Can You Beat Vacation Veronica?

How long is this sign on your business during the holidays?  For Vacation Veronica stepped into the picture right around Thanksgiving weekend.  She may have come and gone a few times since them but she is sneaking back to see if she can stay till the spring thaw.

Some will take a holimonth instead of a holiday.  I used to take a holimonth from the Christmas cutoff till after the first of the year.  The end result was the need to kick start my business every spring.

As we creep into the final days before Christmas then head into the week till New Years, the holiday season takes on a life of its own.  The time spent in the office is all about paper pushing.  Now, I am not saying this isn’t productive in some ways but can put a damper on the most productive, money making time of year.  Pushing papers and getting things in order are good things I do in between Christmas and New Years as I prep for the upcoming year.  The truth is, we need to keep working on building our business so in January, we are not sitting around trying to figure out WHY we don’t have any business on the books.

Here are some tips from JulieAnne Jones:

• If you are a Leader, plan all your meetings for 2018. As Leaders with Thirty One, they help us stay on track with giving us all of the materials we need.
• Schedule time to connect with your downline to see how you can help them with their goals in 2018.
• Share with your team some fun ideas for theme parties as well as other tips on how to boost their business in the new year.
• Call your September, October, November and December guests – you know the “pink bag calls” we talk about. Check in and make sure they are happy with their product.
• Call your past hostess and check in. Don’t be afraid to ask them about hosting a party.
• Commit to listen to/ or read at least one training program. Don’t just listen or read – IMPLEMENT it!

As for me, I am excited to be kicking of the new year utilizing the Tag Team Party format.  Since 95% of my business has been online, I have been on the hunt for a way to hold fast, fun and easy parties online.  The format will plant booking and recruiting seeds while guests enjoy a 31-minute party online.

I am tweaking my follow-up system.  With our new ship before the party closes, there have been some challenges.  So, I am trying to get a system together.  The money is in the follow-up and I need to remember it on a regular basis. It isn’t just about the emails or social media, it is also about snail mail AND the phone.

Here’s to hoping Vacation Veronica doesn’t linger long at my house or yours. Take a break and enjoy your family and friends during the holiday season but don’t neglect your business. If you had a store front, you wouldn’t close for 2 weeks would you? So why should you close your direct sales business for 2 weeks unless you are fully booked for the next 2 months – even then, I am not sure I would stop working my business.

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

Will You Step Out of Your Comfort Zone?

Yes, it is Monday and we are SEVEN days from Christmas.  Your to do list is a mile long.  Maybe you still need to buy gifts (yup, that’s me) or you need to mail stuff out (yup, that’s me too) or maybe you are totally organized, finished with everything and enjoying the moment (so jealous!).

This is my first week without anything on my calendar as far as events or parties, etc.  I set this week aside to catch up on things personally and get ready for the holidays.  While I am doing things, I have lots of time to think.  I will be driving around in lots of holiday traffic so what better time to start thinking about the new year – personal and business goals for 2018, what will be on my vision board and of course, my word for the year.

Today I want to ENCOURAGE you to put something on your list of goals for 2018 which challenges you to step outside your comfort zone.

I often talk about stepping outside of my comfort zone but when I look back at the past year, I wonder “did I”?

    Was raising the price on my angels out of my comfort zone? YES!  Did it scare me?  YES!  Was I afraid they wouldn’t sell? YES!  The truth was with some encouragement from some amazing ladies, I trusted their business sense and went with it.  It worked.  I may not have sold as many depending on the show BUT customers put more value in the work I did.

When I think of my direct sales business, the biggest step out of my comfort zone was running 95% of my business online.  It really wasn’t scary.  The scary part was locking into a Facebook party style and sticking with it, no matter what.  Did it fail sometimes? YES!  Did it rock sometimes? YES!  Will I continue with the same format? Absolutely!

I say all of this to get you thinking.  When setting your goals for 2018, here are some tips to help you:

1. Do something which scares you, or maybe even terrifies you.
2. Do something you have never tried or maybe haven’t done well in the past.
3. What about the thing you have thought about but put off?
4. How about trying a new way to party to build your business…like social media and Facebook partying?!

Direct sales businesses are changing every day.  It seems everyone is all about partying online, and growing their social media presence.  Building genuine relationships can be difficult.  I like to TALK to people so building my business online via email, messaging on Facebook and Instragram is really “out of your comfort zone”.  What about you?  What type of activity in your business makes you feel uncomfortable?

Try it!  Go for it, I DARE YOU!!

I encourage you to come up with at least ONE thing you are going to do to step outside your comfort zone and work on. It doesn’t have to be a monetary goal, how much you are going to sell each month, how many parties you are going to have, etc. It can simply be something you are going TO DO or actively be involved in because of your business.  It can be so much more than recognition stats.

So, I ask you:  How are YOU going to allow your business to grow you in 2018, in a way which maybe uncomfortable, uncertain, scary, exciting but could lead to things you could never even dream of?

Share your 2018 goal with us or if you did something like this in 2017 share it with us.  You may inspire or encourage someone else to step outside of their comfort zone.  I’m still working on mine but I will share all of my plans for 2018 with you in between Christmas and New Year’s…

Have a ThirtyOnesh-derful day!