What is Your Recipe for Life?

The last two weeks have been an emotional roller coaster.  Our sweet Baby (fur baby) is nearing the end of her life because of a tumor. Father’s Day causes me to stress because I’ve lost so many memories. Hubby’s pain levels have been higher than normal. Restless nights so my sleep is off.

All of these things tend to leave me feeling drained.  I am by no means complaining, but I guess it sounds like it, right?  LOL.  I will admit, I have found myself on the “pity pot” several times this week which leads to resentments which is never good for this recovering addict.

It always amazes me how listening to a business training call can change my entire mindset.  The topic was “power hour” and I was ready to just mindlessly listen when the importance of changing our mindset was mentioned…. Not only does this apply to business but also in our everyday lives, especially during those woe is me days.  Then while reading my Just for Today… it was all about surrendering. Do you think God is trying to send me a message?

When I was in rehab, I remember a saying something like: If one person calls you a duck – you can toss it aside, if two people call you a duck – it deserves some consideration but if three people call you a duck – you MUST be a duck!”  I am not waiting for the third person because I know I need to change my mindset and get off the pity pot!

So starting this morning, this duck is changing her mindset.  Do you need to change your mindset?

Here are a few questions you can answer which might help:

1. Identify what happened to cause the change
2. Why did it happen
3. How can I use this for my personal growth
4. What changes can I make to improve in the future
5. Where can I find help or who can help

This “recipe for life” was part of a devotion I was reading.  Maybe this will help you in changing your mindset or counting your blessings:

Begin with a case of Joy

Add a heaping spoonful of Gratitude

Fold in a large dollop of Kindness

Stir in a handful of Forgiveness

Sprinkle liberally with Love and cover with Peace

Always serve with a large side of Faith

(Author unknown)

 

What do you do to change your mindset or get off the “pity pot”? Maybe you take a walk and count your blessings.  Maybe you do a gratitude list.  Maybe you put on some music and dance around.  Share your best tip with us!  Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

On the Road to National Conference

By the time you see this post, I will be on my way to National Conference.  A road trip with two girls from my team and my momma.

What is National Conference and why should YOU go to yours???

National Conference is the biggest party of the year and creates the most amazing energy and excitement.  It is an opportunity to not only meet other consultants, but it is also a chance to fill your cup.  Many of us spend all year filling the cups of others with little time for ourselves – this is your opportunity!

This year over 7,000 Thirty One consultant will converge on Columbus, Ohio to paint the town PINK!  The welcome in Columbus is AMAZING.  I am always surprised to hear there are actually people who have never heard of Thirty One Gifts.  REALLY??

You will want to bottle up the energy so you can take it home to pour on yourself and others when we lose momentum?  It won’t be long and we will be heading into the busiest selling season of the year, so you want to ride the National Conference Wave all the way into the fall.

Did you know????  These are the stats from last year’s Thirty One Conference.  Although the numbers may vary, the same rings try in all direct sales companies.  Individuals who attend conference, are overall more productive during the year.

Attendees, on average, submit more Personal Volume after attending Conference:

New Consultants – extra $2,753/year
Tenured Consultants – extra $1,948/year
Attendees, on average, have more parties after attending Conference:

New Consultants – extra 4.9/year
Tenured Consultants – extra 3.2/year
Attendees, on average, recruit more after attending conference:

New Consultants – extra 1/year
Tenured Consultants – extra 1/year

In addition:

95% of those who attended the Conference 2016 were still active as of October 2016 compared to 69% of those who did not attend  Those who attended Conference last year were 5.1 times more likely to promote. So to summarize, Consultants who attend Conference are overall more productive – more active – more engaged.

And don’t you want this for you and your team?

  So, what can you do to get ready?

Prepare in Advance

I know this sounds like a no-brainer, right? BEFORE you go to conference, you want to decide what you want to accomplish in the three months following the conference.  What will you need to make it happen?

If you are a leader? Take some time to help each of the people attending conference to prepare their plan, too. When you come home loaded with the tools to accomplish your personal goals, you will be catapulted into action.

Be Focused at Conference

Conference is filled with LOTS of information and it can be overwhelming.  If you have a plan for where you want to be in 3 months, it will help you to focus your attention on what YOU need to learn and grow in the areas to make your plan a reality. If your goal is to recruit, gather tips on recruiting. Introduce yourself to the top recruiters in the company and spend time with them. Prepare a few questions about recruiting in advance to ask the people you meet. When you narrow your focus, the information you receive will be less overwhelming.  If your focus is on more sales, look for those who are tops in sales or in hosting parties?  Get some fresh ideas.  Be willing to step out of your comfort zone to try some of the things you learn.

Follow Up

Here are some tips from successful leaders on how to help YOUR team move forward with the information they gathered at National Conference.

• Create a plan to put the ideas you gathered to work before you get home and get caught back up in life.
• Schedule time to make follow up calls to your conference attendees the first week back. Help them get started right away so they don’t’ lose their momentum.
• Have a meeting or team conference/Zoom call scheduled a few days after the conference. Ask each person who attended to share their three best ideas. This will recognize those who attended the conference, help them focus what they learned and the rest of the team will catch the conference wave, too.

National Conference is a big investment for you and your company. Make it make a difference in your life (business and personal) by planning and following up!

Who is going to their National Conference and where is it being held?

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

 

 

 

Work Smarter

I have always struggled with the concept,”working smarter”.  I think it is finally starting to sink in…. since I have my own business.  Over the last week or so, I have been talking to friends in direct sales who have been feeling overwhelmed and stressed.  Some because of life while others are learning to find a balance between home, work, business and family.

Working my Thirty One business full time can sometimes feel like I am spinning my wheels.  Now if I could lose weight while doing it, it would be perfect but sadly, it just seems I spin my wheels and get stuck in non-productive activities.

Building a direct sales business (or any business really), doesn’t have to be overwhelming or stressful.  The best part of direct sales, is the ability to make your own hours so whether you have a few hours a week or several hours every day to work your business, you want to be able to get results and reach your goals, right?

So, since you aren’t loosing any weight by spinning those wheels, why not try these five ways to work smarter in your direct sales business (or with any goal).

#1. Know your goals & break them down into action steps.

The best way to work smarter is to actually know what your goals are and the activities you need to be doing to reach them. I am great for saying I want to make “$1000 or more per month income from my business” or “I want to promote to Senior Director” but knowing what the steps are to get there are not always as easy.  Saying it is great.  The truth is you need to break it down into smaller milestones and activity goals so you know what to focus on each day, week & month to reach them. Sometimes it is easier said then done.

How many parties/shows/demos will it take per month?  How many customer orders?  Of course recruiting plays a big part, so how many do you need to add to your team?  Honestly when breaking down my goals, I focus on things I have control over.  Yes, team sales play a factor because I can’t control what someone else does in their business.  Break down your goals, how many parties or customer orders do you need each month? How many active team members do you need to promote?  Once you have the monthly activities,  you can break them down even further to weekly goals and daily activities.

#2. Work your Business Like a Business.

I know you have heard it 1,000 times.  If you want to earn the income of a business, you have to treat your business like a business.  If you have a “day job”, think about the things you do going into work on a regular basis to earn a paycheck.  Yes, it is the same with a direct sales business. Your business is “flexible BUT NOT optional”.  You still have to put in the hours and work to have a paycheck and grow your business.  Create a schedule to work your business which fits into your current lifestyle and family.

#3. Focus on Income Producing Activities.

This is an area I struggle in.  Now you have a schedule, you are ready to treat your business like a business by learning where to focus your limited time. I sometimes find myself wasting time on things which don’t generate income or move me closer to reaching my goals. Social Media can be a time sucker.  Re-creating tools and training can be a waste of time.  What are income producing activities?  Things which lead to a cash transaction like customer orders, parties, recruiting and team building. You should focus 80% of your time on direct marketing, follow up, building relationships, holding parties, recruiting, and helping your team build their business.

#4. Set up Streamlined Systems

Systems equal success & less stress. I can attest to this since I have set up a system which seems to work, at least with follow-up.  I am still a work in progress for hostess coaching.  Don’t have a system?  Start by writing all the things you do in each area of your business.  Now, write down the ones you should be doing but aren’t.  Where can you batch similar tasks together to save time?  Can you delegate activities?  How about automated emails or training videos or documents with frequently asked questions you can refer people to?  With these things, you can streamline the processes in your business so you don’t jump around or or miss out on important steps in your business.

#5. Develop a mindset of success & stop procrastinating.

Don’t let your fears rule your thoughts. Don’t let procrastination hold you back.  Don’t make excuses.  Procrastination is the #1 killer of productivity.  It is a form of fear. It means stepping out of your comfort zone.  YIKES!  Scary stuff, right? The only way to overcome procrastination is to make a real commitment to reaching your goals.  Have a plan, have set goals with activities and have an accountability partner to connect with to help you stop procrastinating.

Basically, ask yourself these three question before you do any activity:

1. Is this going to get me closer to my goals?
2. Will this make the best use of my time?
3. Does this honor my mission in life & business?

If the answer is yes, go for it!  What is keeping you from reaching your goals?

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

Do You Have a Focused Weekly Plan?

No this is not a sales pitch for Passion Planners even though it has saved my life more than once.  This is about having a simple, focused, and consistent schedule whether it be for you, your family or for your direct sales business.

As women, we have at least three or four balls juggling at all times: work, children, home, direct sales business and oh, course there is our life on social media, right?  How quickly do your best laid plans for the day go array when you get lost in the black hole of social media?

Yes, it is FRIDAY and I am already talking about next week.  WHY? Because I have found when I take about an hour or so on Saturday or Sunday to plan out the upcoming week, this get done.  I know, many nights you fall into bed feeling like you worked your butt off but yet feel like you got absolutely nothing accomplished. Been there, done that and have more than one t-shirt!  Some weeks, my planner looks like this:

Nothing written in except maybe a doctor’s appointment or two.  It is the weeks like this when I squirrel.  Running around putting our fires and trying to get something, anything accomplished.

Squirreling find come with the MS – the truth is I have squirreled for years when I worked from home.  A load of laundry here, wash the dishes there, oh and I went to look for something in the “junk drawer” so I spent time cleaning it out.  For women who work at home (not just in direct sales but also as moms and wives), having a focused plan each week allows us to get so much more accomplished with time to spare.  Yes, you can have spare time to just sit and enjoy your coffee before it gets cold!

As we head into November which is the true start of the busy holiday season, I am trying something new (for me).  I have heard it a million times but always found a reason NOT to do it.  A simple “days of the week” system to help you stay focused and work your biz (or your home) with intention.  This is a system you can tweak to fit YOUR needs but at least give it a try…..

Me Monday:  A clear focus starts with a strong personal business.  Spend the first day of the week working on your personal calendar. That includes booking parties, scheduling Facebook Party posts and hostess coaching for up-coming parties. When your calendar is full, you’ll feel more confident and ready to tackle the rest of your goals. Go you!

Team Tuesday:  Follow up with sponsoring leads and set coaching calls with anyone on your team who wants more support.  Being an effective coach is about asking the right questions, being a good listener and stay in the reality zone.

Win (Woohoo) Wednesday: This is the day for me to connect with my team and my customers.  I am planning to celebrate the past week’s accomplishments, give reminders on upcoming events and encourage different aspects of training linked back to the weekly calls hosted by the company.  This is also the day I am going to introduce our “team consultant of the week”.  This will give team members an opportunity to get to know each other building a stronger bond of support.

Thank You Thursday: Keep your hostesses and customers coming back by saying THANKS! Use graphics on Facebook Parties, Facebook Live shout outs to your $500 Club Hostesses ($500+ Parties) and handwritten personal notes to all. Don’t forget to include a reminder to send referrals your way for a bonus gift!

Follow-Up Friday: Congrats! You made it to Friday and you had a focused, productive week.  Take some time on Friday to follow-up with anything left on your to-do list and get ready to enjoy the weekend..

Mind you, in the midst of this focused plan, emails and social media seem to be missing, right?  The truth is, my notifications for Facebook are turned off on my phone and on my computer.  When I am working in my office, I close both my email and my social media windows.  Then I set aside some time to check them and respond BUT only for a short period of time.

What are you best tips for staying focused when working your direct sales business OR managing your household.  Share them with us….

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

FRANKS

No, it is NOT a typo and this is not about someone named Frank….

For those in direct sales, you have probably heard this term a MILLION times.  We tell our hostesses to use this acronym when making their guest list.  We tell new consultants to use this list when they start their business to share their excitement.  So, what if you have been in direct sales for a little while.  Do you have a FRANKS list?  The acronym stands for:

• Friends
• Relatives
• Associates
• Neighbors
• Kid Contacts
• Spouse Contacts

I will be honest and say that I have not updated my FRANKS list in about 2 years. I know CRAZY, right?  I have been with Thirty One for 4 years and during that time I have shared with the WORLD that I am a Thirty One consultant.  I think many believe that I live in a “pink bubble”.  I mean do I really need a list?

Maybe you don’t call it a FRANKS list.  Maybe you call it your “list of 62“.  The list you go to when you need to book a party.  The list that you go to when you have a GREAT customer special or recruiting incentive.  I mean isn’t this one of the basics of being a consultant in direct sales?  My list of 62 probably could use some updating too.

I am sure I am not alone when I say that when business is good, we don’t think about this list.  If you are holding parties, providing pink glove service and meeting your goals, why would you need to stay on top of this, right?  The truth is that you need to continue to work and update these lists so that you can continue to be successful.

I challenge you to do or redo your List of 62.  If you are a Thirty One consultant, go to TOT and type in “list of 62” in the search box.  If you are with another direct sales company, check because I am sure that they have something just like it.  If you are a business owner, why not try this too.  You can just pull out a piece of paper and start writing.  Think about your products then make a list of the people that you would like to share them with and don’t assume that they know about them.  You know what they say when we “assume”, right?

Think of the first 10 people you want to tell about your business/products. Write their names down on the List of 62. Then think of the next 10 names and so on. Include their phone number on the list.  Yes, I said phone number.  This is where we build relationships so pick up the PHONE and call them.  Don’t leave anyone off because we definitely don’t want to pre-judge them.  The one person that you think may not be interested could be YOUR next big party or rockstar recruit.

Begin calling people right away to tell them about your business, special, incentive, product, etc. Write out a little script, practice it so that you are comfortable with it, put on a smile and start calling.    Start with the people you know will join in your excitement.  You will be amazed at the results.

So, who is up for the challenge?  Let me know how it goes.

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!