sharing with them the lead generation tool that is rocking the internet marketing industry.  If you want to move ahead and figure out how to market your MLM MLSP is where you will find your answers.

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