Are You Missing One of These in Your Business?

Thank you Christie Browning for today’s tips….

I love my business. If you know me, you know it!!!!  Whether it is my Thirty One business or my handcrafted angels, I love having my own business.  I love the flexibility. I love the freedom to take visions to fruition.  I love sharing my love with everyone.  Now, I will be the first to admit on any given day I miss out on opportunities.  On those days, I tend to be more focused on “making money” to pay bills, so I blow past some of the things I need to have a successful business.  Don’t get me wrong, making money (and paying bills) is what we work for.  The truth is, I can’t sustain my sales (neither can you) if your business isn’t built on a strong foundation.

#1 – Know where you’re going and why you want to get there

I know we have all answered (or at least tried to) the question of our why…. We need to know what it is to be successful, right?  I have talked about the emotional why many times – it is the real root of why you want to be in business.  It is the inner motivation which pushes you when your tired, you want to give up, you are out of your comfort zone, and to push past your fears. Why is being a success important to you?  What will you gain if you are successful?

I struggle with tapping into my emotional why. as a result of my MS.  The key to the emotional why is your ability to paint a vivid picture of what “success” looks like to you.  It isn’t the same for everyone!  By identifying what the finish line looks like, you will know when you cross it, so you can celebrate and know you’ve arrived!  Your finish line might be clearer as you get closer to it but you need a visual picture NOW. The visual should touch your heartstrings and drum up some emotions when you think of it.

Key #2 – It’s your business – make it so!

You are designing YOUR business so make it yours!  I know it sounds crazy BUT how many times have you tried to copy someone else’s business (especially in direct sales) because they have risen to the top of the company?  I have been there, done that and got the tee shirt.  It doesn’t work!  I am learning (yup, took me 7 years!) my business will be different and might probably come together in a different way because it is MINE!  Be sure to design your business around your strengths and passions. Structure it around your time and calendar whether it is a part time or a full time gig.  You get to call the shots.  The key is to be sure to be true to yourself .  Remember your customers buy because they trust you – stand out in a crowd for what you want your business to look like.

Key #3 – Put the right process in place to win

I don’t know about you BUT I LOVE vendor events and home parties.  I LOVE connecting with people face to face.  Some would say it is the glamorous side of our direct sales business.  The truth is, success is made behind the scenes, in the nitty-gritty facets of your business (the parts we may not like).  Just showing up at events or parties is not going to keep your business consistent nor is it going to guarantee you success.  So, what system do you use to keep track of all of the “other things” you HAVE to do?  Do you have set days for follow-up with customers?  Do you know your target market?  I use a tickler file and LOTS of notes on my planner to make sure I keep up with order follow-up, mailings, booking leads and so much more.

Key #4 – Making the noise to bring in the biz

For some, marketing is the fun stuff!  For others, it is a hodgepodge mess.  You need to know who you are as a business and who you are trying to serve.  Do you know what your brand is? Branding is simply something which when people see it they think of YOU (and the ripple effect is thinking of your business).  It is the tone and feel of your business – such as the colors, images, and graphics you use.  I ALWAYS say “Have a ThirtyOne-derful day” – my customers expect it.  LOL.  Angels have become a part of my marketing…. they are part of my team logo as well as the watermark I use in all of my graphics.   What do you want their experience to be like after they interacted with you and your company? I want my customers to know I am all about making a difference in their lives and the lives of others.  I want them to know I am a down to earth “take me as I am” kind of gal.  The key to great branding is to be true to you. Don’t try to be something your NOT because it won’t connect with or feel authentic to your customers. Your brand is an extension of YOU and should be reflected in all you do, say and show.

I know this sounds like A LOT so take it slow and easy.  Start with one and work your way through…. Which one will you start with?

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

Emotional Why

It is Throwback Thursday!  Today’s picture is from my FIRST Thirty One National Conference as a Director which was July 2013.  I continue to wear this charm as often as possible as a reminder that “faith as small as a mustard seed” will help you to get through all things.

During a coaching call with Hope Shortt, she had me walk through what it would feel like as I walked the stage as a Director.  The emotions that poured out that day is what helped me to stay focused on my goal.  Those same emotions pour out every time we share that story.  It wasn’t about paying off debt, it wasn’t about earning the Leadership Trip – it was about the feeling of accomplishment and making my family proud that propelled me to work towards my dream.

When I went on the Leadership Retreat, my main goal was to find my emotional why.  I can easily say that my why is “financial freedom”, to take my family on a vacation but the reality is that it is more basic.  My love language is “words of affirmation” so why would I think that my emotional why would be something tangible.  Don’t get me wrong, the trip would be AWESOME.  Financial freedom is always a goal.  But the real reason, as shallow as it may be to some, that I push forward to achieve each of those things is for the “words of affirmation”.

I want to hear my hubby and my family tell me they are proud of me.  I want to hear them tell others about the successes that I have achieved in my business.  Some may think that is vain.  But for a girl who has suffered through low self-esteem for most of her life – it is HUGE!  Becky Speith shared that we need to combine our tangible with our emotional why so that we have a motivational why.  SMACK!  I have been focusing on my tangible why for so long that I lost touch with the emotional why.

My goal is to help other women who struggle with low self-esteem to overcome their demons and to find a voice.  My parties don’t have to look like someone else’s – you know that comparison thing kicks in all of the time.  At a recent party, I found out that someone at the party had attended several parties held by a Senior Director that I “adore”. Before I even started the party, I was already thinking that I couldn’t measure up.  Can I tell you how much that threw me off?  When the party was over and I was talking with the hostess, I realized that it wasn’t about the sales.  I know that the sales are attached to my tangible why and they were average.   I love what I do because I got to bring a smile to the face of a women who has been struggling for an identity for a long time.  To see her beam, to have her thank me for “convincing” her to have a girl’s night out were the emotional part of my why.

Do you know your emotional why?  We all have a tangible one – bills, trips, etc. The emotional one is the one that makes you tear up when you visualize it.  The emotional one is the one that keeps you going when you encounter road blocks at every turn.

Share your emotional why with us so we can celebrate together.  Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

 

Extraordinary Vision

It has been a week since our Beacon of Hope Leadership Retreat.  A week since I left the pink bubble with my Thirty One sisters.  A week to process all that I heard so that I can apply it to my life.  You see, it wasn’t at all what I expected.  God moved in great ways to help me emotionally, spiritually and then in my business.  He put all of the right people on this journey with me so that I would shed the fears and doubts running through the doors even if they are only open a crack.

We started off the weekend with a “brain dump”.  I was skeptical but I figured if this was something done before every leaders retreat with Cindy Monroe, I would open myself up to it.  What you do is write down all of the things that you are worried about, all of the things that keep you from being in the moment, but most of all they are things that are beyond our control while we were in our pink bubble.  WOW!  I was pretty cocky thinking that I would only list one or two things but I actually filled up a full page.  YIKES!  God was preparing me for a message and I didn’t even know it.  I am so going to try this every time I go to a training or a retreat.  What about you, have you ever done a brain dump so that you can be in the moment?

How many of you have ever heard of Dewitt Jones?

Dewitt Jones is one of America’s top professional photographers.  He is also one of the nation’s most sought–after keynote speakers.

A master of the platform, he combines stories from his years with NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC with his extraordinary photographs to teach both creativity and vision.

Each year his words and images inspire thousands to ‘Celebrate What’s Right With the World’!

Yes, his pictures are breathtaking but it is his “4 Steps to Extraordinary Vision” that captured my attention.  I went to the retreat to help me find my emotional why and to seek my vision.  I definitely got closer to my emotional why.  My vision may take a little bit more work to find but I have some ideas.

Dewitt Jones 4-steps will help me on this journey:

1. Train your technique.  Vision without technique is blind.  
2. Put yourself in the place of most potential.  When you’re there with your technique down, the right answers just keep coming.
3. Just open up to possibilities without fear.  What will be given today and will I be open enough to recognize it?
4. Focus on your vision to celebrate what’s right with the situation.  This connects us with our vision.

These simple steps can apply to our everyday lives as well as our business.  Just for today, I am celebrating what is right with every situation.  I am closing the door on fear and doubt while opening myself up to all of the possibilities.

Do you have a vision for your business or your life?  How will you show up and engage everyday to see your vision come to life?  Share with us…

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

Change for You or Others

Today is the last day of our Beacon of Hope Leadership Retreat.  It will be nice to head home and snuggle with hubby.  As far as my business, watch out!  I am energized, motivated and ready to ROCK like a STAR again.  Words can’t express the magnitude of this past weekend Spent with AMAZING Thirty One sisters, and learning from the AWESOME Becky Spieth and Hope Shortt.  My Goals are in place.  I am focused on my emotional why.  I am ready to DREAM BIG and the sky is the limit.

To reinforce the positive energy, God sent me a message through Tiny Buddha:

“One of the most freeing things we learn in life is that we don’t have to like everyone, everyone doesn’t have to like us, and it’s perfectly OK.” ~Unknown

“Some people come in our life as blessings. Some come in your life as lessons.” – Mother Theresa

After being in a room filled with over 50 leaders in various stages of their business, I entered looking for validation and acceptance; feeling less than, insecure and wondering if I belonged.  Funny thing is that the only one that really doesn’t accept me is me.  I won’t say that everyone likes me and that is a hard pill for me for me swallow?  See I am a people pleaser from way back.  I want people to like me.  Not always a great trait as a Social Worker or a boss.  I struggle with conflict especially if I know that the end result will be a person who doesn’t like me.

This weekend was another SMACK in an effort to teach me this lesson.  I know that when I finally learn it, the blessings will flow.  You are wondering how I know that?  I know it because I keep repeating the same lesson over and over again.  Sort of like repeating the same grade in school – keep doing it until you get it right?  It is like when I used to practice the piano, practice and practice getting it right until the very end.  Then PLINK!  A wrong note and I had to repeat it again and again.  I figure God is trying different ways to teach me this lesson, short of hitting me with a 2 x 4 board.

I have a few soul connections – you know people that are always there for me, who love me, support me in tough times, and bring me back on track.  I have been reflecting on the reasons why they like me.  Not easy since some days I don’t like me.  It is forcing me to see myself through the eyes of people who truly like me and accept me wholeheartedly. I am desperate to be that person.

As of TODAY – I am DONE with feeling bad about myself because of what others say.  I am DONE with taking on other’s insecurities in an effort to fix a struggling relationship.   I no longer want to compare myself to others while seeking their approval.  The truth is, there are some people who will never approve of me or what I do. It is okay.  Isn’t that why we have 31 flavors (or more) of ice cream?

Of course, we want people to like us, but it’s not healthy to dwell on it if they don’t. I love this:

I learned from this bitter experience that you cannot force anyone to like you, but you can like yourself for who you are. How others will perceive you is none of your business. As long as you are happy and satisfied with yourself, you are good to go.

As Marcus Aurelius correctly said, “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.”

I am changing my thoughts and my actions.  I am starting to do things that make me happy and I am noticing a ripple effect. I am not quite that same old person, laughing, giggling, and enjoying life to the fullest but each day I get a little closer.

Is today the day that you stop focusing on others and start focusing on yourself?

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!