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!

Tips from the Million $ Party Girl

Halfway through November with only about 6 weeks left in the year.  YIKES!  Was one of your resolutions or goals to build your team?  Or maybe be consistent in your business?  One of the biggest struggles that most direct sellers have is getting out of their own way.  They think that leadership (and success) requires knowledge and ALOT of time.  Guess what neither is true.

I have been following the AMAZING Lynn Bardowski, the Million Dollar Party Girl and have been getting some great tips.  So whether you are a leader, working towards leadership, had a momentary thought about being a leader or just want to grow your personal business here are some tips from “How to Build Your Direct Sales Team“:

1. CREATE your vision. Successful leaders create their vision – before setting goals. Mix 1/3 passion with 1/3 purpose, add in 1/3 crazy and blend well with massive action. Vision will inspire you and others to act.

LEADERS LEAD BY MOBILIZING PEOPLE AROUND A COMPELLING VISION OF THE FUTURE.

2. BUILD belief. Lack of belief and confidence is the #1 reason people don’t start a direct sales business, or give up. Your belief in others is what will motivate them to take a leap and go for it. Send cards, texts and Facebook messages that let your hostesses, potential sponsors and team members know how awesome they are.

3. SERVE others. Successful leaders put the team before themselves. This is true for direct sales success as well. Plan on devoting your time, energy and sometimes profits to mentor and coach consultants. Don’t worry about the party chain you’re giving up to give a new consultant a great start, or the profit you just lost by helping a Consultant at their Grand Opening party. That’s small change compared to the lives you’ll help shape, and the bigger income that will come back to you in the future. Let this question be your guide: “Is what I’m doing serving myself, or serving others?”

4. ASK open ended questions. You don’t have to know all the answers, just the right questions. Here’s my top 5: 1) What interests you most about [leadership, the company, hosting a party, earning the trip, etc.]? 2) What is your BIG WHY? 3) On a scale of 1-10, how committed are you to making your WHY a reality? 4) Tell me about a recent success; what did it take? 5) What do you attribute that to?

5. RECOGNIZE effort, progress and results. Social media is your best recognition tool, and it’s free. Give shout-outs on your group page and create a wall post with a fun graphic. 

6. INFLUENCE with your attitude, actions and belief. Successful leaders are caring, empathetic and grateful. You are influencing all the time, even when you post on Facebook. Are you the dream consultant that you want to sponsor? If yes, keep doing more of that. If no, then work on being an awesome consultant first. Do what you want duplicated.

Lynn has some great tips on vendor event set-up which is especially great during this holiday season.  Stay tuned for an upcoming boot-camp with Lynn sponsored by Jersey Shore Direct Sellers.  A great opportunity to learn how she grew her business to be the Million Dollar Party Girl.

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

Want An Ideal Team

Happy Throwback Thursday!   I love seeing all of the retired Thirty One prints and products.  It reminds me how far we have come.

The NEW Fall enrollment kit is NOW available.  I love the new prints and the fact that there is some of our newest products included in this little pink box.

No, this is not a pitch to get you to join my team – although we do know what an AMAZING $99 deal it is.

Today, we are going to  talk about finding our “ideal team members”.   Building a team is the best way to increase your paycheck in direct sales, right?  No, I don’t mean those pyramid schemes but where you CELEBRATE – ENCOURAGE – REWARD your team to reach their goals.

Are you constantly complaining that your team is unmotivated, draining, and frustrating? Do you wish that your team met their goals?  Do you wish that your team were more engaging?  Guess what – if you are focusing on the things you don’t want – you are actually attracting those same kind of recruits.  As a result, you are going to get more unmotivated, draining, frustrating team members in other words kitnappers.  It’s a simple fact that you get what you focus on. So if you don’t have the direct sales team of your dreams, you are responsible for that.

So, how do we change that, right?  I mean we all want a team that wants leadership, meets all of their personal goals and works as a team player to help us meet team goals, right?

It all goes back to The Secret and speaking what we do want into the Universe.  So let’s decide what you want and not focus on what you don’t want, shall we? This is a short exercise courtesy of JulieAnne Jones.  Take a moment and do this short training exercise.

First of all, ask yourself the question, “Who is my ideal team member?”

Here’s a list of some adjectives to get you started:

• Motivated
• Happy
• Positive
• Smart
• Creative
• Invested
• A Self Starter
• Serious
• Peaceful
• Caring
• Fun
• Great Sense of Humor
• Reliable
• Dependable
• Helpful

Now, sit down, clear your mind, get focused.  Make a list with at least five adjectives that best describe your ideal team member.  Be honest with yourself because this list highlights your ideal potential recruit.

Now read over the list that you just created. Would you say those words describe YOU? Of course, they do.  So, here’s the point. When you’re truly showing up at your best, the energy you’re putting out will attract others like you…at your best. It’s really that simple.

So, how do we change the energy flow?  The key is to get your thoughts, feelings, and actions lined up so you’ll begin attracting those amazing people into your direct sales business. Here’s the process…

Print out the list you made and put it up on the wall in your office. Start thinking about all of these attributes and how you can manifest them in your own business (this is the “thoughts” part of the equation).

Sit down, close your eyes, and imagine what it would feel like to be working with an entire room full of these ideal team members. Just feel the feelings of what it would be like to lead a team of outstanding individual who exemplified those characteristics (the second part of this equation).

Now visualize yourself standing in front of a huge team with all of those traits at your next team meeting. This is the third part of the process and the visualization can literally take only 30 to 90 seconds.

Take about two minutes at the beginning and ending of each day to read over the list and then close your eyes and walk through your visualization.

We want to make this a habit right? So, I want you to do this visualization every day for the next 30 days, twice a day. Then pay attention to the people, circumstances, and opportunities that begin to show up in your life and business.   The most important key  is that you are going to TAKE ACTION on those opportunities!

The formula is simple and can work on anything that you decide to focus on. Attracting what you want is a simple as this three step system  of Think/Feel/Act. Who is ready to find their ideal recruit?

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

 

 

Humility

Happy MONDAY!  Can you tell that I love the little minions?  Every time I see one I think of The Crafty Recluse’s tag line “you are one in a minion” and I smile.

For those in direct sales, the key to growing into leadership is building a team, right?  We all what the “dream team”.  The ones who are focused, consistent sellers and all want the same things that we do.  The truth is that the people on our team are there for a reason.  They may not be someone else’s definition of a dream team but their are God’s definition of a dream team for YOU!  I LOVE the diverse personalities that are on my dream team.

As leaders, we are always looking for what it takes to be a great leader.  I am working my way through the Leadership Bible every day to be able to raise “my lid” as a leader.  Tracy Simmon summed it up in one word – humility:

Not the sickly sweet distorted version of humility which turns some people into doormats, but the powerful kind of humility that moves mountains while always upholding the dignity of every person involved.

I’ll take a humble, unskilled, inexperienced leader over an arrogant, experienced, highly skilled “leader” any day of the week.

So, what are some traits of a humble leader?  Here are just a few:

 

1. Admit It: You admit your weaknesses, flaws, and the things you don’t do well. You laugh at yourself. You know you have an inner freak and you’ve embraced it. Humility allows you to give an honest assessment of yourself.

 

2. Ask for Help: You know when you need to ask for help from others and you’re not afraid do so. You’re likely to hit your limit at some point, whether you’re running out of time, coming up against a lack of knowledge or missing skillset, or just feeling overwhelmed, and you’re not afraid to ask for help.

3. Better Than You: You do not feel threatened by (and are willing to hire) people who are smarter than you, have greater skills and experience than you…and you’re happy to pay them more than you make. You know that hiring people who are better than you doesn’t diminish you or your role.

 

4. Take Responsibility: When there’s a failure or a mistake made by someone on your team, you acknowledge that part of the failure belongs to you. You take responsibility for your team’s mistakes.

5. You Can Handle the Truth: You welcome constructive criticism. You ask for feedback—and openly listen to it and receive it—even when it’s hard to hear. 

6. Apologize: You’re willing to admit when you’ve blown it and to apologize for your mistakes.

7. Let It Go: You don’t always need to be right. You know it’s better to let some things go rather than trying to prove your point.

8. Forgive Others: You forgive others when they make mistakes. You speak with them about their errors and then let them start all over with a clean slate. 

9. Give Credit: You look for ways to give away credit for work done, shouting it out to anyone who will listen, rather than to soak it all up for yourself. 

 

10. Share the Knowledge: You willingly share your knowledge with others. You have no need to hoard it in order to look smarter or better than others. You want to help others develop and grow as far as possible.

I don’t know about you but even on this short list, I found a few of my own weaknesses.  In the areas where some may see me as “arrogant”, the real reason is probably due to a feeling of inadequacy as a result of shame and fear.  Yes, let’s get gut honest with ourselves so that we can be better leaders for our teams.

Would your team consider you a truly humble leader or an arrogant leader? Or do you bounce between the two.  I would love to know your thoughts…

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

Team Building

My daughter, Belinda was on an All Star Cheerleading team.  They had a common goal with a  vision – to be champions.  As crazy as it sounds, I never really thought about my direct sales team in the same way.  A team with a common goal and vision – to make a difference in the world.

This week’s topic in my NIV Leadership Bible was “team building” and a light bulb went off.  Yes, I have been a Leader for two years.  Yes, I thought I had it all together – most of the time.  BUT I realized that my team doesn’t have a common goal.  I don’t want the common goal to reaching my numbers or winning an incentive trip.  I want their common goal, to be “combining their strengths to help one another to grow and to change their world”. 

As a team member, have you thought your only role was to help your up line earn more money?  Do you figure you don’t have enough time for my family, my job/ business; how could I possible help someone else?    Do you think; “I have nothing in common with the rest of the team” or maybe it is “I can barely help myself, how can I help others”?

As a leader, have you worked to bring unity to your team?  Does your team come together or do they barely know each other?  Are you team members willing to share their strengths, hopes and experiences so that they can help others on the team?  Or do they only post when you ask a question?  Do they share ideas to help others?

To be honest, the leader questions had me thinking  about things.  For me, I have an individual connection with each of the members of my team.  God placed each of us in the others lives for a reason.  The reason was clear from the beginning with some while others it took time to see and then a few who I am still not sure the reason. My team is from a variety of backgrounds, life experiences,  and different personalities.  A “diverse team is tougher to lead – but training lions is more exciting than feeding goldfish!”.  So true!

 I am going to step out of the comfort zone to try this out:

• List the strengths of each team member as an individual – in their business, their personal life and in their personality.
• Work out a plan for each of them to share their strength with the others on the team.
• Highlight their skill or strength in a Facebook post on the team page or at a gathering or in a short video or in the monthly team newsletter.  Whatever works for that team member.

The goal is to build a strong team that is working together to help each other reach their full potential.  It is not just about the sales.  It is about using the skills that we have to make a difference in the world around us.  As we make a difference in the world, the sales will come.

Maybe you have someone who is great at budgeting or saving money with coupons.  Maybe you have someone who is great at organizing their calendar – you know juggling multiple things on a daily basis.  Maybe you have someone who is great at starting conversations with people when out and about.  Let them share it with the team.  Encourage them to share their strengths (even those that they don’t see) to help others.

In the early years of  HIV/AIDS,  most of my clients were hiding in the shadows.  As I learned their strengths and talents, I provided them with a safe space to learn and grow.  The result was an AMAZING group of people that came together (when needed) to help each other in their own way.  Their vision was to make a difference in the world, and believe me, each of them left a lasting impression on those lives that they touched.

So, that is how I want to lead my team – “combining their strengths to help one another to grow and to change their world”.  What about you?

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!