Okay, so, are you looking at all the network marketing books out there? Are you trying to buy every single thing on Amazon that comes up after typing in ‘Network Marketing? Here is a piece of advice…

Stop it.

Sure, some of them get great reviews, but none of them are going to teach you the methods I’ve discovered since joining this industry. Most network marketing books are comprised of the same typical ‘old-school’ prospecting methods that you’re taught at your local MLM meeting.

Let’s get a few things straight first. If you’re being taught to prospect your family and friends , or even maybe call leads – you’re on a long road of frustration. Yes, its true that many people have built huge downlines in many MLM companies from these methods, but its very hard to duplicate. It involves a whole lot of rejection and wastage of your time.

Most of these people are considered to be ‘heavy hitters’, and the problem is that its very hard to duplicate. Know why? Because not everyone can be a pushy salesman. A lot of us are just not made to be like that. If you have years of sales and cold calling experience then MAYBE you have a chance of hitting it big in prospecting the ‘old-school’ way.

How about another idea? How about actually having a ’system’ in place that does a lot of the talking and selling for you? Now, I’m not talking about some get rich scheme that doesn’t involve any work. I’m talking about a way to have automated systems work for YOU. How about a way for never even having to call a prospect if you don’t want to? You won’t find this in any of the network marketing books out there.

Alright, here are 2 ‘magical’ secrets to creating long term residual income and a downline that grows are a stupidly INSANE rate:

1. Websites, not word-of-mouth – Implement your offer on a webpage, rather than at some silly network marketing meeting. (NO, not a product website with boring company stats and product info) Create an offer on a webpage that offers direct benefit to the market you’re targeting. For example, if you’re targeting people who have never been exposed to a home business, create a webpage which offers all the solutions to their problems. What you want to implement is good ‘copy’, which is just persuasive writing. If you master this one skill you will surely become a millionaire. Its one of the most important things to create an automated ’seller’ for yourself. So, instead of approaching people and selling your company and product, have the webpage do it instead. Yet another thing network marketing books won’t mention.

2. Follow-up automatically, not manually - Instead of calling up potential prospects, like most network marketing books promote, why not contact them automatically by email? Ever heard of an auto-responder? Its a software which creates a ‘list’ of people, and emails them automatically day in and day out, while you’re not even there! Of course, you can’t just spam your prospects with ‘buy my product now’ messages, but there are simple ‘formulas’ to having your leads convert into loyal customers. More on that soon..

There are the two principles to creating a 7-figure income from home without all the hassle most network marketing books promote. If you want the full story and details about how to make your downline grow and have you sponsoring like clockwork make sure you visit the link below.

The library is a great source for free curriculum materials for your homeschool. Consider your local library a key resource center for your academic work. Here are some tips on how to use your local library most effectively:

GET FAMILIAR WITH THE LIBRARY’S LAYOUT It is important that both you and your children know your way around the stacks and the workings of the Dewey Decimal system. Librarians often schedule tours on how to use the library.  You can take one if you are not familiar with your library. Libraries are full of resources have free access to tools such as computers. You can also save yourself the cost of a subscription by reading the periodicals and  current newspapers while at the library. Additionally, get to know the librarian in your Children’s Department so that she understands your needs as homeschoolers and will know how to help you.

CHOOSE OUT BOOKS AS A FAMILY You will, of course, be choosing books related to your teaching, but a trip to the library is an adventure in reading. Let the children pick out appropriate books for pleasure reading and be sure and pick up a good family read-a-loud. The librarian will often have good suggestions for appropriate books based on age and reading level.

ORGANIZE YOUR CURRICULUM It will make your life much easier if you have a rough draft outline of the classes that you intend to teach for the school year so that you can use your library most effectively for reserving curriculum-related books. You will want to know ahead of time what books you have in mind for your subjects and topics and have them reserved in time for your teaching. There are some subjects, such as foreign language you may actually be able to do on the library computer as an alternative or break from teaching them at home. I generally consider reserving core books, supplemental reading like historical fiction books, and supplemental materials like DVDs that can accompany and enhance my teaching on a particular subject. Although text books can be useful at times, children often respond much more enthusiastically to using a variety of resources on a subject, presented in an imaginative way, particularly in areas like history.

BE AWARE OF SPECIAL AREAS/PROGRAMS Many libraries have a special room reserved for information on your state and its history. You can often find original source document copies that will enhance your teaching.  It will give you the opportunity to tell exciting eyewitness tales of events. Also, be aware of special programs or lectures that the library offers.  Get a copy of the library’s scheduled events. Libraries often make a special effort to honor various cultural and seasonal festivals as well.

USE AS A MEETING PLACE The library is a great place to schedule informal meetings with other homeschoolers.  Many libraries permit homeschool support groups to reserve larger meeting rooms on a monthly basis for networking meetings. Often, evening programs like homeschooling Science Fairs can be arranged at your library. Generally one person in your coop or larger support group acts as a contact person for scheduling events.  Ask your librarian for information on these things.

Think of your library as your homeschooling resource center.  Be familiar with its use and be organized in how you reserve its books and materials. Take time to attend special programs and make use of the space for your meetings.  You will find that your homeschooling at the library can be cost effective and very enjoyable.

First, the disclaimers: Since the algorithm Amazon uses to generate its sales ranking is proprietary, the details contained herein are extrapolated from research and field tests. The resulting consensus finds Amazon’s system to provide marginal sales data at best.

To whit, read Amazon’s own definition of its system, slightly paraphrased from their FAQ: “The Sales Ranking system exhibits how books are selling. The lower the number, the higher the sales. The calculation is based on sales and is updated each hour to reflect recent and historical sales of every item sold. We hope you find the Amazon.com Sales Rank interesting!” This last sentence seems to indicate Amazon’s own perspective on the importance with which the sales rankings should be viewed.

You’re not supposed to find the sales rankings informative or helpful. You’re supposed to find them interesting.

In actuality, the process is somewhat more convoluted than they let on. Only the top 10,000 books are updated every hour and the ranking does not depend upon the actual number of books sold, but rather, on a comparison against the sales figures of the other 9,999 books within that same hour. Simultaneously, a trending calculation is applied to arrive at a computerized sales trajectory. So, hypothetically, a book that held a ranking of 2,000 at 2pm and 3,000 at 3pm, might hold a 4,000 ranking at 4pm, even if it actually sold MORE books between 3-4 than it did between 2-3.

Books with rankings between 10,000 and 100,000 are recalculated once a day, rather than once an hour. Current projections, as well as historic sales information play a key role in these calculations. In fact, the predictive nature of the Amazon ranking system is what makes it possible for a newly-released book to outrank an older established title, even though the actual sales figures for the latter far exceed the former.

Books with rankings over 100,000 are also recalculated every day and applied with historic sales information and projections, although in the case of these books, history takes a back seat. Sales projections and trending take an active role here, which is why a book’s ranking can leap from 900,000 to 200,000 in the span of 24 hours or less. Does this mean the book has sold 700,000 copies in 24 hours? Absolutely not! What it does mean is that recent activity (i.e. purchases) for that book is trending higher than those 700,000 books it just surpassed. But, don’t get excited just yet; since the activity of those 700,000 other books range from slow to stagnant, one or two orders are sufficient to catapult a ranking.

If a book’s ranking breaks into the top 100,000, the sales history calculation starts to rear its head, which is why a “phenomenon” book has a hard time maintaining a high, legitimate ranking. A phenomenon is defined by a book that leaps from the high hundred-thousands into the lower thousands (or better) in the span of 24 hours or less, usually due to some concentrated marketing initiatives. Since Amazon’s sales history for that title doesn’t support the leap, the spike occurs and then quickly drops again.

HOW DOES ALL THIS TRANSLATE TO ACTUAL SALES FIGURES?

Since the data is recalculated every hour and/or every day (depending upon a book’s current ranking), it’s impossible to get cumulative sales figures, although those figures are applied to the algorithm during the calculation. No, to get a very rough idea of the actual number of books being sold, the sales ranking has to be dissected dynamically, with the same immediacy as the ranking being calculated, (hourly for top 10,000 books or daily for top 100,000 books). Chart the ranking of a top 10,000 book every hour for 24 hours and divide by 24 to arrive at its average daily ranking. In the case of a top 100,000 book, take its ranking every day for 7 days and divide by 7 to arrive at its average weekly ranking.

Bear in mind that this next piece of information is extremely arbitrary, based upon sales ranking/sales figure comparisons and data received from third party sources. In other words, it’s probably completely wrong. But rather than disclaiming this chart until the cows come home, I’ll just say this: It is difficult to make sense of something that doesn’t make sense. But it sure is interesting, and now, perhaps, even slightly helpful.

If the book’s average ranking is: 2,000,000+ Perhaps a single inventory/consignment copy has been ordered.

1,000,000+ Current trends indicate total sales will most likely be under 40.

100,000+ Current trends indicate total sales will most likely be under 200.

10,000+ Estimate between 1 – 10 copies being sold per week.

1,000+ Estimate between 10 – 100 copies being sold per week.

100+ Estimate between 100 – 200 copies being sold per week.

10+ Estimate between 200 – 1000 copies being sold per week.

Under 10 Estimate over 1,000 copies per week