Entrepreneurs are those individuals that see a good opportunity and work to make something out of it. They work hard at building their business, building their brand, getting the word out, and driving forward every day with the feeling that no matter what – they are going to make a success of what they are doing. They get an idea or take a sales position with a company and they BUILD it because they wake up every morning knowing that they CAN.

An opportunist is someone who finds something, jumps on it for a while thinking it will be easy money and then, upon realizing that it is not as easy as they thought – they look for the next “opportunity”. They often blame others for their lack of success, and sometimes even blame the companies which they worked with because it was not as easy as they thought it would be.

In a perfect world, there would be a great balance of these two – a great opportunity with real entrepreneurs working it. Unfortunately, this is not the case. There will always be those that work hard at whatever they do and there are always those that take the opportunity and do nothing with it. The old adage “once in a lifetime opportunity” actually comes to many people many times in their lives and lack of motivation (or entrepreneurial spirit) leaves them later wishing they had done something, done more to promote, told more people about it. Instead, the vast majority of people are scared to take those first steps and ultimately fail out because they tried to take advantage of an opportunity rather than being an entrepreneur and making it work.

The next time you are thinking, “what can I do with some spare time?”, try doing a little work towards your business. Every business owner can directly see the results of their efforts. You reap what you sow and if you want to harvest the rewards you have to plant the seeds of success today.

If someone asks you – Are you an entrepreneur or an opportunist? – how would you honestly answer that question?
If you can’t honestly say entrepreneur – is it time you started to do something about it?

In my years of helping businesses succeed online, I have helped a lot of companies get started and earning decent profits. Most of this comes from my input and management taking action based on my recommendations. When I first started working with SoyLicious.com though – it was a different role because it really was a bit out of my normal scope of operation and my primary focus was on building systems and not necessarily on business development and marketing, which consequently is my specialty. The management (owners) of this company are MUCH more hands-on than my typical client and it works well for them. While there have been minor issues during the course, the drive and willingness of owners to listen to feedback from all of its sales people and customers is the real driving force and because of it – they are celebrating their one year anniversary and I am proud to be a part of that.

SoyLicious.com is a direct sales company that utilizes sales consultants to build their business. They are positioning themselves, with my help, and with the help of their dedicated sales people, to be a direct competitor with companies such as Scentsy, Mia Bella, and other similar companies. Because of their drive and dedication of sales force, SoyLicious.com is already twice the size that Scentsy was in their first full year of operation and if growth continues, which I suspect it will – SoyLicious.com may be the dominant direct sales candle-based company in the US within 5 years. Of course the sales people and management take a HUGE role in this, but without great products there would not be repeat customers and this is where SoyLicious.com has prevailed. The candles and soaps are all natural soy, made from American soy farmers so not only is it a healthy alternative to oil-based candles, but it also supports US farmers.  Of course they have many more products, but the company is centered around their candles and melter wax (for melting pots – no fire).

Opportunity

The opportunity with SoyLicious.com should be fairly easy to see. A ground-breaking company that is experiencing tremendous growth due to great products and superb management, but for those that just do not see it, you should check out the website. Consultants can earn a 40% commission on all products sold through their website. Consultants can order product at a 40% discount (wholesale cost). Consultants also get access to affiliate panel, marketing forum, and their unique websites on the soylicious.com domain for selling and team building (aka recruiting). It has been my experience that most people who come to buy the products end up trying them, and then becoming a consultant a few weeks later after seeing how great the products really are.

Specials

The company in and of itself is great – but the best part is the specials. not only are there several specials going on right now for sales – they are having an AWESOME recruiting special. ANYONE can join for only $10 for the month of July. If you are contemplating getting into your own business – this is the time. The earliest movers will be the ones that benefit the most because July will be a huge growth month because of this special.

Join during the month of July and I have numerous email scripts I can send you (if you join as part of my team – meaning directly under me or any of my consultants) to jump start your recruiting efforts. If you want to join under me and get a direct line of communication at the top of the company – just use this link and get started right away.

With the Saints hitting playoffs, then the Super Bowl (WHO DAT BABY), I ate and ate. We had wings, chips & salsa, banana pudding and just about everything else you SHOULD NOT eat on a diet – but I did. Then I followed it up with Mardi Gras! Now, I am not a big drinker, but over the course of a week full of parades, I consumed a fifth of tequila and about a gallon of Margarita mix along with fried chicken, pizza, and even more. Well, with all that I gained about 7-8 pounds back of my weight loss, but right afterward I got back on my diet, religiously drinking my White Lightning energy drink and taking my TriThin Magic (Get a Free Bottle here).

I am now proud to say that my official weight this morning was 198.4 – a huge drop from my 232 pound start a little over a month ago, bringing my total weight loss to over 33 pounds and still counting down. My first goal was 200, my next is 185. I have already noticed a bit off my waste and my “big boy” button up shirts are too big so I foresee a shopping trip in about 15 more pounds.

To all of you who have thought that a goal of weight loss was too hard to achieve, believe me when I say it is not. The changes I made were minor and I am doing it. Coming from a Southern Mississippi boy who loves to eat – you can do it too! Make small milestones for yourself, create a plan, and stick with it. Don’t be afraid to cheat a little when you want to – just get back on the next day. The minor cheating is what has kept me from blowing it altogether.

Looking to make 2010 my “get healthier” year and wishing you the best luck in reaching your goals!

Back on topic, I really never gave much thought to moisturizers or lathering or any of that other “stuff” that women worry about when spending 10 minutes on the soap isle at WalMart – I just run in, get my usual, and get out. If they don’t have it – I come back later.

After being recruited to act as a technology consultant for SoyLicious.com (see post here), I asked what the big deal about Soy Soap was. I could tell with one whiff of the candles that they were the best soy candles I have ever smelled, but I honestly had no clue why someone would buy soy soap online or through a consultant rather than just going to WalMart and buying a Dove or something (or whatever other regular bar soap you get). In order to “show me”, I was sent a bar of the Oatmeal Milk and Honey. Being as straightforward as possible here – I originally planned on just giving it to my wife and having her tell me how it was. Being that I got a Lavender bar as well – she told me to take the Oatmeal Milk and Honey.

My Experience with the soap was not overwhelming at first. My main concern was – is this going to break me out into an awful rash? Some of the positive items I notice about the soap:

1. Lathered up MUCH better than my other soap so I actually use much less
2. Feels smooth going on. I know – this is hard to explain but it is like I am washing with silk (for lack of a better “manly” analogy)
3. Rinses off much easier so you don’t have to feel like you are washing off your soap after you wash with it. You know what I mean – you feel like you are coated with soap and you have to wash it off – well you don’t feel that way with the soy
4. After a couple of weeks of using it, I have noticed that my skin feels a bit softer. As a man, I don’t know if this is good or bad, but ultimately it feels better and knowing that soy is good for you I have to assume that soft skin is better

And of course, no good article would be “good” without the “bad”:

1. The first few days of using the soap I noticed that it was making my face (and only my face) a bit dry. Now, this could have been due to the weather as it was in the teens that week, but since most of my day is spent sitting on my butt behind a computer and not braving the elements of a harsh Mississippi winter – I attributed it to the soap.
2. THE SMELL LASTS A LONG TIME! To some of you women out there, I am sure this is a plus, but when a man is sitting with his man friends and they ask who smells good (like good as in cookies, not good as in manly), it is hard to say “that’s me – it is my Oatmeal Milk and Honey soap”. The good news is that there is an unscented one but I think I need to hold out until we have one that smells like leather – what do you think?

Overall, I rate the soy soap high on my list and will continue to use it, albeit I will most likely stick to an unscented bar next time. The value is good considering the price versus how long it lasts (bigger than typical bar of soap and use less because of better lathering). The health benefits are appealing to me although I am not an extremely health-conscious person but the fact they are made with renewable resources (Soy Beans, American Grown) is a big plus to me.

If you would like to look at buying soy soap, go to The Soap Page (I make a commission if you buy)
If you would like to look at possibly selling soaps and the best soy candles you can buy & competitively priced – go to my marketing site. Not only will you get great products to sell with no quotas, I will assist you personally in your sales and recruiting efforts and offer free coaching up to once per week to help you succeed.

Google Buzz

Okay so what is Google Buzz? A new twitter? A new Facebook? A new Friendfeed? When compared to the above it most likely resembles friend feed, but this could be so much more. With an intuitive interface for those that are used to using microblogging and facebook-style platforms – this should be easily adaptable. But the biggest question is do we really need another Microblogging platform?

What Google Buzz isn’t
Google Buzz is not just another platform but instead brings numerous platforms together to give you one more way to connect with your friends and other readership. I primarily see this being used as a business tool over a standard platform for your basic users. Google Buzz does not currently have a good platform for real social integration. That being said, I will tell you what Google Buzz is and how you can use it in your business.

What Google Buzz Is
Google Buzz is, at first glance, a great way to get your information out there as a business or blogger. Google Buzz allows you to pull in numerous platforms directly into your Buzz screen including Twitter, Flickr, Picasa, and even your blog posts. All this can be done automatically and make things very easy to store and respond to in a central location (you still have to respond to comments on your blog through your blog though).  by having a lot of this put together in one place, it makes it easy for people that are interested in what you are doing to follow you (as long as they have a GMail account) right in their GMail/Buzz screen.

My first impression
Google still has some tweaking to do on the platform, but we know the Internet giant will take advice from users, do their homework, and implement features to make it better. Early adopters will definitely go through some changes, but most will be for the better. It is definitely worth checking out but I don’t know that I would run off and create a GMail account right now if I did not already have one. The service has some growing to do but will be a useful tool for business with a potential to grab market share from other social giants as they adapt the service.

Caveat
Thinking of Spiderman here for a minute – “With great power comes great responsibility” – keep in mind that you do not want to stuff everything you do on this as it will get really burdensome for users who only check their email a few times a day. If you have numerous blogs and are posting 20 twitter messages a day this will get old to your followers. I chose to start light only feeding this blog and my rarely updated twitter account in there.  Every time an update occurs, you get a copy in your GMail – this will get old but at least it is compact. Use with caution until you get the feel for the user experience.

Update: Be careful of Google Buzz Privacy Issues

So what is my secret? Not much of a secret but anyone that knows me definitely knows I wasn’t out running two miles every day, or even running any further than the bathroom from my office chair! I took a less stressful approach and cut a few things out of my routine and added a few things to it:

1. Cut out some unnecessary sugars: By reducing my sweet tea intake, I easily cut several hundred calories a day from my diet. I still have a glass here and there with dinner or lunch, but not constantly drinking it as my constant drink. Instead, I decided to substitute a few things:
   1. White Lightning – This is an energy drink I have been drinking for about a year now. It is healthy, low sodium, 24 calories, 6g carbs (2 from sugar), and high on Vitamin C, Niacin, and B vitamins. You can get this from Triunity (bought in boxes of 30 packs which are mixed with bottled water). Don’t drink this within 5 hours of getting ready for bed.
   2. Water Mixers – you know the ones, they are little flavor packs that you mix with water and get from Walmart next to the Kool-Aid. I like Grape and Kiwi Strawberry.
   3. Water – In between other drinks, I have a full bottle of water.
2. Eat Breakfast: I typically do not eat breakfast and then grub like there is no tomorrow at lunch. By eating a small something (bagel, fruit, eggs, whatever) within the first hour of getting up I am able to “jump start” my metabolism and also not so hungry at lunch that I have to eat until I feel like I am going to pop.
3. Light Lunch: Keeping lunch light instead of having a side of ribs and bowl of potatoes helps keep the stomach from expanding to the point of no return. I have taken lunch down to a turkey sandwich (or two if I am really hungry). This typically knocks the hunger off and I can eat a snack in a couple of hours (apple/banana/bagel/something)
4. Somewhat Healthy Dinner: Food that is good for you does not have to taste bad. I simply knocked off the fried foods. We now will have chicken breast, pork ribs, steak, etc typically with a vegetable and a light starch.

My physical movement has expanded some as I have been playing a driving range game on my wife’s Wii Fit Plus (bought at Buy.com – use that link and it will save you $10 on any $200 order). I like the driving range game because it helps me stay balanced while swinging the hell out of the remote. I also enjoy playing the bowling game on Wii Sports (which shipped with the Wii)

The final secret is an appetite suppressant. I did good without it but when my weak moments hit, I would take the TriThin Magic, another product put out by Triunity. You can get a free bottle by visiting FreeMagicDiet. It is a pain to go through the sign-up process, but worth it to get a great product for free.

My goal is to get down to 180 pounds (maybe a little less). I am currently 209, started two weeks ago at 232…. STAY TUNED!

I decided to post a quick excerpt here though because I wanted to showcase some of what we (Tech Realty) are doing and why. Our website platforms are still under development but currently our blog is on the top of numerous search terms across Google, Bing, Yahoo, and MSN. Utilizing my experience in web and search engine marketing, I have pushed our website up to the top of these engines for keywords that we are actively pushing for at the time. This has availed us a steady stream of business while many other agents are getting out of the business because they can’t stay afloat.

In the coming months we will be expanding our online operations and taking Tech Realty® to a whole new level here on the coast and eventually turning it into a national franchise.  Our platforms will be rivaled by no one and I am currently planning on fully integrated marketing and agent platforms which will be designed to get agents more business and fully manage their business online.

Look for good things coming out of Southern Mississippi in 2010 and keep an eye on Tech Realty – we will surprise you!

Now, I agreed to come on board with SoyLicious.com because an old friend asked me to, but once I smelled their product I was sold. Not only are the candles made from soy (renewable, almost no soot, and generally accepted as safe for asthma sufferers and birds), but they have an awesome scent throw. Most soy candles do not hold scent well and that has been their downfall but this company has the right mix. My wife’s favorite is the room sprays though. She sprayed some on our sofa and even after the dog (lap dog) and the teenage boy sat on it for 3-4 days, you could still smell the fragrance – an AWESOME value.

So the big question is “will I be promoting this company heavily?”
Yes, and this is why:

• It has great potential as a start up company
• It has an AWESOME product line which is growing
• Killer Support and a great team in place (myself included)
• A very fair compensation package and excellent discounts (40% wholesale discount)
• Because I am in the top tier of the company, my team will be poised to do very well
• It goes well with some of my other business ventures
• I believe this company will do very well long term and will love to be a part of that

I am looking to build a team of motivated individuals that are interested in candles or at least in making money. Take a look at the site at SoyLicious.com/DamionFlynn and tell me what you think. Join if you are ready or send me an email if you have questions.