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Brian: Hello, hello and welcome to CatalystMLM. I'm Brian Swichkow and today on the show we
have Marsha Godwin. Marsha started her professional career as a restaurateurs, and moved her way
to a corporate executive for Fortune 100 Company where she stayed for over twelve years. She
built her background in sales, sales management, and marketing. And ended up getting an itch
to leave and founded the MLMblogtraining.com, where she gives Network Marketers a blueprint
for moving their MLM business online. She is a Daily Marketing Coach, she's daily marketing
coach certified, DMC trainers, easier way to say that. And she's a coach, trainer, speaker,
product creator, author, and just generally awesome person who helps others succeed. Thanks
so much for being on.
Marsha: Oh, I'm so excited about being here, thanks for inviting me.
Brian: So, I love your story, and I was reading one of your other interviews, and I think
it was actually with Ann. And it gave me a really good question, because, one of my favorite
books from a long time ago is The Art of the Start by Guy Kiyosaki. And he talks about
entrepreneurialism, but he starts off by saying that you can be both an entrepreneur and an
intrepreneur, so an intrepreneur would be basically an entrepreneur within another company.
And your drive and what you did over the twelve years that you worked that Fortune 500 Company
were huge. I mean, you moved way up. So tell me a little bit about how your college career
and how you got into that and where that came from.
Marsha: Oh God that seem like almost a lifetime ago, not long, just a lifetime ago. But I
did start in the corporate world, you know, I started as a territory manager, you know,
calling, it was in the food service industry. So I was calling on distributors that would
buy food for us, the manufacturer and then sell it to restaurants. And I had a little
territory in Georgia, you know, that, I think it helped but I came with a restaurant background.
You know, I had owned a small little café, I had a degree in hotel restaurant management,
so I think that gave me an insight when I started there how to talk the talk, you know,
to other restaurant owners when I would call them. But, you know, that was calling on the
restaurant owners convincing them that, hey my product is the product. And, this is the
distributor you can get it from. So I started there as a territory manager in North Georgia.
And then worked my way, basically up the corporate ladder, from a territory manager, the next
position they offered me was, or that I earned I think, was a district manager and from a
district manager, which gave me a much more larger geographic area. I had people responsibility,
you know, and then I took on some additional roles and responsibility in there. I love
to train, so I kind of became the okay and still, you know, in addition to being this,
your being a district manager, we're gonna let you be a trainer also for us and help
us out in that way, because I love to do that. But, from a district manager, the next position
was an assistant to the regional person, okay, so now in the 13 states that I was out working
with those district managers in their states helping them move their business forward.
And during that time period I also went back to Georgia State and got my Executive MBA.
So I'm, you know, traveling from city to city with, you know, books in the airport, writing
reports, up late at night in the hotel room, you know.
Brian: You think college is hard, try doing it from airports and planes.
Marsha: Yeah, when you put it, the hardest part is loading all those books with you.
Brian: Now, thank goodness for these.
Marsha: Yeah, yeah, but it was a few years back so it was loading all those books and
everything. But anyway, I got my Executive MBA, and then that opened up an opportunity
for me to, I guess apply for a position in our corporate office in California in marketing.
And so I was able to move to that position, and from there, I was responsible for product
line, and the development of that line, and then that turned into National Account Manager.
Where I was not only calling on national accounts, you know, like Dairy Queen headquarters and
the headquarters of large companies, you know, representing our products across the board.
So, I, you know, in some ways, you're right, it is an intrepreneur, I was an entrepreneur
with inside that organization. I knew what I needed to do, stayed out in front of me.
I was the first female district manager, you know, in a very macho organization, at that
time. It's changed a lot since then but, you know, you had to work really *** a number
of levels to be recognized and noticed and have success and I kind of put a game plan
together and put my goals in front of me and then worked really hard to reach them.
Brian: Yeah. And so many people in corporate America, they don't necessarily push that
hard and they don't have those goals. They're like, oh well, I just wanna get to the next
level. They don't have any longer term goals, and so, you know, a lot of people fight really
hard and kind of unnecessarily hard, for promotions when there's and easier route. Or simpler,
I guess would be the better example. So what inspired you to do that? What pushed you to
make that commitment to yourself?
Marsha: Well, part of it is I'm really competitive, not only against other people but I'm really
competitive against myself. And I think that's, maybe I needed to be successful. You have
set your own goals, and then be willing to really work towards them, and not only meet
them, but try to exceed them.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: You know? Just as if you were competing against someone, you know, someone else or
a group of people. So, in my mind, there's almost two me's, if that makes sense.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: Because for the work, there's the me that sees this other person that you want
to be, you want to be where they are. So . . .
Marsha: you gotta work toward that, you know.
Brian: You're your own accountability partner in that way.
Marsha: exactly, exactly. And I'm a real good goal setter, I'm really good at making, you
know, I think it has to do with some kind of home key.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: But, you know, for me there really what keep me focused on the next day's activity.
Okay, here's what I have to do this, you know, big picture. Here's what I have to do, you
know, on a monthly basis, or a weekly basis. Or, here's what I have to do tomorrow. But
also to do this for my, at the time, my counts, which I think is really, I didn't' just have
goals for myself, I had, you know, goals for them and the company had goals. Oh, you know,
they did, you know, four million dollars in this last year, we wanna to do six this year.
Brian: But that's not a goal, that's, they bought four million from us and we want them
to buy six million, that's not, we wanna help them grow their business, so that they buy
more. It's, that's a mindset thing and your mindset is definitely the more powerful one.
Marsha: Yeah, it was, this was my, you know, this is my counts and what are my goals for
each of them?
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: Not only targets or numbers that I wanted them to hit, but new products I wanted
to bring in, new people I wanted to build relationships with in that organization. So
there are multiple levels of targets or goals I had for the accounts also; which is another
way I think of competing, you know, kind of against myself in some ways.
Brian: How much you can help others.
Marsha: Yeah, it let me help them, but in doing that, I set, I almost set each of those
accounts up as a competition against themselves. In some ways tactfully, but let them know
that. That, hey, you know, you got 12 accounts or whatever the number might be, but here's
my goals, you know, now you're a smaller account than the other account is, but I've got big
goals, and, you know, it really made them want to rise to the challenge also. That they
saw that I had goals and ideas and it made them want to be more a part of the process
of explaining how we got there. Because they could see I was working toward that.
Brian: Well you got them, I mean, I don't know if it was intentional at the time, but
you got them invested in the process.
Marsha: Yeah.
Brian: So where did that come from? I mean, I'm assuming that that in itself came from
the you being competitive aspect. But where did the competitive aspect originally come
from that developed to that level?
Marsha: You know what, I don't know that.
Brian: Do you have siblings?
Marsha: You know, I do, I grew up in the country, you know, in a rural area. We were pretty
broke. I don't really know that I knew we were broke at the time, you know. But, because,
I mean we had I guess the things that I felt we needed, you know, for the most part. I
just remember being in school being, I'm the one that's gonna have the A's. I think part
of it was wanting the pride I saw my parents, when, you know, I would succeed at something,
you know.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: And, you know, it, I don't even think I thought about this until I just said that.
So you're making me all, go deep in my head thinking about things. But I think it's I
think back about being, you know, not the most economically sound. That was a way of
rewarding them in another way besides financially. Does that make sense?
Brian: Absolutely. And, this is, I don't know, if, don't take this in the wrong way. I love
dogs, and my, well an ex of mine, had a puggle. And it got really sick one time and the doctor
said that you have to feed it this really bland food that won't upset it's stomach,
and your not allowed to give it any, like raw hides or treats, or anything. So we have
a puppy, that we need to train, but we can't give it treats, and its food motivated. So
we're like, how do we do that? Crap! And we started doing positive reinforcement and by
the time we could start feeding it regular food and giving it treats again, it didn't
care about the treats. It just wanted the positive reinforcement. It was just like,
I sat and your so excited, I'm gonna sit again. And it doesn't only, like saying that it works
with people, is kind of, I guess, I don't know, trite. Is that, it doesn't work with
people, like that feeling that you get with, any, when someone is proud of something you
accomplished, it's addicting. It's so energizing.
Marsha: Yeah. So I think that was part of it . . .
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: is wanting to make them proud, okay. And I don't necessarily consider myself that
we competed a lot, you know, with my brothers and sisters. You know, my sister that was
a year and a half younger than me, but my brother is six years younger and my other
sisters twelve years younger. So, you're not competing against somebody 12 years younger,
you know.
Brian: He wouldn't be much of a competition.
Marsha: Yeah, yeah. So I think it was just wanting to make them proud and I just, I had,
well probably the earliest memory I have of myself is being a, in dance class, you know,
a ballerina kind of thing, and I remember being in front of the group, and everybody
was on the left and right. We were kind of doing it down the center, okay, there were
people on the left and the right hand side. And we were all facing the people on the left
hand side, okay. And then my hand on right, well this isn't fair to the people on the
right hand side. So I just turned around and did my part the other way. And they loved
it but it's like, there's just something about, you know, being fair, and . . .
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: kind of standing out, trying to make sure that everybody's taken care of and covered,
you know that kind of thing that makes, if that makes sense.
Brian: Absolutely, and I'll link it below, but there's a, someone did a social experiment
where they had a bunch of people get into an elevator facing the back of the elevator.
Because normally everybody goes in an elevator and goes in and turns back towards the door,
and so the just had a, they staged it so that everybody faced the back. And the person who
was being experimented on walked and be like, why is everybody facing me? And it would be
so uncomfortable so they all just turn back. So then they would, they timed it of how long
it took for them to turn back around. And it doesn't mean that one direction is the
right direction, it just means that people commonly go with the flow.
Marsha: Yeah.
Brian: But, you know, more exciting things often happen on the road less traveled.
Marsha: Right, right. And I'm think I'm, was always a little bit of, not go against the
flow to be rebellious . . .
Brian: Right.
Marsha: but, go against the flow because, you know, I came from a small town, and you
know, it, you know, of all my siblings and I had lots of cousin's etcetera. You know,
at the time I was the only one to go to college, I was, it was more setting a path than it
was rebelling.
Brian: Yeah, and you didn't wanna follow a path, you wanted to created one.
Marsha: Yep.
Brian: Yeah. I like that. So you're, I mean, call it competition or call it, I mean, I
think that this, it may have started, it sounds like at least, that it started as, you know,
pride, seeking pride. And then kind of went to a competition of yourself. But then you
were just really driven person, and you set goals and you hit them. And that played into
some more development when you left your corporate life. And you started following Erin Sig,
and she's, I mean, an awesome marketer. And I'll make the link for anyone who doesn't
know her, but how did you find her? How did that transition happen where you came out
of being an intreprenuer and started being an entrepreneur and how did you connect with
it then?
Marsha: Someone introduced me to her. Okay, and it was kind of through a back door way.
It was really, at the time, I think through a product, you know. I was a realtor at the
time, you know, when I left the corporate world and moved back to Florida, and just
like everybody else who moves to Florida. I became a realtor. There's a story behind
why I did that, but I think the way it kind of happens was that somebody recommended a
product. And I'll say the product, it was Send Out Cards.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: And it was really good for somebody that's a realor as a way to follow up with
their, you know, their clients, okay. So I started looking at that, and that connected
me in some way down in her, you know, down line. And that connected me up to her and
what she was doing. And so I signed up for the renegade Network Marketer and I signed
up for, you know, the books that she had. And as I was struggling to make the pieces
fit in my head, you know, this world I came from and the corporate world to this world
I had, was leaving, and real estate. The first thing that I did that really made is sink
for me and really made me started tracking with her more, was that everybody here locally
where I was, might put an open house sign over, in front of their, you know, house that
they're selling, or virtual tour. But I put it so that you had to give me your email address
Brian: Yep.
Marsha: in order to get the tour. Okay, so I built a really big list of buyers from that.
And then that really opened my eyes to the power of a list, okay. And from that, I, while
she was teaching that to Attraction Marketing, I wasn't chasing those buyers all over town.
I just put my sign in their yard and then, you know, if you wanna see what this house
looks like on the inside . . .
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: sign up for my list. So it opened my eyes to the power of, you know, Online
Marketing. And, you know, I like to look, I hadn't really done much with Network Marketing,
but I had heard on the, horror stories.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: And the lack of success people were having. So, I kind of just started tracking
with her through her books, and then webinars that she would do, and then from there I connected
up with the gentleman that's now her director of coaching. You know, he and I connected
up with a couple of projects and there were some Network Marketing things that we were
doing, and on some webinars that I co-hosted with him. And through that, it kind of gave
me, even though I knew her, she knew of me, it really, his relationship with her opened
the door for me to have a much closer relationship with her.
Brian: Yeah. That's, and that's I think something that a lot of people can resonate with Because,
I mean, you were looking up to her as a mentor. And even though that she didn't know you and
you hadn't really met her when you got started you were still looking up to her and learning
from her. And she was kind of your mentor, just because she puts that value out there.
And . . .
Marsha: Yeah.
Brian: and so many people have those relationships but they never really connect with those people.
And that's the ultimate, you know, it's like your parents not knowing you as a child and
then all of the sudden they're like wow, you just popped on my radar and your amazing.
Like, it's a great feeling. And I think that there's a lot to that and I was kind of one
of the things I really wanted to talk to you about. Because, those leaders, be it in your
up line, or just people who are putting out value, and wanting people to follow it so
that they can see their own success, they want people to be successful, for, just because
they want them to be successful. They spend all that time and effort, putting stuff out
there because they want people to be successful. And you, unlike a lot of people, recognized
that opportunity and went with it and fought with it, so then she saw you. And so many
people just kind of don't, and they put it aside or they read it, they don't apply it.
Was there something that was different in your mindset? Or was it still that competitive
nature?
Marsha: Well, maybe part of it was competitive, but part of it was a little opportunistic,
you know, I knew what I had. There's this person that knows all of this stuff okay,
I've got a conduit to connect with her, okay.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: And get closer to her, okay. So, when she formed a new group, you know, I was asked
to be one of the you know, founding members. Well I'm just one of many of that way done,
okay. But through a platform that she had put together, a teaching platform, she put
out some challenges. Well, you know, put a challenge in front of me and, you know.
Brian: And just to pause you for a sec, because I wanna put out some numbers. Because I have
them in front of me, is that she has thousands of people on her list, and when she was creating
this, she reached out to 200. And out of those 200, gave an opportunity to reach the requirements
to become a certified trainer before it was launched. And if you did that you'd be considered
a founding member, and you were one of four.
Marsha: Yeah.
Brian: Four out of two hundred out of thousands.
Marsha: Right.
Brian: And that's, I mean, talk about taking advantage of an opportunity.
Marsha: Well, and you know what she did, she put a challenge out, you know, it had to do
with blogging. It was a blogging contest, okay. And it was, you had to do so many blog
post, you had to get your blog up and had to do so many blog post. You had to, there
was some other criteria . . .
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: okay. Then I just said, I'm gonna win it. You know, I'm gonna win it Because,
not only will it put me through, you know, more in front of her, okay, it will put me
more in front of everything she's doing.
Brian: Yep.
Marsha: You know, and when I, she ran the contest, I did win, you know, she ran a second
one right after it. I won that one. And then she kind of said, you can't participate anymore.
But, you know, I didn't a little recap of one of the interviews she did with me. But
what was on the value that that gave me, okay. Simple little chatter, okay. Well, number
one, it got me in action, okay. Number two it really made me learn blogging, okay. It
got me an opportunity to be a certified trainer, within her organization. Which has given me
great credentials to be able to say you're, you know, from a multi-million dollar earner,
you're one of her certified trainers, okay.
Brian: One of a few.
Marsha: Yeah, one of a few. It took my blog, idea, let's say ranking went through the roof,
you know, from that, okay. Because she was using me as an example in some of her training
that brought people to my blog.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: You know, from that I created a course, you know. And she then uses the course and
some of the product, within, you know, the, within her platform, okay. So, I just saw
what, which I would do with someone else if I saw that this person is the person I want
to get in front of.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: Okay, and to make a connection with, okay. I mean, I'm kind of doing it now with
someone else. Okay, the same kind of mindset. Whatever you need to do, to make myself visible.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: And don't mean it to come across like it's being selfish of . . .
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: it's, I knew that I couldn't help more people that I wanted to help if I couldn't
get a platform so people would know how I was.
Brian: And I love that Because Ray Higdon, when we interviewed him a ways ago, said the
selfish side of non success is if you don't wanna succeed, just, if you don't wanna help
anybody, just don't succeed.
Marsha: Yeah.
Brian: If you don't have a platform you can't help anyone.
Marsha: Yeah, yeah. So, I'm just, I mean I encourage anybody. I encourage through her
platform today when I do webinars or we invite people to join us, or anything like that.
I'm talking about taking, when she puts a challenge out there, take advantage of it.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: So if you're with her or you're with someone else, whether your in, you know, your
in another MLM or your, you know, creating your own products, or your, you know, have
your own brick and mortar business, or whatever it is. Find those people that you know you
can learn from, you know, and really listen to what they have to say.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: Be coachable, you know, that's . . .
Brian: You have to find, as you said, you have to find a coach and be coachable.
Marsha: Coachable, yeah. I mean, I get a number of people that I coach now, and I can very
quickly tell, this person's wasting their money. Because you're not gonna, I'm not telling
people what to do. But I'm laying out, here's some options for you and path that you might
wanna consider this that and the other. And they, you can quickly tell if they're not
listening, they aren't, you know, you'll know. So I'm really big on finding people . . .
Marsha: that are successful, that have skills and traits and that you want to emulate, or
incorporate into what you do or learn from or grow with those kind of things. And then
doing what it takes to get closer to them.
Brian: Yeah. And there's, I mean, doing what it takes is I think the best way to summarize
it Because it's not just participating in a contest, it's not you know, about sending
an email to say, hey I'm following you. That's probably one of the worst ways to do it, but
taking the advice and the value that's out there, and using it. And that's one of the
things that I think that's the top thing that all these people who are trainers, mentors,
coaches, teachers, writers, that's what they want you to do. And I actually just got an
ipad because, and I have it next to me, I got an ipad because I took two books to a
conference and I underestimate, I over estimated my ability to sleep on a plane. And I finished
both books on the way out there and I was like, crap, I don't have anything to read.
But what happened is, that from that reading, I was able to connect with the person who
wrote the book at the conference, and say, I finished your book, and it was amazing,
not only have I finished it, but I've already applied what's in the book and these are the
results that I'm getting. And I just landed a day ago. And, you know, showing this person
like, and I actually, in another session, not with the person who wrote a book, but
someone who I had been following, we implemented their trainings and stood up and said, this
is what you gave us, thank you. And then asking a question, and like, she was like, oh my
God, you know, like, she was all excited Because we followed it. And I think that just taking
advantage of that opportunity, just as you did and continue to do, you get from people
by reading their book, applying the techniques and then writing a letter of thanks and BAM,
you're on their radar in a really big way.
Marsha: Oh, Absolutely, I'm so appreciative of, first for put the challenge out there.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: okay, because it would have been real easy for her to do other things and not do
that. I mean, what was, she had to do a whole lot of training with that, video's and stuff
like that. She could have not done that, you know, but she did, okay. So I'm so appreciative
that she gave, she put a challenge in front of me, that I could either choose to step
up to the plate and accept, or I could choose not to, you know.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: And, you know, within that group that you mentioned, you know, a lot of people chose
not to do it, you know. And, that's okay too. But your gonna have to be willing to accept
the decision you make. I, there was no body gonna beat me in the number of posts. Because
I knew, I knew two things, one I've already said, was that it would get me in front of
her more, more recognition. But I also knew that it would, it had the ability to move
my business. Even if that day, if I fell off the face of the earth, you know, she decided
she's going to, you're not going to do this anymore . . .
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: The fact that I put myself out there and pushed myself, to learn what I needed
to learn to win the contest . . .
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: gave me tools and skills and resources to move my business forward.
Brian: Yeah. And, it's like, I think Tony Robbins had a training where he kind of talked
about it. He says like, even, I think it was actually a sales training, it was a mastering
influence or something, but it was, you know, okay over the course of the next 10 days you
go through this program, the one requirement is that you have to double the number of calls
that you're making. And he had two reasons for doing it, the first was that if you double
your calls, then you're not afraid of failing with the second half Because, you would have
called them anyway. And then he's like, even if you Absolutely suck, you're still making
twice the amount of calls so you'll have twice the amount of success that you have currently.
Marsha: Right.
Brian: And it's true Because you, as long as you push, even if you fail in the push,
you're still ahead of where you were.
Marsha: Totally agree, I love all those sayings and I'll never get them right. But the whole
thing about failing forward . . .
Brian: Yep.
Marsha: you know, and the thing about Edison, you know, created how many light bulbs?
Brian: Ten thousand, he created, I've found ten thousand ways to not create a light bulb.
Marsha: exactly, I mean, I love those stories, you know. In fact I was on a webinar not too
long ago, I live so, I sit on a park and then there's the Tampa Bays behind me, okay. And
so the marina, you know, they come out from the marina with the sail boats, okay, and
you will see them out there purposely, I don't know any of the sailing jargon.
Brian: Turtling I believe, but I know what you're talking about.
Marsha: Purposely turn the boat, the sail boat over, okay, so that they would learn,
you know, so they would make themselves fail . . .
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: so they would learn how to succeed, you know. And I set there and watched them
one day and I thought, this is really powerful.
Brian: That's very fun to do. But I will say make sure you unhook the main sail, this is
a good metaphor, make sure you unhook the mail sail, because if you don't unhook the
main sail, when you try and flip the boat, it just catches all the water. It's physically
impossible to do. But if you unhook the mail sail it turns, so that you can come up like
this. And it took me, I was probably, for about an hour, trying to flip a boat, and
I was like, forgot to. So sometimes you're pulling against yourself, you know. Metaphor,
Marsha: exactly.
Brian: So, speaking of metaphors, you gave me an idea for one. And I wanna extrapolate
on this. So you said something, which I'll get to, but you kind of, I used to wanna be
an architect when I was a little kid. And it kind of, what you said, remind me of like,
the architecture of success. So there's different pieces to it, and I wanted to go through them
with you and ask questions about it. So . . .
Marsha: Okay.
Brian: if you're trying to build a house, and that's, this is the metaphor here, if
you're building a house the first step is finding a location.
Marsha: Right.
Brian: And so, I mean, that can be kind of, you know, if you're relating it right. So
that's, what industry are you focusing on. You know, where your focusing your efforts.
So would you, what would you say about that being heard, the first step to building success?
And kind of figuring a place to focus your effort.
Marsha: Well, I know how I kind of explain this a lot, so I'll make sure I use your question
and not go off on one of my tangents here. Because I do . . .
Brian: I do the same.
Marsha: I do wanna, I do think that the thing that's the most important of building that
foundation is what I said earlier, is being coachable.
Brian: Yep. And that was my next question, was the foundation.
Marsha: Yeah.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: So, you have to, we have to find the right people to follow.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: Okay, and that's difficult sometimes when there's all these get rich, and you know,
or more importantly it's not all the get rich, it's the people that say, you can have this,
but you gotta work.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: And so you gotta be the kind of person that's willing to do that, okay. And willing
to follow someone that's truthful with you when they say, you know, doing your business
online is, it doesn't happen over night. And that person that goes, well I can have you
be up in no time and well this isn't for you. I'm not your coach, you know, if that's what
you're looking for. So for me it's finding the right people to follow, to be a part of,
the right coaches to be a part of, the right books to be reading, that, you know. It's
mindset in a lot of ways.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: Okay, so being coachable is probably the first part I think of a solid foundation,
you know.
Brian: Yeah, and that was what inspired the metaphor and I think. So the other thing that
you said was, in terms of foundation, having a solid foundation. Because if you bild on
a weak foundation, then, you know, oh I have to take the trash out, you know, that takes
precedence, or you get distracted. So that's an important piece. But then you also talked
about having a wider foundation. So, where's the balance of having a strong foundation
and then building a wider foundation, versus going too wide and never building anything
on top of it?
Marsha: Yeah, you know, I think that's even for me that's difficult. I'm a real shiny
object person, okay. I mean, and I talked about this earlier, I love to learn, okay.
I wish somebody would just pay me to do that. So when somebody throws a new course up, or
a new product up, or a new this up or a new that up, I'm like, ooh, what's that, you know?
And so you have to be disciplined, I think that's another component of this, okay. You
have to only look at those things that help you build the next layer on your foundation.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: Okay. So, if I saw this shiny new course about, you know, let's just say Facebook
Marketing, okay and I'm ready for that, then I guarantee you that there'll be another shiny
new course on Facebook Marketing that's coming later, okay.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: So, you know it's really important to build that solid foundation and then add
the layers on it. And when the foundation is solid I think that you start to expand
out just a little bit.
Brian: And I think a lot of people struggle figuring out where that is. And they keep,
you know, they get in that education mode, they get absorbed in books and they never
apply which is the equivalent of continually pouring more concrete and building more foundation,
eventually you're just gonna end up with a giant block of concrete that doesn't do anything.
And I think the, I mean I guess other metaphor is that, when you kind of constricted yourself
to learning what you needed to know so that you can build and not just continue learning
because it's fun, which it is, you kind of set lot lines, right. So you know, like, you
know, actually I think every country, you're only allowed to build on your property, right,
so your kind of constricting yourself on purpose. Because if you just continually pour concrete
across the world it doesn't really do anything.
Marsha: Right. Well it's to me like blogging, you know, I, you know, I sometimes get a student
that's like, they have no content up whatsoever. And then they're wanting to add the social
plug-in and, you know all that. And it's like you're just driving people to a ghost town.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: Okay, build your blog so that when someone lands on it, they go, wow, there's
content here, you know. This person is gonna help me. So, that's not the glamorous stuff
sometimes. Continuing to start with that foundation, if blogging is the way you go, start with
that foundation of a blog, and learn the fundamentals of that. And really good value and content
and then it's time to, okay, now I can add the social component to bring that into it.
Or, now maybe I can do pay per click, you know. But you don't wanna do pay per click,
when again, it's a ghost town or you don't look like you goods setup.
Brian: I'm gonna drive traffic to the most beautiful white blank page in world.
Marsha: Yeah! Or they land on it and maybe it's a pretty page but when they opt in for
what you have . . .
Brian: Yep.
Marsha: you don't have the good, you know.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: Even you're compelling offer that's free on your blog, you gotta, you know, some
people call it ethical bribe. I call it a compelling offer, okay. And it's sitting there
and somebody gives you their name and email address, because it looks interesting enough,
you know. And then they get it, and it's like, this isn't coherent, I mean it's not congruent
to what your blog's about. It's not in structure and informative, or I didn't move me forward
in any way. Guess what, I'm probably not going back to your blog again.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: You know, you almost feel tricked in some way. You know, that you gave up your
information. So, for me that's what I mean when I say build that really solid foundation,
you know. I had pages and pages and pages on my blog, MLM blog training, before I ever
did the first social thing to it, you know. Because I wanted when somebody did come there,
they would want to come back again.
Brian: Yeah. And that's an awesome example of that transition, of building a foundation
and then the next step, once you have a solid foundation is building the framing, for the
house. And you have to build that framing and build your blog before you can, you know,
and I think that the next metaphor will stand up here, is the finishing, which is, you know,
adding the stucco and then the wall paper and then putting the furniture in. You can't
put the furniture in if you don't have the framing. And . . .
Marsha: exactly.
Brian: you know, you can't get ahead of yourself. And especially with social because that's
something that I used to focus on a great deal. When I would do consulting, people would
like, oh, you know, we want a Facebook page. And I'm like, well, do you have any content?
Have you done social before? Do you have time to do it? And they're like, well no to all
of that, but we still wanna do a Facebook page. Because, you know, and it's, and Scott
Stratton was one of my favorite people to get outraged about this, he was like, you
can't use the technology just to say we're using technology. Oh, that's really cool,
what does it do? I don't know, but we're using it. And see, it doesn't help you.
Marsha: Yeah, and in my course I gave people a check list, you don't move here until you've
done these things.
Brian: I like that.
Marsha: It doesn't mean that they won't go ahead and move over there, because they're,
you know, they're all enticed by, you know, gotta have a fan page, you know, or whatever.
But, if they follow the course then it takes them step by step on how you do it. And, you
know, I have one more thing about foundation. Okay, that I think is important. It's being
coachable, it's being, but also, again, I'm gonna relate this to blogging, you know, but
I also think it relates to whatever you might be doing. It's knowing who you wanna talk
to.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: And just talking to them, you can not talk to everybody. And, people have a
hard time understanding that and you know, maybe another little metaphor is like, I'm
in an MLM company, and I sell lotion for your skin. Everybody's got skin, so everybody needs
this, you know.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: It's really understanding who your audience is. Because that to me is a really
solid part of the foundation, if you don't know who your audience is, you haven't narrowed
them down, and you haven't really come in tight on that, you're spending a lot of energy
talking to people or trying to talk to people that aren't interested in what you're talking
about.
Brian: Yeah, and that's, something that's extremely important online. But just really
anywhere, is that nicheing down. And the example that I always use when I explain it is, it's
not, you don't wanna talk to people who like fitness, you don't wanna talk to people who
like yoga, you don't wanna talk to women who like yoga, you wanna talk to pregnant women
in their 30's, who like yoga. Because . . .
Marsha: Yes.
Brian: when you have it that clear, you can create a message that is just so viscerally
impactful to that person because, it's like, they get me.
Marsha: Yeah, yeah.
Brian: That says, hey; do you like getting your heart rate up? It's, that doesn't connect.
Marsha: Yeah.
Brian: And, so I think it's hugely important to know that. So how did you determine that
for yourself? How did you identify that?
Marsha: Well part of it was understanding the need for that, you know.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: And this is, I mean, it's such a corny phrase, but you have to be a big fish in a
little pond. That's what you have to think about, okay.
Brian: I like that.
Marsha: I mean.
Brian: actually I've never heard that before.
Marsha: So, you know, if you should be a big fish in a pond almost. Because if you're talking
to everybody that's in the river or the ocean, you're talking to no body, kind of thing,
and you know, part of that I learned through Ann, okay. And so, you really just, that's
a perfect example you gave about the yoga thing. I see so many people, or the pregnant
woman looking for yoga. I see so many people go, oh, I wanna blog about, you know, fitness
and health, or fitness and wealth, okay. Well, the same person that needs information on
wealth is not, maybe they're in great physical shape, you know. So it's, that was a really
hard lesson, even for me, to learn.
Brian: Yeah, and it doesn't connect with people. Like, they don't, a lot of times it's really
difficult to share that because they don't see it.
Marsha: Right.
Brian: And, I think you have to, that's one of those things where you might, you know,
almost have to fail at it to be able to understand it. Because the age old stereo typical, like,
you know, well who am I supposed to be talking too? And it's like, well, you know, take a
mirror put it in front of someone's face and if it fogs up, talk to them. And it's like;
my dog would fog up by that logic. You know, I should talk to my dog about this business
opportunity. Well, talk to him, he's a smart dog, you know. It's, and it doesn't work because
you can't speak to that broad audience, it's just not possible. Because everybody has,
you can't say, hey we all live in the ocean, isn't it great here? Because it's, what's
the word that we always used? Toneless, if you go too broad then your messages are toneless.
And having that tone, being able to speak directly to your users, that's, it's just
so impactful.
Marsha: You want when, which is to me part of that foundation, you want when somebody
sits down, if it's a blog, when they sit down and find your blog, and they read it, they
feel like, how does she know that?
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: You know, she's talking to me, you know. Now maybe if you go to my blog a lot
of it's on how to do something. How to do a plug-in or which is the best plug-in. That's
gonna connect with anybody, weather you're, you know, a real estate agent, or broker,
or a MLMer or whatever it is, okay. It's the how to thing. But it's the peripheral stuff
I put around it, the about me page, about how I struggled. The home page about what
the promise of my blog is gonna be to somebody that comes. And, you know, I hope, I mean,
I'm always learning, but I hope somebody lands on it and says, wow, she's speaking to me,
you know.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: She's been where I've been, she knows what my problem is. So I'm, you know, I wanna
hear more about what she has to say, you know.
Brian: Yeah, and that's, I mean, it's, I think that that happens a lot. So you have that
peripheral content, which is the how to, which is the value orientated, it's helpful to all
these people who are seeing it. But then at the same time if a real estate agent comes
because they have a blog, and they need to learn how to put a plug-in on and they, you
know, Google it, find it on your site, some people are just gonna read it, be like, awesome,
and walk away.
Marsha: Right.
Brian: Other people are going to read it, comment, thank you for it and walk away. But
then there's, you know, and actually somebody explained it as, I think it was the engagement
pyramid, which I was kind of laughing because they weren't a Network Marketer. And I was
like, see, pyramids are good. And, you know, so you've got tier one, tier two, but then
the top tier is the raving fans, and so, some people will be like, this is really helpful,
who posted this? Oh my God, everything else is awesome, she's cool, I like her. And then
just, they're in. And you can foster that, but you have to give the value first.
Marsha: Gotta give the value first, but people like to feel like your not pitching them.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: You know, oh, I landed on a blog and it's this here, buy this, and gotta have that,
and so on. I mean, I have stuff on my blog that's, here's the themes I recommend.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: But that's to make sure your not off picking the theme that, you know, doesn't
meet the criteria. I think, you know, somebody should have, be looking for. But it's not
pitching them something, you know. I have one small section that's, you know, called
multiple strings of income, you know. There all in that one small section, I kind of talk
about what I do.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: But, for the most part, people would come to my blog and have no idea, that, are
you even in an MLM, you know. But Because I'm not pitching a gig to them, you know.
Brian: Yeah. And I know a lot of very successful Network Marketers say that they grew their
business more, when they stopped talking about their MLM. Because people are, they're curious,
and then, what do you do? Well I do this. Not, oh great, they're asking me, I can pitch
them on it, it's you know, I do this. And then the people, who are, so people say, oh
that's cool, I've heard of that before, and other people say, tell me more.
Marsha: Yeah, it's kind of like, having a call to work with page on your blog. A lot
of people have that work with page and the page does something like, you know, I can
help you be successful, I can show you how to do this, I can do this, I can do that,
okay. And join me and my teams, etcetera. The other person, which is more my style,
is, hey, I'm looking for people that wanna work.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: I'm looking for somebody that can prove to me that they, you know, should be
on my team.
Brian: Yep.
Marsha: You know, and so it's almost, you've gotta, you've got to step up and show me,
that I want to invest the time in you, you know.
Brian: And then you'll invest back, they'll invest back in you, and you'll invest in them.
Marsha: Yeah. Absolutely, so, it's just a different approach. But I think people appreciate
it more, particularly as their hit with ad after ad, and you know, somebody pitching
something and all that kind of stuff. So, I'm a big believer, I mean, I read the book
The Go Giver, which I just think is wonderful, I'm a big, big believer, in giving, giving,
giving and it will come back to you, you know. There might be days you go, okay, when's it
coming now? But, for the most part, it will come back to you.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: You know, I think, you know, you've already demonstrated some of that what I did
with the platform. I won the contest . . .
Brian: Yep.
Marsha: but once I won the contest, I gave so much content to that community, okay. And
in that, that's brought people to me now, saying, I love your style, I like your teaching
style, I like the way you do things. What are you doing? You know, or I wanna take your
course because I wanna learn more, that kind of thing. So, I'm a huge believer in giving,
giving, giving, giving.
Brian: That's awesome, and I think, and I ask these two questions, of every single person
that I interview. And I think you've already answered this one a few times over, but I'm
gonna ask it anyway.
Marsha: Okay.
Brian: Which is, who or what was the catalyst for your success?
Marsha: Oh man, you know, my first thought and sounds so egotistical, but it was me.
I mean, it was me wanting it. You know . . .
Brian: Did you not always want it? I mean, was there a moment where that changed?
Marsha: Well, let me back up. The catalyst of my success is been always me, having a
drive, from being a young kid to having a drive to wanting to succeed. To win that next
thing, be the best at this, to make the best grade, to earn that promotion, all this . . .
Brian: So the entire basis of Think And Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill.
Marsha: Yeah, exactly. So, but I don't mean that to be egotistical . . .
Brian: No, not at all.
Marsha: but, you have to have that in you.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: You're not aware of the people that are out there that you can then gravitate
to that will help you move to the next level, okay.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: So, in the corporate world, you know, the guy that was my boss, when I was in sales,
now when I moved from sales to marketing, he no longer was. But he was a powerful man
and how he wanted to see everybody he brought into that organization succeed.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: And, I really learned a lot from that. And how much he gave to helping them be successful,
you know. It was about the numbers and we had to make them and all of that, but it was
about helping them reach that. And that, so he was a tremendous influence, you know, in
my business life, okay. And then we've already mentioned, you know, Ann Sage, she's been
a tremendous influence on me, helping to put the pieces. I always give this little analogy,
you know when I first got online, it was like, somebody gave me a puzzle, a box . . .
Marsha: you know, you see the picture on the front of the box and you're like, okay, I
got it, I got it. They dump the puzzle out, you know, you understand each of those pieces,
just kind of like you do when you take those courses, those shinning objects. I understand
Facebook, I understand twitter, I understand. I couldn't figure out how to put them together.
Brian: Yeah, and make an actual cohesive picture.
Marsha: Make it work, okay. And I will attribute that to . . .
Brian: You start with the edges and the corners.
Marsha: Yeah, now I know. But I needed someone to help me say, put this piece before this
piece. And guess what, you don't need this piece right now.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: You know, and so I'll attribute that to her and that she really was, you know,
her and her team were really influential in helping me get focused, and learn the things
I needed to know. You know, and that gave me the direction, of, you need to find that
niche. You know, what niche you need to provide that, that value you need, you know, that
kind of thing.
Brian: Yeah. That's awesome. And so, the next question I have, which is the more arbitrary
one, but it plays into that, who from history, if they were alive today, would be killing
it in Online Marketing in the way that you do, in terms of giving value and brining people
who are interested? Who from history would be just absolutely rocking it and why?
Marsha: Well that's an interesting, there's, the King . . .
Brian: There's always a pause to answer it and I know that, and that's fine because you
have to like, ooh, who, because there's many, many.
Marsha: But you're not . . .
Brian: I have an idea of who you might answer. But I'm not gonna say it until you answer
because I have a hunch.
Marsha: The attraction, I mean, I kind of think, you know, as you were laying out the
question, before you actually finalized it. The first person that came to mind was Abraham
Lincoln.
Brian: Okay. I like it.
Marsha: You know, as you were laying it out, you know, how much he was dedicated and, how
much that man gave. But also, and I do not remember the numbers on this, but there's
a plaque of it somewhere about how much he failed.
Brian: Thirteen.
Marsha: Okay, I . . .
Brian: Thirteen times.
Marsha: Okay, and yet, look what, I mean, that is so powerful. And so, he wasn't afraid
to get up and try again.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: Okay. So, that makes him very powerful to me, okay. And the fact that he was selfless
in so many ways. You know, he put, you know, the country before himself; he put a lot of
people before himself. And the fact he wasn't, I don't wanna say he wasn't afraid, but he
had whatever it took, to make the tough decisions.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: You know, I admire that a lot. A lot of people don't do that today, you know. And,
I mean, I find myself sometimes, going, there's an easy way to do this.
Brian: Yeah, yeah, it's easier to kind of just, step back and, uh, I don't wanna do
that.
Marsha: In a lot of things, there's an easier way than I could just take somebody's money
in coaching.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: But I go, you know what, I'm not the coach for them.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: You know. So, who do you think? Abraham Lincoln is who I'm saying.
Brian: So, who I thought you were gonna say, which is really funny, is, I have a book sitting
next to me. I have all of my books that I read on a regular basis sitting next to me.
And, it's Launching A Leadership Evolution, and Abraham Lincoln is used as an example
many times over, but right along side, who I thought you were gonna go with, is Theodore
Roosevelt.
Marsha: Ah, okay.
Brian: Because you kind of remind me of like a female Theodore Roosevelt, because you're
driving, like if anyone knows anything about Theodore Roosevelt, I mean, the struggles
that he went through in his life, in terms of his health.
Marsha: Yeah.
Brian: But then how he pushed toward and I mean, that's, you're just, you do it, and
you get it done. So, that leads me to my last question, which is, what is something that
someone who can do today, to develop that drive and take steps to just say, I'm gonna
make it happen and I'm gonna start today?
Marsha: Okay, let me add one more thing before that, my other quick thought would have been,
and when you said I remind you Theodore, was Margret Thatcher, because I get that occasionally.
Brian: Love Margret Thatcher.
Marsha: Yeah, that, you have that tenacity . . .
Marsha: That tenaciousness that bulldog attitude that she had, so that would have been probably
my second choice.
Brian: If only we could get Theodore Roosevelt and Margret Thatcher and Winston Churchill
in the same room.
Marsha: Yeah, and to lead this country.
Brian: Well, if a . . .
Marsha: Okay, so I'm sorry I was kind of like, focusing on interrupting you and not listening.
Brian: An action step that someone can do today to find their drive and start to just
go at it today.
Marsha: Well, I think you have to have a real conversation with yourself. I had one a few
weeks ago with myself about making some decisions about was I gonna take this path or that path,
okay. And so I do think you have to be really true to yourself. And that can be difficult
when, let me just use Online Marketing as an example. You've been working at it for
a long time, you know, people tell you it's a great way to go. And so you just keep plugging
at it. Maybe you should just step back and say, is this really what I have a passion
for?
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: Okay. And if so, then I gotta figure out how to get there, okay. So I think having
that conversation with yourself, which is one of the hardest conversations you can have.
But I think having that really heart to heart with yourself, about, what do I really want?
And then frame it around, if you've got a family you have to consider, or aging parents,
or all those kind of things. How can you fit what you really want into that, okay? But
I think step one is having that really tough conversation. And then once you understand,
yes, this is what I want, or even if it's is what I don't want.
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: How do I get that off my plate now? How do I manage that in a way that I don't
do harm to somebody else, or create a problem. Let's just say we wanted, I don't wanna be
a Network Marketer anymore, and yet I've got a down line. How can I walk away from that
and not injure those people?
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: Okay. So you have to think about that, okay, and then once you've decided what you
want and what you don't want, then you say okay, this is how do I put a game plan for
both and let's really focus on how I put a game plan to move forward okay? Which is,
this is what I want, I really want this, okay. And then you start to think about, what are
the, who are the people I need to surround myself with? Okay, and find somebody that,
one or two people, don't chase every shinning object, and don't chase every leader. There's
tons of great leaders out there. Find a couple, okay, two or three. And really adhere to what
they say, whether it's reading the books, joining what they do, going to their events,
you know, tapping into their attitude and mindset and their resources, okay.
Brian: And their success in Network Marketing.
Marsha: Successes, and failures. Tapping into the failures, you know, also, because I think
that helps you go, man, they're human, you know.
Brian: Yeah, yeah.
Marsha: And okay, yeah, I love it that they all, you know. And shows me too that I can
still get ahead, so that would be my encouragement or direction to somebody that asked me would
be to really talk to yourself, understand truly what you want, and don't want. Get a
game plan and surround yourself with the people that can make that happen. And then put a
timeline on it. That's the other thing that's important, it's truly great to say, I mean,
let's say I'm gonna launch a new course, okay. Oh, I'm gonna launch it, you know, but if
I say I'm gonna launch it April the 3rd . . .
Brian: Yeah.
Marsha: and suddenly I'm finding ways to make it happen. Okay, so whether it's a dollar
amount you want, or an activity you wanna accomplish, or something else, you know, as
hokey as it is, put it on paper, put the to do lists that goes with it, and start working
towards ticking those things off.
Brian: I love it. I love it. And that's, I mean, goals are hugely important, mindset,
and every piece of it. As you said, I love that metaphor of pieces of the puzzle. You
just have to figure out a way to put it together and sometimes you can't do it on your own
and you need help and yeah, my puzzle skills are horrid. So I don't' think I would be able
to metaphorically put together any puzzle without mentors sitting next to me and, that
piece, over there.
Marsha: Yep.
Brian: Connect these.
Marsha: Yep.
Brian: But thank you so much for coming on and sharing your, both, I mean, your story,
your insights, everything. I'll link to your website as well as your blog and your book,
training system, everything that we talked about, which was a lot of resources, will
all be linked below. And thank you so much and look forward to having you on again soon.
Marsha: It's my pleasure, I'm so glad you asked me. Good luck.
Brian: Awesome.