There's No Business Like Slow Business

After the holiday season, sales can be daunting, to say the least.  If you find yourself in a slump, use it to clean up your business, including your presentation. Take the time to find new clients, call customers you've been putting off, sending out a "personal" hand held earthly mailed flyer, reminding people you are here for them and what your current specials are.  Believe it or not, sometimes, you only need to offer yourself and a new angle to get new business.

Five MORE Minutes - and Then Some

As you know, I'm a fan of five minutes.  I'm NOT a fan of looming deadlines, and that's what I'm facing now.  

In writing. In At Home America. In advocating for victims.

Let me add, thanks to the military, I have no contact whatsoever (for the first time ever, not even when he was in Iraq did I have a day without some sort of communication) with my husband and spent the first lonely day feeling sorry for myself.  That's depressing enough, but when I looked at my calendar, I realized the month spent trying to get our kids on airplanes back to school (and losing precious work, including At Home America parties and meetings) was destroying all I worked for (that's another story in itself, just trust me).

Suddenly, I'm paralyzed. I'm doing nearly nothing.  And then it comes to me... five minutes.  Get back into life.  So I meditated and prayed for five minutes.  Ah. Smart move.

Five minutes of freeing my mind put me on the path to success. First of all, the no contact thing does stink, but I can use it to our advantage.  I imagined four less interruptions each day, then, handing him a check for the money I earned because I used my time wisely.  Also, for us, there's one more thing, he's been waiting for me to send the children's book to the publisher and to type 43:10 (screenplay) into the computer so we can get a new agent...  I CAN do this.  Even if only five minutes at a time.

The next five minutes, about an hour later, I rationally listed my most important deadlines and what I needed to do to meet them.

For instance, as a homestyle specialist, I worked hard the past two months to get to the second of two levels, in order to earn an important all expense paid trip to Chicago to learn more about my company and how to succeed.  When the flight fiasco with the boys happened (and the lovely holidays), I set it all aside. Now, in order to gain the last level and the trip (not to mention a decent check and some free homewares for myself), I have seven days to get $800 in sales. YIKES! I typically only earn about $1000 in sales in an entire month!

Therefore:

Goal - Earn $800 in sales before 4PM Hawaii time on January 24

How - Advertise, beg, motivate three people to host a quick online party

With this information in hand:

In five minutes I rewrote my iPhone email signature and my email signature. Since I need sales right now more than a recruit, I focused on whatever might encourage someone to order ASAP - the fact the Sale-a-bration sale is only through January and only until each item runs out, creates urgency; the fact the items are as low as $2.99 creates a more urgent desire.

In five more minutes, I wrote from my iPhone five letters to friends or family who I truly care about and would normally write.  Hours later, I'd take five minutes and do the same on the computer.  Each day, I'll do it again, but with other friends.  

Results:  I ended up with two online orders.  Both were small, but they are orders I normally would not have. Besides, all orders add up and the magic number is $1000.  I'm now short only $712.

And you can see how the five minutes add up, too. And they're painless!  I'm going to post on Facebook each day a new item under $3 for sale. They have to go through the higher priced items to get to the sale items. Works for me.  I'll take five minutes to go through my address book and call a potential hostess. Five minutes will allow me to check an online party. Five minutes does so much.

With writing... five minutes will give me a minute of screenplay action (I can type a page in five minutes).  I can query three publishers, a literary agent, and print out a proposal. Five more minutes gives me another page. My deadline for the screenplay is a bit longer, I have until February 2. Still, I can take five minutes to figure out how many five minute spurts a day I need to meet the deadline.  Easy.

The most difficult of my home "business" is being a victim's advocate. The reason it's difficult is that it earns nothing and depends on the earnings from the other jobs.  Constantly, I have to stop working on what I truly feel called to do, to do the others.  It's a catch-22, isn't it?

The biggest way I help is through a website.  I've been struggling for the last several years (after years of success) because I don't understand how to create the website in my mind now that I use Mac and Dreamweaver, and therefore, rarely do I get to actually write, research, or help. It's another bit of disappointment.

Yet, again, this is how five minutes works.  Five minutes can allow me to choose a subject in Dreamweaver that I really do not understand, and read.  It's ONLY five minutes, I can deal with the dry and often confusing information in such a small amount.  I can use five minutes more to create a pretty web page as best I can. Another five minutes will be spent sharing information author Sue Russell has shared in her Missing Mondays.  And if I have another five minutes to spare, I can write. I can write about cold cases, real cases, domestic violence, a plea for help.

Yes, in five minutes, I can do it.

Incidentally, it took longer than five minutes to write this and I do wish I had an extra five to decide if it makes sense, but since I really write it for me, to keep me on track, I'd rather take my five minutes and earn another $5.

God bless you and pray for our soldiers.

Holiday Stress: Use It Before You Lose It

This year, don't let holidays get the best of you. Sure, we love holidays, but often, they can also mean a lot of work and preparation.

If you work in sales - be realistic. People are buying gifts, even with the economy, why not let them buy from you?  Don't decide for them whether they can afford your service or not, just let them know it exists, and how they can use it.  If they bite, run with it; if not, let it go.  The worst they can do is say "no."

If you work in a home party business, know that this time of year is both the best and the worst time for a home party.  Don't be pushy with the person who doesn't work her buns off to have the best party, be polite, work your best, and give it your all-just don't push, she may have so much pressure, it might be easier for her to call it off. Instead, surprise her. Perhaps you can make the last minute reminder calls?  Maybe you can encourage the party to close that every night, that way people can make their decisions and get on with life.  We are supposed to make life easier by having a party at home, not burdensome.

Creative workers may find they have too much on their brain all of a sudden. Why is it that when you have the most things to do, at a time you most want to do it (in other words, the chore you happen to love) your creative juices kick into overdrive?  It doesn't matter. What matters is what you do with it. Did you know or realize that the more things you have to do, the more you get done? It's true!  Maybe you only have five minutes here and there to write that book, make that craft, or paint a picture, but that's five wonderfully glorious minutes.  Sometimes five minutes produces more quality than five days.  Keep your mind open and look for opportunities.

Too many things these days are stressful. Surely the lines in the store or the traffic on the highway are going to be big ones for the next two weeks.  Turn that stress into good stress. Use time in the line to make a business call you've been putting off until the "right time."  The traffic is great to shake off the negative and clear your mind. How? Turn up your radio and sing. Sing as though no one can hear you.

What a LONG Night!

My mind is reeling. There's so much to think about, many ideas swirling in my head, so many pretty things to look at and sort out.

The night couldn't go fast enough; all I wanted to do is get up and WORK. Crazy. Does it die out? Once I host that first party, will I change my outlook?

By the way, my first party was a catalog party and is mostly a bust. I MAY get a sale out of it, but because we ship to the hostess... her guests couldn't pay for shipping twice. When I set that first party up, I had not even applied. I was determined (and required) to set up 6 parties prior to the application. Once I was in, I learned the catalog parties are great, they're easy, BUT there are certain things you need to know and explain before you begin.

This could be a blessing or a curse. You see, you may get a few EXTRA parties out of it, as those who are too far, may decide to host their own party. Or, you'll lose all the guests, as I did.

I'll be sharing a post on direct shipping and I'll try to get a list of other home based opportunities and their policies. As I said in another post, I'm here to change things for the better. And I will.

Home Party Business: Before

We've moved three times in less than two years. Each move we've downsized and now realize: we have nothing on our walls! At last, we'll be in one place for a few years and it's time to get down and dirty and make our house feel like home once again.

Since August, 2010, I've scoured the few available stores I can afford (we're in Hawaii where there is a tad less variety and everything seems to cost more) and browsed the 'net. During this time, I also was invited to a few home parties (direct sales); none of the parties sold what we needed.

In September, I found a place called At Home America. They have down to earth and mostly affordable accent items for my home and three pictures I set my heart on. However, it was direct sales. I asked for a consultant near me and lo and behold, I was given a name to someone on the mainland!

Not entirely sure there were not any consultants on the island but entirely sure I wanted some of their wares, I studied their sales program and finally applied on October 19, 2010.

Today is October 26, my sales kit should arrive tomorrow and I could barely be more excited. Please, feel free to follow this blog to share the good, the bad, and the ugly with me.

I'll be learning the ropes with you. Questions will be asked, changes will be implemented, mistakes will be made, money will be earned and goals will be set and accomplished. If you are in direct sales, have a home business, are a mother, wife, and maybe even part of the military; if you are living on an island, if you want to see me succeed: follow me today.

Good wishes and God bless us all.



At Home America goals: All three levels of the New Kids program, Chicago, and Cancun. Fly with me.