Blu Frog Motorsports fans know that Blu Frog had an awesome weekend with Derrike Cope and Larry Foyt at Daytona Speedweek.  Check out how Blu Frog rocked Daytona!

Over the past couple of days I’ve experienced an unexpected, very positive side-effect of drinking Blu Frog.  I’m losing my appetite for diet soda!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of diet soda, my favorite being Diet Mt Dew.  I especially like the fact that most diet sodas have zero calories.  Maintaining my weight is very important to me, and I hate drinking calories.  I eat way too many calories throughout the day as it is, no reason to pile it on with high calorie beverages.

That being said, diet soda isn’t very good for your body.  It would be very difficult indeed to make an argument for the health benefits of diet soda.  When I drink too many, my body lets me know by feeling, for lack of a better word, icky.   I know that icky feeling far too well, as I frequently drink way too many diet sodas.

Drinking Blu Frog is an entirely different experience.  I feel good when I drink Blu Frog, and  I never get that icky feeling.  Blu Frog is crammed full of ingredients that are good for my body, including tons of B6 and B12.  With two ounces of Original Limu in every can, I know I’m getting all the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients my body needs.  While there are calories in Blu Frog, there are only 68 per can.  Even if I drink three in a day, that’s still only about 200 calories.  Not bad!

Now that I’ve had the experience of drinking a healthy energy drink, a drink that makes me feel really good, I pause when I reach for a diet soda, asking myself if I really want it.  Do I want to put a bunch of trash in my body?  No!  Do I want to feel that icky, too-many-diet-drinks feeling?  No!  Do I still drink my beloved Diet Mt Dew?  Of course I do, and I still love it.  I just drink a lot less of ‘em, reaching more and more frequently for a glass of water or a Blu Frog Energy.  Now that’s a positive, healthy, and unexpected benefit of drinking Blu Frog!

Learn more about Blu Frog, what it is, what’s in it, and how to order.

Learn about earning money with Blu Frog.

Success in network marketing comes down to a few simple basics backed by a few simple principles.  Here are three principles that I consider crucial to success as a network marketer.

Always Be Coachable

Being coachable is one of the most important traits of the successful marketer.  Why?  Everyone comes to network marketing without a clue as to how to succeed.  It’s absolutely crucial that you work with a coach, usually the person that sponsored you into the business, in order to learn how to work the business successfully.  If you’re not willing to take direction, encouragement, and the occasional constructive criticism, you’re setting the stage for your own failure.

Believe!

Belief is another crucial success principle.  After being coachable, it’s perhaps the next most important principle.  Believing in yourself, in your success, in your product, and in you opportunity allows you to make it through the difficult times.  Without that belief, you’re liable to throw your hands up and quit as soon as the going gets tough.  If you believe with all your heart that you will be successful, no matter what happens, you’ll be able to stay focused and stay motivated regardless of the many challenges that you’ll face.

Be Action Oriented, Not Result Oriented

Success in network marketing comes, in large part, as a result of taking daily action toward growing your business.  You must take action in order to succeed, and you must take action regardless of the immediate results of that action! (Of course, you’ve got to take the right action, but that’s what your coach is for.)  Success is a marathon, not a sprint, and results don’t always come right away.  In fact, the results you’re looking for sometimes don’t appear for quite some time!  Remember the right action will always produce the desired results.  Stay focused on action, and the results will follow.

What principles have been important to your success?

Learn how you could be making money with Blu Frog Energy.

Blogs, Brews, and Belly Laughs is going to be the first meetup of bloggers in the Greater North Attleboro area of Massachusetts.  Hosted by BenSpark.com and the Speed of Thought Players, the March 13th event promises to be an exciting and hilarious get together.  “Blogs and Brews” come first in the form of a blogger meet-and-greet, followed by “Brews and Belly Laughs” when the Speed of Thought Players put on their famous improv comedy show.

If that weren’t awesome enough, BenSpark.com has worked hard to secure some great sponsors for the event.  Check it out.

What I am really excited about aside from meeting some new and interesting people is BenSpark’s PhotoBooth. I have been working really hard securing sponsors for this event and I got some great ones and some great prizes. I’ll be supplying a few BenSpark.com hats, IZEA Swag, BluFrog Energy Drink, Ten Bills.com T-Shirts, an XShot or two and I also received two PoGo printers from ZINK Imaging along with over 100 sheets of PoGo ZINK Paper. But you are going to have to wait till March 13 to see what I do with that.

I’m both excited and honored to be a sponsor of Blogs, Brews, and Belly Laughs.  I’ve provided a case of healthy, delicious Blu Frog Energy for the event, and I can’t wait to hear how much those crazy Massachusetts bloggers love it.

If you’re a blogger in or around North Attleboro, MA, you absolutely must clear your calendar on March 13th and get to the Speed of Thought Playhouse for what promises to be an awesome night.

Head over to BenSpark.com’s Blogs, Brews, and Belly Laughs post for full details.

“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” — Joseph Addison

With all of the hype surrounding network marketing, some positive, some negative, some downright unbelievable, it can be easy to lose sight of the fact that networking marketing is a profession much like any other.

Success as a network marketer requires passion, hard work, and knowledge.  Here are my Top Five, Must-Read Books for the network marketer and small business owner. (You’ll notice that only the first book in this list applies directly to network marketing.)

Your First Year in Network Marketing

Network marketing is one of the most fun and rewarding businesses in the world . . .

According to Amazon, I’ve owned Your First Year in Network Marketing since June of 2005.  It’s been an invaluable resource as a reference and a training tool, both for myself and the people on my team.  If you only purchase one book on network marketing, this is the one to buy.

Think & Grow Rich

Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure. –Napoleon Hill

Think & Grow Rich was first published in 1937, the result of more than 20 years of research into what makes hugely wealthy people so successful.  When I first heard about Think & Grow Rich, I was skeptical it would contain anything other than pop-psychology drivel aimed at the get rich quick market.  I couldn’t have been more wrong.

There are many avenues to great wealth, and the wildly successful all have their own stories, but there’s not a single one of them that will tell you they’ve achieved their success without a definite purpose, big goals, and a burning desire to be successful.  If you’d like to follow in their footsteps, I would recommend studying this book.

As A Man Thinketh

A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts. –James Allen

As A Man Thinketh is the one book on this list that I would recommend to anyone and everyone, regardless of their aspirations for success in small business.  I have learned more from this little book about the power of thought and its impact on my life than any other book I have read.  If you study this short essay closely, you’ll find that it’s source material for many of the most popular positive thinking books that follow, including Think & Grow Rich and the recent, wildly popular book and movie The Secret.  While I’ve enjoyed reading other books on this same topic, I’ve not found a single book I value more highly.

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language. –Dale Carnegie

How to Win Friends and Influence People is another book that I avoided for many years, assuming that it would teach me how to manipulate people into liking me just long enough for me to profit financially from the relationship.  Boy was I wrong! Reading this book has been influential in my development as a person, as a friend, and as a successful marketer.

One of the most important lessons to learn in network marketing is that people aren’t interested in buying into your business, they’re interested in buying into you! Practical application of the principles learned in this book will help you become the kind of person that people want to invest in.

Lower Your Taxes Big Time

Tax evasion is illegal.  Tax avoidance is the American way of life. –Claiborne Ferguson

One of the very best reasons to start a small business, any small business, is the ability to save on your taxes every year.  One of the biggest hurdles to making sure you’re reaping all of the tax benefits that you’re due are the incredibly difficult to understand tax rules and regulations.  Lower Your Taxes Big Time breaks down the confusing tax code into small, easy to understand sections that make doing your taxes at the end of the year much easier and highly profitable.  I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of these books over the years (they’re updated each year), and I’d recommend them highly to any small business owner who’s interested in learning more about the tax advantages of owning their own business.

What books would you add to your Top 5 List?

Learn more about the Blu Frog Opportunity.

Love Blu Frog? Love YouTube? Interested in putting an extra $10,000 in your pocket? Check out the Blu Frog YouTube video contest!

Blu wants it this way

• Video must feature Blu Frog: grab graphics from our website.
• Video can be up to 90 seconds long. C’mon, get our attention!
• Video must be your unique creation, no swiping copyrighted material.
• Video must be submitted in DVD format, no trashy VHS tapes allowed.
• Video must not contain inappropriate content. No nude frogs!

Blu’s Big Prize

Every month Blu will select his fav video and handout $2,500 cold hard cash for the most ribbitingly creative show. Your video will be featured on the Blu Frog website and all of our social sites – the whole world can see.

At the end of 12 months, Blu picks the best of the best from the past winners. And that lucky frog will win an unbelievable $10,000 bucks and a 3-day all expenses paid Cancun vacation.

Important!

• All videos submitted become the exclusive property of The Limu Company.
• Blu reserves the right to broadcast, edit, or redistribute your video any way. Those are the rules, dude.

December 2008 Blu Frog Video Contest Winner

January 2009 Blu Frog Video Contest Winner

For full details and the video contest fine print, head over to BluFrogEnergy.com.

I got home tonight to find my very first shipment of Blu Frog Energy on my front porch.  You all know I’ve been drinking Blu Frog since the January 2009 launch—I brought home four cases from the launch and I’ve purchased three additional cases since—but this is the first shipment delivered directly to my door.  I got so excited, I whipped out my Flip and my camera so I could share it with you.  Enjoy!

A Louisiana artist, Linda Rambin has been painting for approximately six years. Unfortunately, her painting career has been postponed indefinitely due to the extremely aggressive form of brain cancer she is currently fighting, glioblastoma multiforme. Diagnosed in early October 2008, Linda has had brain surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, and she is currently participating in a clinical trial that is causing her a great deal of fatigue and a host of other side effects.

Best Friends by Linda Rambin

The cost of Linda’s treatment and care are exorbitant. Just one of the medications for the clinical trial costs $4,500 per month, and that’s the co-pay! You can help support Linda and the Rambin family by spreading the word about Paintings by Linda, a collection of Linda’s original paintings on Etsy.com. The more people that visit Paintings by Linda, the more of her paintings will sell, helping the family to defray the cost of her treatment. (If you’re sharing about Linda’s store on Twitter, please use the hashtag #charlysmom. Linda’s daughter Charly has worked tirelessly on both Linda’s Etsy store and Linda’s Caring Bridge website.)

Moon Glow by Linda Rambin

If you are interested in learning more about her story, please visit Linda’s Caring Bridge website. There you will find a more detailed account of her struggle, a daily blog, a guestbook for comments, and a photos page.

Please keep Linda in your thoughts as you enjoy her unique and vivid paintings. They have brought her much joy, and we hope they will do the same for you.

A friend and I were discussing social media last night and how to share social media with marketers in our company.  What is social media?  How can they use social media to grow their business?  We started talking about the popular “Social media is like a party” analogy, and then it struck me: social media is exactly like real life, just faster and more intense.

If social media is exactly like real life, then I should behave myself just like I do in real life.  It’s not OK for me to try and sell every person I meet in life, so why is it OK on Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace?  The answer is it’s not OK, but plenty of people do it. I know I’ve been guilty.

My best advice to new marketers in any company, and to myself, is to follow real life rules when you take the social media plunge.  The rules that I learned in kindergarten—to share, to play fair, say I’m sorry, to live a balanced life—they all apply online.  And if “living” online is a faster and more intense version of real life, those rules become even more important.

Before you tweet, before you post that Facebook update, before you create a profile on MySpace or join a network on Ning, think about those important life lessons you learned in kindergarten.  Follow them and you’ll be highly successful.  Ignore them at your peril.

Looking for a great way to get started with social networking? Created yourself a Twitter account and dive in by participating in “follow Friday!“

Blu Frog Energy is the best tasting energy drink on the market. It’s packed full of natural goodness, has fewer calories than the competition, and it kicks like a mule!  Here are five reasons that you should be drinking Blu Frog Energy.

Blu Frog Energy Does a Body Good

No added flavors, no added sugars, and two ounces of Original Limu in every can means that Blu Frog is not just good for you, it’s great! See “What’s in Blu Frog?” for more.

Blu Frog Energy Gets You Through the Afternoon Slump

I don’t know about you, but I usually have a little energy slump around 3pm every day.  Long days at the office spent in front of the computer can be really tough – draining both physical and mental energies.  A can of Blu Frog helps me get through that slump and keeps me going strong until quitting time.

Blu Frog Energy Tastes Great

Blu Frog is full of delicious, natural fruit flavors.  Mango and papaya puree, combined with pear juice and apple juice concentrates, create a delicious mix of flavors that make drinking this energy drink a truly enjoyable experience.

Blu Frog Energy Pays You to Drink

Yes, you read that right! All you need to do to earn is purchase some product for yourself and share Blu Frog with your friends! Blu Frog will provide you with your very own marketing site (here’s mine), and every time your friends buy Blu Frog from your site, the company sends you a check! See “Seven Ways to Make Money Sharing Blu Frog Energy” for more.

Blu Frog Energy Helps You Stick It to the Tax Man

Let me tell you how it will be,
There’s one for you, nineteen for me.
‘Cause I’m the taxman,
Yeah, I’m the taxman.

– Taxman by The Beatles

A lawyer friend of mine once told me, “Tax evasion is illegal.  Tax avoidance is the American way of life.”  I agree wholeheartedly, and there’s no better way to stick it to the Tax Man than by starting your own home-based business. Don’t take my word for it! Check out “Let the tax genie out of the bottle” from MarketWatch for further details.

Wrapping Up

There you have it, five great reasons to drink Blu Frog Energy! How can you go wrong with an energy drink that tastes great and is great for you? And while the home-business aspect of Blu Frog certainly isn’t for everyone, it really sweetens the pot for me and for many of my friends.

Ready for some Blu Frog of your own? Go ahead and grab a case or two. Questions, comments? Drop me a line at jeremy at gimmeblufrog dot com or leave me a comment below. I look forward to hearing from you!