Direct Selling Leaders Experts

I am leaving for the weekend at 1:30 today. I’m sure you are thinking - “Wow, Sarah, thanks for keeping posted on your personal life!”. 

But see, here’s the thing.  Ordinarily, I work a full day today, so my available work time got cut in half.  In days long ago, that would have put me into a tail spin of whirlwind activity (read crazy making activity) that was not focused and certainly not productive.

Rather than make that choice, I’ve learned a better way and I want to share a little of it with you.

I organize my time. Meaning, I knew on Tuesday what my priorities would be today.  In fact, I knew months ago what I would be focusing on today because I have organized my time into specific types of days: Free Days, Support Days and Focus Days. The days are color coded on my calendar so that at a glance I know where my time is to be focused.

Also, because my time is more limited today, I can check my master list of priorities, choose the 3 or 4 things that are of critical importance and let the rest wait until next week. That master list was made at the beginning of February (with regular weekly updates). 

By keeping an up to date master list I am always certain of the tasks that must get done (as opposed to the ones that “would be nice” to get done).

We will be talking more about these kinds of strategies on my Expert Call, Monday March 3 at 12 noon EST.  If getting your time focused and organized sounds like something you need, I invite you to sign up for the call here: http://www.directsellingleaders.com/expert_call.html

Hope you will join me!

Love & Success!
Sarah

As a direct seller, I’m going to bet that one thing you want to do with your business is to leverage yourself through the actions of others - thereby establishing a residual income for yourself.

I’m also going to bet that you’ve heard (numerous times!) how important it is to duplicate yourself and to use a duplicatable system as you build your business.

Yes?????So here’s my question for you today…When it comes to duplication, are you duplicating abundance or are you, unknowingly and unintentionally, duplicating scarcity?In other words…

Is the foundation on which you are building your business one of abundance?There’s an old biblical saying that says, “You can’t pour new wine into an old wineskin” because the old wineskin will spoil the new wine.As a direct seller, the challenge for you, is to realize that the majority of people in your business (including, perhaps, yourself) might be unknowingly and unintentionally pouring the abundant “new wine” of your business opportunity into an “old wineskin” of scarcity!

When this happens, scarcity beliefs, patterns and ways of operating will become the “unintentional foundation” of your business and will be duplicated again and again!

For example, a majority of direct sellers regularly experience overwhelm, procrastination, inconsistency, struggle, frustration and less-than-desired results in their businesses. In fact, it’s not uncommon for them (and maybe I’m describing you) to consider any or all of these experiences to be a “normal” part of building a business!

The problem is that when you and/or one of your associates consider any of these experiences to be “normal” – you have instantly set yourself up to experience more of the same! When you and/or your associates begin to think (consciously OR subconsciously) that experiences like overwhelm, procrastination, fear and anxiety, inconsistency, and lack of motivation are “normal” - you have just made them an ongoing part of your reality. As a result, you will unintentionally duplicate these patterns when working with your prospects, customers and associates.

Consider a scenario that might occur when you first meet with a new associate and you ask her why she wants to be in your business and what she wants to achieve. Her response might simply be that she wants to make enough money to pay for her own products. Another typical response may be that she wants to make a couple hundred dollars each month to pay off some bills.

If so, how do you respond?

Do you respond by telling her to think and dream “bigger”? Do you start to tell her about how much more money she could make, e.g., $5,000 or $10,000, each month? Do you “write her off” as not being a leader or serious business builder?

It happens far too frequently throughout the industry. .

That’s why it’s important to remember the age-old success principle that says “whatever we focus on is what shows up and expands.” Thus, if you focus on scarcity in yourself or others, scarcity will show up and expand. Conversely, if you focus on abundance, abundance will result.

Given that, consider your response to your new associate. If you told her to dream “bigger” or you “wrote her off”, notice how YOUR focus was on scarcity. Notice how you “not enoughed” her goal or “why”. In the process, there’s a good chance you’ve just (unintentionally) “set up” your new associate to experience scarcity and struggle in her business - instead of abundance!

How?

Because now she is likely to begin to “not enough” herself and her dreams as well. This “not enough” pattern is likely to permeate her business, i.e., she will never take “enough” action, she won’t get “enough” done, she won’t have a “big enough” organization or a “big enough” commission check. All of this focus on scarcity will result in the “normal” yet not abundant experiences of pressure, overwhelm, fear, frustration, inconsistency and lack of motivation or results.

Imagine the difference if you had responded to her goal with enthusiasm, encouragement and acknowledgement. What if you told her that you will support her to achieve it? How would your prospect or new distributor feel about her goal, you and her new business opportunity? Can you sense how much more it would inspire her, keep her enthusiasm high, and have her feel better about her goal as well as her decision to begin her business?

Constantly focusing on scarcity will always disempower you and your associates. Only by focusing on abundance can you and/or your associates be empowered to learn, grow and take action.

That being the case, if you want to empower your prospects and associates to build and duplicate their business on a “foundation of abundance”, you must do the same for yourself. That means that you must focus on the abundance already in your life and within you. You must “enough” instead of “not enough” yourself. You must emphasize consistency over quantity and remember that doing “something” keeps you (and your associates) out of the “all or nothing” pattern of scarcity.

To do so is the hallmark of a true leader.

So - what’s your foundation?

Are you duplicating scarcity or abundance?

Teresa

Wouldn’t it be great if you could read your guests minds throughout (and especially at the end of) your presentation? I want to share a tool with you today that will increase your results from your parties the instant you start using it.

 I’m sure most of you currently use a door prize drawing slip of some kind at your parties. It’s a great way to get your customer’s information for future follow up. That card usually tells you of their interest in booking a party of their own or learning more about your opportunity? The problem is, often times you either don’t get the cards back or get them back incomplete, right? Let me share with you how I used what I called a Guest Care Card to gather valuable information and literally begin to “read” my customers’ minds (and how I got those cards back completely filled out from every single person at the party every time).

First, I’d introduce the Guest Care Card at the beginning of the party and ask my guests to fill out the top portion (name, address, phone, e-mail) together. Then I told them to put the card away, that we would fill it out together as the party progressed. I would show a few items and then do my booking commercial. After I told them all about why they wanted to book a party with me, I would have them take out the Guest Care Card and answer the first question on the card.

It read “How interested would you be in scheduling a fun night out with your friends where you’ll be spoiled and earn a ton of free product?” I had a scale of 1-10 next to the question and they would circle their interest level (one means not interested up to ten which is totally interested). Once they had answered the question, I told them to put the card away again.

Then I’d show a few more items and do my opportunity commercial. (You can learn more about how to create great commercials on our “Designing an Amazing Party Experience”DVDs and Audio CDs. Click here to go to the “Purchase Products” page on the website). When I’d finished, they were asked to take out the Guest Care Card one last time.

The next question to answer was “How interested would you be in learning all about how my opportunity can change your life?” And again, they had a scale of 1-10.

The final question asked “If your host were starting the business, would you book a party to support her? Yes or no?” That question often times will get several “yeses”. Then, at the end of the party, you can literally say “Karen, there are three people who would rather do a party with you than with me! What are we going to do?” That often times will move a potential recruit from a “maybe” to a “yes.” Then you can collect the cards, completely filled out, and use them as a great follow up tool.

If you would rather not create your own Guest Care Card, click here to purchase our “Powerful Tools for Your Direct Sales Business”download procuct. It has this tool plus a ton of other great tools and themed invitations you can begin using right away.

Last week I did an incredible live call on getting bookings for the Direct Selling Leaders. Click here to get your copy!

The week before last, I did an incredible live call on Recruiting. Click here to get your copy!

Next week, I’ll share our Opportunity Gift Bag. Be sure you check back!

Make it a great day!
Julie Weitz

We’ve been exploring the 4 Cornerstones of Profit.  Last week we looked at The Company Money Rule.  This week, let’s talk about our second Cornerstone:  Revenue.    Revenue in and of itself is just “money made.”  But she has two critical relationships.  To help remember Revenue’s relationships, think REV  (R-Revenue, E-Expenses, V-Vision) 

R-Revenue

You’re in business–so that means you’re going to be selling something.   Whether you’re selling a service or a line of products , SALES drives a business.  You can have the best marketing plan in the world; thousands before you may have achieved what you dream of doing; you can have the best products on earth; you may offer the best service in the universe…but if you don’t have sales, you don’t have revenue.   If you don’t have Revenue, you don’t have business.

 E-Expenses

Expenses are the cost of doing business; they are what you spend to generate a profit.  You should be receiving back multiple dollars for every dollar you spend to generate revenue.  Expenses that exceed revenue mean you have negative revenue (loss).  Just because an expense is a write -off, doesn’t mean it’s a good business decision.  The #1 reason businesses fail is because their expenses exceed revenue.  Don’t throw your good money at bad business practices.

 V-Vision

Vision will get you thru the bad months and the bad years- when expenses are too high and revenue is low.  Vision is what makes you want to get up and generate that revenue.

If you are like most direct selling leaders, your typical week is filled with meetings, classes and appointments.  This makes setting time aside for delegating hard.

Start by setting aside a day each week (if you can’t do a full day, start with an afternoon or morning) to doing only office work - no meetings.  Schedule out an hour or two of your office day or period to do effective delegating.

Use this time to have “staff meetings” with your assistant (s) and contractors. Giving yourself the appropriate time needed for effective delegating will make this process easy and something that will become natural.

Let me know if you use this idea - and how it is going!

This week we are diving into The 4 Corner Stones of Profit.

Ok.  So you’ve got some cash-o-lah in your business bank account.    You’ve written on the deposit slip so that you remember (later) where that money came from.  Now what?   Well, here’s where we separate the mice from  the men.    

Two words will save you much grief and heart ache over the years:  Company Money.  

Corner  1:  The Company Money Rule 

Company Money is the phrase I use to help my clients understand that the money earned by their business belongs to their COMPANY.  If you adopt this mindset, you’re setting yourself up for success.  This means that no matter how much money your business efforts produce…every single dollar, and every single cent belongs to your COMPANY, not to you, not to your family.  You simply must separate yourself from your business – especially financially.  If you don’t separate yourself from your Company you can find yourself in a world of hurt financially.   If you’re married this is especially important.  It’s simply not ethical to use COMPANY money for personal things; and it’s simply not fair to make your family pony-up the cash to cover business expenses. 

I have coached literally thousands of direct selling professionals on this thought, and it’s the most difficult of the 4 Cornerstones  to grasp.  I believe this is challenging for Direct Selling Professionals because you’re recruited  on the basis of earning more money for your family.  But at the end of the day, Direct Selling Professionals are in business – if you’re in business, than the business rules (including self-employment tax) apply to you.  If you plan on taking business deductions, then you have to treat the money your business earns with the COMPANY MONEY rule.  By knowing this up front, and applying this knowledge to your business right now, you’ll start to see things become crystal clear financially.      

Next week, we’ll discuss  the 2^nd  Cornerstone of Profit

I love Girl Scout Cookie season.  Samoas and Thin Mints as far as the eye can see - YUM!

Do you know anyone who doesn’t like Girl Scout cookies?  I don’t.  My mother actually buys enough to put in the freezer so she can pull them out all year long.  I practically pounce on Girl Scouts in early January to find out exactly when the Cookies Are Coming.  My husband hides boxes from my son so he has Samoas all to himself.  Such devoted enthusiasm!

Wouldn’t you like to have such a fanatical fan base?  Me too! So let’s see what we can learn from the Girl Scout Cookie Sale.

1) They offer a fabulous product. So fabulous nobody even looks at the ingredient list and fights regularly break out over who ate the last Thin Mint.  Are your products that fabulous?

2) The price is right.  At $3 a box, they can sell such confections all day long - and hey, who doesn’t have $3?  Do you have an entry level product that is long on quality and short on price?

3) Great sales tactics.  Buying Girl Scout Cookies makes me feel like I am doing my part to help continue the great projects they are involved in.  Does your company support a non-profit?  Do you regularly involve your business in charity events?

4) Repeat customer base.  Once you are hooked on Girl Scout Cookies, you are hooked for life.  And they never forget that you bought 10 boxes of Samoas last year, either.  Do you track your repeat customers and offer them things they love?

5) Limited time only.  If I don’t get my cookies now, I have to wait an entire year to get more (that’s why my mom buys enough to freeze).  Do you have some fabulous products at amazing prices for a limited time only?

6) Devoted fans.  Have you ever opened a box of Girl Scout Cookies in front of a group of adults?  It’s a feeding frenzy like nothing I’ve ever witnessed.  Plus everyone starts talking about THEIR particular favorite.  They actually sell cookies to each other - it is amazing to behold.  Have you developed a core base of raving, devoted fans?

There you go - six lessons we can learn from Girl Scout Cookies that will make your Direct Selling Business simply irresistable!

Love and Success!
Sarah 

If you missed the expert call I did yesterday, all I can say is, “wow!” We had almost 900 people sign up for the call and I don’t think I took a breath the entire hour! I packed as much information as I could into the time that I had. If bookings are your business (and you know they are), you’ll want to hear what I had to say.

If you missed getting signed up, you can listen to the free replay of the call until next Tuesday when it expires. Here is the link for that:

http://www.audioacrobat.com/play/WDst4fxS.

If you would like to purchase the download so that you can burn it onto a CD or load it onto your Ipod, you can use this link: Booking Call Recording.  We’re offering the recording for the amazing price of $4.95 and there are about 100 left available at this price. Once they’re gone, it will be offered at our regular price of $15.00.

http://outwardimage.com /bookings.htmMake it a great day! Julie Weitz

My wife entered the entrepreneurial world first and introduced the home business universe to our household.

Initially, my role was supporting her in her business. As I got the entrepreneur bug myself, I found myself drawn to the coaching world and commenced making my name in that arena.

And, here we are now with 2 home businesses, in addition to all the other demands and obligations of life. Oh, and we actually like to spend some time together and have fun.

Yes, we need to put time in on our businesses in order to succeed, albeit it’s not just about being busy. It’s about being effective & productive. More importantly, it’s about loving what you are doing.

After all, if it’s a struggle, why would you keep doing what you’re doing?

Although our business ventures have the potential to keep us both busy individually, it also presents us with opportunities to leverage our talents and resources to our mutual success.

We all have our talents, preferences and passions. Granted, in your own business, you have to be responsible for all roles. (Until you are positioned to delegate or outsource).

When you have a partner who is sharing the journey with you, even if in a different business, their strengths could complement yours and allow you both to share the load and maximize your effectiveness.

For example, I am adept in the technology arena and am very comfortable with anything procedural or statistical. My wife is more artistic and creative.

We enhance our effectiveness by communicating regularly, sharing our strategic objectives and looking for the opportunities to best leverage each other’s abilities and preferences.

There are always some tasks that nobody really likes to do. The opportunity here is to share the load and assist each other in just getting the task(s) completed ASAP.

The support opportunity here is to do what we can to relieve each other of mundane or unrelated tasks so as to allow the other to complete that which they need.

Ever notice that most tasks really don’t take that much effort when you just ‘bite the bullet’ and get into action?

The essence of leveraging each others abilities is to be open to giving AND receiving, plus practicing a coach-like level of communicating.

The end result is that we accomplish more, expend less time & energy and have resources left for that which matters most: Being together.

This is where the coach’s perspective really makes the difference. It’s not always a matter of what you do or don’t know.

When you feel like you’re starting to struggle, step back and try on the comprehensive coaching experience via a complimentary consultation.

Click here to chart a new course to the fulfilling life and business you desire.

Be successful – together.

Mark Semple CCC

I have a special video tip for you today - how innovative is that?!  It’s all about using LOVE to set yourself apart in a loud crowded marketplace.

You can check it out here: http://members2.viditalk.com/view/?id=9S9HMWJIA7DWYDD5POGRH

If you want to incorporate innovative video into your business, shoot an email to my friend Jeannine Spruill at VidiTalk and tell her you came from Direct Selling Leaders!

jeannine@viditalk.com

Love & Success!
Sarah