Are You Superstitious?

Do you dread this day each time it rolls around? I used to be one of those people. I used negative words to describe the day and the outcome was “I got negative results”. I was surprised by the origins of this “dreaded day”:

The origins are as mysterious as the day itself, although it’s thought to stem from two separate fears that amalgamate every now and again to frighten us. Yup, the number 13 and Friday (apparently) have long been considered to be unlucky in their own right.

REALLY, Fridays were considered unlucky too?  I always thought Fridays were GREAT days. Especially TODAY since I am in  NC with my daughter and looking forward to a weekend filled with tailgating and fun.  Yes, I squirreled.  As an employee, it was pay day with the exception of my years at the casinos, so what’s so bad about it? For those with a Monday – Friday JOB, it means the end of the work week and the start of two days of NO WORK! As for those of us in direct sales, Fridays are always good because they are traditionally our busy party nights.  Pay day means people are ready to shop too!

  

As for the number 13, this is what they had to say:

The number 13 has always been seen as a bit of an unfriendly number. In numerology it is irregular, transgressing the completeness of perfect 12 (for example, 12 months of the year and 12 signs of the zodiac).

Okay, I am not sure what to say about this. I do know most builders don’t include a 13th floor in the hotels or skyscrapers to avoid the negative energy it creates in people. I mean, would you rent a room or an office on the 13th floor?

A few years ago, I started changing the way I looked at Friday the 13th. I started thinking of it as just another day – a day like any other day. I LOVE thinking about it as “31” in reverse.  Okay, occasionally Negative Nellie will make a passing comment but overall positive thoughts prevail.

What are you doing on this Friday the 13th? I am hosting a special to my VIP customers and hostesses at Hope’s Purse Closet (as well as those who read my blog):

Better yet, if you place an order of $35 you can take advantage of the AWESOME October Customer special.  You can also kick off you holiday shopping with the NEW Holiday Gift Guide.  

To place an order, you can email, text, call or PM me on Facebook to place your order and receive your discount.  If you place your order online with DIRECT SHIP, I will not be able to give the discount because direct ship orders are being processed as soon as they are placed online.   I am turning a negative into a positive today, what about you?

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

Friday Fun Day

WOOHOO!  Who doesn’t love Fridays?  Okay, so some of you may work on the weekends – been there, done that so if you do, think of “Fun Friday” as the day before your two days off.  Isn’t it a relief to know you have the next two days to take a break from work? You can let down your guard, dress casually and as a result you have more spring in your step and accomplish just a bit more.

Have you ever wondered why Fridays are on the pedestal while we struggle with Mondays or even Tuesdays? What if we had an entire week of Fridays? No, I am not advocating quitting your job, although working from home and making my own hours had a BIG impact on my attitude.

Today is all about finding the “fun” in your business again.  Building relationships with our customers.

By definition, a customer is “a person who purchases goods or services from another”. Basic right? We all know it – we have been customers, we know customers and we need them in our business.

Now, take a moment to think about how you shop… Do you shop for the best sales? Do you buy the same product, time and again – why? Do you travel to certain stores because of the awesome service they provide? Are you faithful to one store? Are you faithful to one direct sales consultant per company or do you hop from consultant to consultant?

In direct sales, we sometimes joke and ask customers if they are “married” to their consultant. Why? Their answer will tell us how faithful they are to their consultant.  I am  not one to step on others toes, so I want to be sure they return to their regular consultant  or if they don’t have one, I then know they are fair game to “court” for business.

Rhonda Abrams wrote an article about “Getting and keeping customers is like any relationship. It takes courtship, commitment, and ongoing communication to keep the spark alive.” I liked how she talked about the stages of building a relationship with your customers.

STAGE 1: 

• Show up. Be visible with your product. Use it, wear it, display it!
• Look good. Do you have a website? If your company offers one, even at a minimal charge – GET IT!
• Be social. Facebook? Pinterest? Twitter? Instagram? LinkedIn? There are so many to choose from – pick the one which works best for YOU!
• Be interesting. Share your expertise. It isn’t all about the product. You have experience and ideas, tidbits of information to share – let people get to know YOU.
• Keep at it. Market, market, market. Customers don’t just show up; you have to continually court them.

STAGE 2: 

• Get personal. Customers need to sense a personal connection with you. Help them get to know you — and try to get to know them.
• Mind your manners. Be polite. Smile. Learn customers’ names. Say thank you – a lot. Remember, your customers want to feel they are being treated like people, not dollar signs.
• Know what you’re talking about. Understand your products and policies and be able to answer customers’ questions quickly and thoroughly.

STAGE 3: 

• Be honest. Tell them if you don’t have something to meet their needs. If you don’t know – tell them then find out and get back to the quickly.
• Price fairly. In direct sales, our products already come priced so even if you aren’t the cheapest option, you have to be a realistic choice.
• Provide something customers will be glad they bought. Always deliver quality, and you’ll increase customer satisfaction and garner rave reviews. I LOVE when someone has a Thirty One product and can sing its praises.
• Let them in. My business is an open book for my customers – who knows they could be my next recruit.

STAGE 4: 

• Add a special touch. When I deliver packages to a hostess, the orders are bagged and tagged with a thank you note. I do lots of snail mail cards, etc just to let my customers know I care.
• Go the extra mile. Exceed expectations; give a little extra. I offer referral gifts when  someone joins my team and is referred by a customer.  The thank you is for getting them to my door, and the rest is up to me.
• Use a good customer relationship management system. My system is a notebook and tickler file – basic paper.  It allows me to stay in touch on a more personal basis with my customers.
• Show them a good time. Host holiday events and open houses. This is one of my customers favorite things. My condo has become too cramped now so it is time to find and move to a larger space.
• Be loyal. Give customers good customer service and they will continue to keep coming back.

So, are all four stages a part of YOUR business? Are customers jumping ship to go to a different consultant? Do they “just shop at parties”? Keep your customers coming back to you and continue to grow your business. I would love to hear your thoughts….

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

Happy St. Patty’s Day

Do you have the luck of the Irish?  Is it an old’s wives tale or do the Irish really have more luck than the average person?  If you were to surround yourself with successful people would they all need to be Irish?

Think about the people you surround yourself with.  Think about your different communities – are the people you surround yourself with a good influence on you and your business?

Here are some suggestions on how to surround yourself with success:

• Identify the three major business relationships you have.   At first, I thought this was about my 3 major business relationships – my customers, my hostesses and my team.  Yes, these three groups of people absolutely help me to succeed and meet my business goals BUT what about your business communities.  Those who support, encourage and celebrate you on a regular basis.  Maybe it is Facebook Community or a business coach/mentor or maybe it is your business partner or even a networking group you are a member of.  REMEMBER: consider forming new professional relationships with successful people you can bring to the forefront of your inner circle.
• Learn from the negative.  No matter what industry you’re in, there are going to be a number of negative people and/or situations (think Eeyore).  Instead of letting this negativity bog you down and keep you from doing your absolute best, use it to learn what NOT to do and bolster yourself onto your own successful path (think Tigger).  Will you be an Eeyore or a Tigger?  Which are you – I am a Tigger!!!

• You don’t have to actually know successful people to learn from them.  Take what they can offer you about success in business and apply those things to your own situation.  I am blessed to have some VERY successful people who have been helping to continue to grow my business – my Thirty One sisters, Desiree Wolfe and the League of Audacious Women as well as some AMAZING women I have had the privilege of meeting and learning from.
• Pay it forward.  Maybe those around you who seem negative just need someone to inspire them.  Don’t be afraid to be the person.  Your determination to be successful can certainly influence someone else in a positive way if you exude your optimism and drive in all that you do.  I LOVE paying it forward.  Sharing with my team and potential Rays of HOPE team members.  Paying it forward it part of my God-sized dream..

Surrounding yourself with success, can be a challenge.  It is an important challenge to take on because your attitude is a key indicator of your success.  What are some ways you surround yourself with success? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section below!  

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

 

Are You a Happy Person?

It’s Friday…for some it is another long weekend because Monday is Martin Luther King Day.  For me it is the first Friday I am off – the first weekend of no part time job. There are a lot of mixed feelings but I have faith it was the right decision at the right time.

So, let me ask you – were you born a happy person?  I mean the person who always has a smile on their face, and never seems to let things bother them?  Did you know half of your happiness is genetic, attributable to your personality and temperament while about 10% is due to circumstances. The rest is about YOUR intentional choices.  The ones you make every day. You all know I LOVE Valerie Burton, right?  She shared in one of her books about the habits happy people have in common.  The best part is, if you practice these habits, chances are you will see a boost in how you feel every day.

Here are five things happy people do daily:

1. Spend time with people they enjoy.

Did you know you are as happy as your relationships?  We need people to be happy because we were made for connection and love – and it happens through relationships. When you serve people, connect authentically and allow others to impact you, your life is richer and more meaningful. Let’s practice being  intentional by having a conversation, look the friend or co-worker in the eye and really listen. Are your relationships filled with turmoil? Make a plan to calm the drama. The stress is a threat to your health and your happiness.

2. Focus on what’s right in front of them.

Are you a multi-tasker?  Are you always on your cell phone – Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, or texting?  Chances are you are NOT living in the present moment. Happy people don’t dwell on the past or get overly focused on the future. They value the power of the present, which means they have fun. When working on a task, they get into the “flow,” and time seems to fly by because they are engaged in what they are doing. It is no wonder people who love their jobs are twice as likely to be happy than those who don’t, according to a Gallup poll. Are you doing what you love or do you love your job?

3. Do something to help someone other than themselves.

Doing a random act of kindness isn’t just a trendy suggestion, it is a way to be happier. Serving others is a happiness trigger. Whether you believe it or not, it is the core of what we are all here to do – love. When we focus on helping others, it redirects our focus from our own problems or challenges, and helps put our lives into perspective.  Check out our Give Back with Me page.

4. Express gratitude.

Gratitude is powerful. It keeps you from taking things for granted. Let’s be honest, we all take something for granted even if we don’t mean to.  Gratitude strengthens relationships. It feels good. So say thank you and mean it. Why not add to your “thank you” why the other person’s gesture was meaningful to you. When you count your blessings, write them down or share them with a loved one. And reflect on why you are grateful. It expands the positive emotion you feel when you are grateful.  I have started a gratitude journal.  Every night before bed, I write one specific thing I am grateful for so I go to bed with happy positive thoughts.  It has made a difference on how I feel when I wake up in the morning.

5. Redirect their happiness-sabotaging thoughts.

How often do you beat yourself up for something you did – not sticking to the diet, forgetting to do something or maybe you broke something?  Negative thoughts bring more negative things.  The reality is happy people don’t dwell long on unhappy things.  Yes, they do acknowledge their negative feelings but they are also less likely to dwell on them, wallow in self-pity or blame others for their misery. They slam the door on Negative Nellie and Doubtful Debbie. Instead, they ask, “What’s within my control to change?” They change what they can and do their best to work around the things they can’t change.

Do you do these things every day?  Why not pick one of the habits you don’t do every day, and try it every day for a week.  It takes 21 days to form a habit so if you can do it for a week, them keep going.  I know you can do it….

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

 

 

Feel Good Friday!

Today is a day filled with mixed emotions….Today would have been my Aunt Elsie’s 68th birthday.  She was my mom’s baby sister.  She was Belinda’s “buddy“.  She became a Weston angel in 1999.  My past blogs on this day have focused on family and been all about Elsie’s cancer journey. Today I decided to change it up and talk about a path to happiness.  Yes, I miss Elsie – everyday.  I realized that she would not want me dwelling on the past – she would want me to be happy, enjoying the moment while remembering the good times and not the struggle.

With the help of some tips from Valerie Burton, we are going to talk about journaling to reflect and shift your attitude in a positive direction.

In her book, Successful Women Think Differently, Valerie talks about the research of Dr. Laura King, a professor at University of Missouri, who discovered that writing about “your best possible future self” actually has health benefits such as boosting your immune system.  Apparently, writing about your life has a very positive impact on your emotions. Then when you combine that with some powerful questions, you will be prompted towards happiness triggers and you’ll feel a shift in your emotions in a matter of minutes.

Here are three questions to do just that:

1. What are you looking forward to tomorrow? (Or tonight/this week/this season?)

No matter what you are looking forward to – dinner with friends, a favorite show or vacation – thinking about it makes you smile.  Anticipation is a happiness trigger. So, the inner gremlins are squashed.  The positive emotions create positive energy.

2. What was your favorite moment of the day and why was it meaningful to you?

It is all about gratitude. It may not be easy but you need to sift through the moments of your day and find the shiny, golden nugget.  No matter how small it may be, find that golden nugget.  Then to deepen the positive emotion created, then reflect upon why you are grateful for it.

3. What achievement are you most proud of (in your relationship/career/finances/health) and why?

Alright, I know the eyes are rolling! Many of you have the tendency to gloss over your efforts or beat yourself up when things aren’t perfect, right? When was the last time you reflected on something you are proud of?  Overachievers and people with high standards tend to take themselves for granted and with the feeling that you’ve never done enough, despite your best efforts, your progress isn’t worthy of celebration yet. BOOO!!!  You push through obstacles and challenges every day and continue moving forward. That is an achievement. Pick something from your life and journal about what you are most proud of and why you’re so proud. What did it take for you to get there, what did you have to push through, and what does it tell you about your ability to handle the opportunities and challenges that lie before you now?

My challenge is to journal yourself to a happier place. I will be journal into a happy place knowing that Elsie is with me.  I have so many memories but her strength stands out the most.  Her fight, her commitment to our family and her ability to dream big are what help me to keep going when my faith starts to waiver. I DREAM BIG and hold fast for I know that in God’s time, my Weston angels will help me to reach my dreams and my goals. I step out of my comfort zone and I know that she is right behind me cheering me on.

Happy Birthday, Elsie. I miss you and I know that even though you don’t like parties – there is one going on in heaven today just for you.

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!