Honoring Family

Today will be an emotional day, one of remembering two people who impacted my life – or at least trying to remember through the fog of MS.  The memories come and go but the impact they had on my life will live on.

I will be celebrating Edythe’s life at a vendor event today.  Strange right?  The vendor event is a fundraiser by Holly Assembly, Order of the Rainbow for Girls for the scholarship fund names in honor of her.  Growing up, Rainbow had a place in all of our lives and even through the MS fog, I still remember many of my Rainbow teachings.  Edythe was on the Advisory Board for Holly Assembly.  She helped to mold and shape the lives of girls for many years.  The scholarship is part of her legacy.   Her kindness, compassion and caring lives on in the lives of others.  Edythe was a strong independent woman who inspired me through some of the darkest days of my addiction.  Her smile and laugh could light up a room.  If you are in the area, stop by and say hello. Or if you would like to support this cause, click HERE to place an order on my Thirty One website.  I will be donating 100% of my Thirty One commission to the scholarship fund as well as 50% of the sale of awareness angel ribbons.  Complete the form at the end of the blog post if you are interested in awareness angel ribbons (additional colors are available).

  

Today also marks the one year anniversary of my dad’s death.  Some will not understand why I decided to do this event but I know my dad would totally get it.  Dad wouldn’t want me to sit around crying and being sad, he would want me to enjoy life. My dad and my mom were on the Advisory Board of Iris Assembly when I was in Rainbow.  He would definitely get why I am doing the fundraiser today.  Dad was loving and kind, nonjudgmental and accepting. Yes, there were tough times with  years of anger and hurt.  Dad was not perfect but are any of us.  He admitted his faults, and even with memories of bad times, I forgave him.  No matter how bad a situation was, he always found the silver lining and worked through it.  He leaves a legacy filled with memories for his family and friends. Dad liked to cook especially on the grill.  Didn’t matter if there was snow or rain, he found a way to grill.

Today is about honoring two people who impacted my life.  I celebrate the legacy they leave behind – the memories, the stories, and the traditions.

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

 

Tasty Tuesday: Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips

I love fruit and a fruit salsa sounds YUMMY!  I know, you are thinking this is a summer recipe but team it with these homemade cinnamon chips and you have a year round winner.  This is great for a dessert, a juicy snack for a family gathering or a light summer snack.

TOTAL TIME: 30 min.     MAKES: 2-1/2 cups salsa (80 chips).

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries
• 1 medium navel orange, peeled and finely chopped
• 3 medium kiwifruit, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 can (8 ounces) unsweetened crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1-1/2 teaspoons sugar

In a small bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

CINNAMON CHIPS:

• 10 flour tortillas (8 inches)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

• For chips, brush tortillas with butter; cut each into eight wedges.
• Combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over tortillas.
• Place on ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake at 350° for 5-10 minutes or just until crisp. Serve with fruit salsa.

NUTRITIONAL FACTS

1 each: 127 calories, 4g fat (2g saturated fat), 6mg cholesterol, 148mg sodium, 21g carbohydrate (7g sugars, 1g fiber), 3g protein.

Thank you Diane Wendell of Life Expressions Decor.  Here is her story:

Hi! My name is Diane and I absolutely LOVE Life Expressions Decor! I am very excited to be a part of this amazing journey!

I have hosted a couple of Life Expressions Decor get togethers and everyone just loved it and had so much fun creating their own signs!

I love the versatility and choices of the different sayings, signs, paint colors, and all the decor! I love how simple it is to create your own masterpiece! No artistic talent is really necessary, that’s one of the best parts!!!

Contact me to host your own party, Fundraiser or event!

Great for birthdays, housewarming get togethers, Ladies Nights, or to just get together and be creative!

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

Direct Sales and FUNdraising

I don’t know about you but as soon as it hit September 15th, I feel like my mailbox (snail mail and email) has been hit with LOTS of requests for donations.  Some from organizations near and dear to my heart while others are those spammy kind which try to pull on your heart strings.  As someone who does fundraising through my direct sales business, I tend to look at the pleas in a different way.

Fundraising can be done with monetary donations or by making a difference in the lives of others with gifts which will bring a smile to their face as they battle their struggle.

I know, you are wondering how to make fundraising work for your direct sales business right?  I actually issued this as a challenge to my team.  Find out what causes are near and dear to the hearts of your customers, pick one which is also dear to you and go for it!  What better way to get to know people then by finding out what causes they love.

So, why is fundraising a good move for your business?  Let’s start with your desire to build a team and move up in leadership.  In most DS companies, you earn income not only from your business but also from those who are on your team – bigger team = greater income.

If you want to grow your team, statistics show the more people you’re in front of, the more you will recruit. It’s a number’s game.

TIP #1:  Some of your best recruits can come as a result of being the hostess of fundraisers. Don’t forget to ask them to join your team and do their OWN fundraisers in the future! If they are raising money for a group, chances are-they know TONS of people!

TIP #2:  Make sure you funnel everyone into your customer group so they will continue to see your recruiting (and booking) posts.

TIP #3: Make sure you invite people from the Facebook Event to your team’s monthly opportunity night!  Find the one who comments a lot, who already has a lot of your product or the one every seems to ask for their opinion.

TIP #4: This is the most important as far as I am concerned! Send a “thank you” email to everyone who ordered from the party with links and graphics for booking and recruiting.

How can fundraisers help you with your bookings?  Again, the more people you’re in front of, the more bookings you’re going to get. Funnel everyone from your fundraiser into your customer group and you’ve created a breeding ground for future bookings!

TIP #1: Create a way for everyone who attends the fundraiser to help even more Tell by offering a booking incentive.  Something like, anyone who books a party (limit the dates) will also have 10% of THEIR party donated to this fundraiser/cause.   This is a great way to get your hostess booking parties for you! I also offer something to my hostess so she is pushing the bookings too.

TIP #2:  I do my events so they are linked to my public business page so everyone can SHARE the event! Maybe even do a giveaway for anyone who shares a certain post onto their personal timeline.  Create excitement.  Make it fun.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could have an extra $500 to $1000 a month in baseline sales BEFORE you even enter in any your regular parties?

What are some of you best fundraising tips?

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

Fundraising Can Be Fun

I hear the moans across the country…. Really?  You think fundraising is fun?  No, I’m not crazy.  I actually do LOVE fundraising and it can be fun for everyone.  For some it is the end of the fundraising season while for others summer fundraising has just started.  What are some of the ways YOU can fundraise for a cause, a team, or even a family struggling?  Is there someone or a group you have always wanted to help but never thought you could?  I’m going to be talking about some fundraising options available through me with Thirty One BUT if you are in direct sales or organizing a fundraiser, you may be able to use these tips.

#1 – Power Product Fundraiser.  

These are the kind most people are used to seeing – like the Girl Scout cookie order sheets. The traditional school sales were a small group of products are sold.  I’m sure I am not alone when those dreaded “forms” came home for candy, wrapping paper, or candles to raise money.  What if you were to pick 5 – 10 of your groups favorite Thirty One products and share them with friends and family?  This is easy because it limits the product line choices and it is all on one page.  The products offered on the front and the order sheet on the back. This type of fundraiser is very effective and popular because of the simplicity of it.  Great for team sports.

#2 – Party with a Purpose

How about a party where everyone brings an item to donate to a charity.  Attendees earn raffle tickets for donating toward a prize you offer PLUS a percentage of the sales from the party is donated to the same charity.  Here are some examples: shoes to donate to Soles4Souls, personal care items for the local domestic violence shelter, or hats and gloves for the homeless shelter.  Guests LOVE this kind of fundraiser and then they stay for the fundraiser party too.  This helps in two ways – a physical need donation and a financial donation to the charity of choice. This is one of my FAVORITE fundraisers and it gets amazing guest attendance too! People LOVE to help.

#3 – Charity of the Month Fundraiser

This is where you choose a charity you are very passionate about and you fundraise for them on your own. For example, if you are passionate about animal welfare, you can host a fundraiser for your local humane society (catalog, party or gift-in-kind) and donate a percentage of your profits to the organization. The great thing about a charity-of-the-month fundraiser is you get to highlight a charity near and dear to you every month.

#4 – Personal Fundraisers 

These fundraisers touch my heart.  They are for individuals who are not 501c3 non-profit organizations like a student raising money for a mission trip, a couple raising money for an adoption, individuals raising money for a surgery or medical bills of a friend. If it is friends helping friends, the cause may be public BUT there are those times when a hostess will want to keep the cause private so it is time to get creative in helping to spread the word.  Fundraising is a great benefit to these individuals to help them reach their financial goals.

#5 – Gift in Kind

I do fundraisers like these 6 times a year – dialysis bags, Fight Hunger, Vets, and seniors.  We offer a product and customers purchase the product to DONATE to a group or organization on their behalf. For example, the Chemo Comfort bags are delivered to a local cancer care center:

The best part about a gift-in-kind fundraiser is it helps in two ways by donating a product to someone in need and raises funds for the organization of choice.

#6 – Let’s PARTY!

Your hostess holds a fundraiser party for the charity or organization of her choice and she invites people to attend. You donate a portion of your commission to the person or group hosting the party. You treat this fundraiser the same way you treat a normal home party where you do a full product presentation, nothing changes except you are donating a percentage of your commissions to the charity. This party can be a Facebook Party event or a live in-home party event, or both!

#7 – A Catalog Fundraiser

This is a full Thirty One catalog party.  Get a  group of say 10 cheerleaders. Each one of them gets their own “hostess packet” and they go out selling as a catalog party!  This is a great way for them to earn funds for their personal account OR as a team.  You can donate a portion of your commission and offer the hostess credits to buy additional products they can use as raffle items, etc. OR you can donate your commission and keep the hostess benefits.

Who is ready to fundraise?  Want more details on doing a Thirty One fundraiser?  Contact me below:

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Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

Increase Your Sales with Fundraisers

Since starting in direct sales. my goal has been for fundraisers to be huge part of my business.  Some months I am successful while others not so much.  The truth is I have not been intentional in my fundraising efforts.  I post pictures, encourage others but have not consistently made an effort to raise funds every month for a cause near and dear to my heart.

Fundraisers are a great way to harness the power of public relations. This is non-paid exposure of you or your business, basically free marketing for you! Who doesn’t like FREE marketing?  Fundraisers are a great way to promote your business, especially on Social Media and in local papers.  Take pictures when you deliver the fundraiser check to the charity.  When you post those photos on every form os Social Media, you not only  highlight the charity, those who contributed to the fundraiser but you will also get to acknowledge you and your business!   Fundraiser supporters WANT to see you make donations on their behalf while publicly sharing encourages other to do fundraisers with you!

I love these tips shared by a fellow Thirty One consultant….

TIP #1: Tell your hostess you will give them 25 cents for every person they get added to your customer group. What does this do? Gets your hostess sharing the link to your group with everyone she knows. Also make this a post in your public Facebook event for people to share! Say 50 people get added to your group… it cost you $12. Well worth the cost of advertising dollars!

TIP # 2: Make sure you make a post before, during, and after the event to tag the group, individual, or organization you’re donating to on all social media channels. LET PEOPLE SEE how easy it is to raise money with you! When you tag them, all of THEIR friends see!

TIP #3: Give your hostesses of the fundraiser 50 door prize slips and tell her if she gets 50 people to fill them out you’ll do a giveaway in the fundraiser. If she gets people to fill out a form with their email and information (make sure there’s boxes for them to check on booking info, recruiting info, etc.), do a fun giveaway. You can also do this as a Google Survey.

TIP #4: Always ask your hostess if she has “helpers”. These are people who will help her collect orders: Mom, aunt, sister, grandma, best friend…they can all get their OWN packet. The more people you have collecting orders, the better! What are some of YOUR favorite things to do with fundraisers?

So what happens when you consistently do fundraisers on a monthly basis?  Your sales are going to go through the roof!  You can actually build an empire while hitting all those sales incentives your company offers. Earn free trips, promote, and earn free product or giveaways your company offers by consistently hitting high sales while doing these fundraisers.  When you do a fundraiser, YOU get to keep the hostess rewards and THEY get all the commission. So you can start “buying” cheap giveaways for booking incentives and giveaways in your parties and your customer group. You can essentially run your business for free by doing this!

Fundraisers come in all shapes and sizes….what type of fundraisers do you do OR who is your favorite group to fundraise for?

Have  a ThirtyOne-derful day!