Don’t Sell Anything on Facebook

(Nick's Note: After experimenting with selling on Facebook, I couldn't agree more. Folks just tune you out when you're selling. Engaging them is far more effective.)

By Dave Kerpen

I was thinking of titling this post, “5 Better Ways to Engage on Facebook” because that’s the content I plan on delivering to you. But the truth is, I wanted to get your attention.

If you’re a reader of this blog, you’re likely involved in the direct sales industry. And there are 450 million+ people on Facebook, including you and just about everyone you know (My 90 year old grandma joined this week.) The average Facebook user has 130 friends, and many of you have way more friends (or “people who like you”, if you have a Fan Page). So the temptation to sell to all of these people is powerful.

The problem, of course, if that this does not work. The moment someone tries to sell to me on Facebook, for instance, unless I’ve really grown over time to know, like, and trust that person, I’ll immediately de-friend. Do YOU like to be sold to, or engaged?

Too many direct sellers and direct selling companies are making their updates all about them and their products. If you want to win on Facebook, it’s more about creating “likeable content.” The content shouldn’t be arbitrary, of course. It should be relevant to your category or target audience. For example, if you’re selling:

* Cooking products, think recipes
* Health & beauty products, think celebrity beauty tips
* Gardening items, link to articles about gardening

You may consider content about entrepreneurs and business success too.

Over the course of time, likeable, engaging content will build trust with your audience, and they will become excited buyers who come to you, instead of you trying (and failing) to sell to them on Facebook. Here are my 5 most engaging types of updates:

1. Post photos. A picture is worth a thousand words. Instead of using words, post pictures. By posting interesting pictures, you will get people talking.
2. Post videos. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a thousand pictures. Create a short form content video between 30 seconds and two minutes and share it with your friend or fans. A great feature about posting a video on Facebook is if someone is watching the video, they can click on the top left of the video to “like” the page if they haven’t already!
3. Share links to interesting articles and resources with your friends or fans. Links are a great way to bring relevant content to your page that may not be your own.
4. Ask questions. If people are not commenting on your updates, it is often because you are not asking them to. If you ask people what they think of something or what they are doing, they will answer these questions on your page.
5. For the more advanced users, utilize interactive apps including polls, quizzes, and virtual gifts. These are some ways to engage your friends and fans on a more advanced level.

What other ways do you engage with your friends and fans? Share by commenting here!

Greed is Good: Why You Need to Tap Into Your Inner Gordon Gekko

April 28th, 2010 by Robert Pagliarini

Greed is good. Embrace it. Love it. Live it. In fact, greed may be the one thing that can save us. Don’t believe me? Greed was the foundation for this country. The brave souls who risked their life to settle in a new country did so out of self interest. Our forefathers recognized the importance of self-interest in the Declaration of Independence where they emphasized our unalienable right to pursue happiness.
Greed is good not just for your own life but for others as well. By elevating your life, you can radically elevate your family’s life, your community, and yes, even the world. Mother Teresa was greedy — she had an unquenchable thirst for serving the poorest of the poor. Missionaries are greedy in their quest to spread their religious beliefs. You just need to get greedy. You need to focus so intently on what it is you want that your desire seeps out of your pores.



But not all greed is created equal. The greed that nearly brought the world economy to a screeching halt in 2008 is disgusting. The greed that led to millions of hardworking people around the world losing their jobs is not “good greed.” You can (and must!) be greedy without exploiting others.
The problem is not that we’re too greedy, it’s that we’re not greedy enough! Sure, there are the occasional Bernie Madoffs and John Edwardses that lose themselves in their excessive desire — that will do anything to achieve their goal — but that’s not the issue most of us face. Our problem is that we are plagued by not caring, wanting, or being voracious enough in the pursuit of our own goals.

The solution? Stop putting yourself last and stop sacrificing your goals and dreams. Any successful entrepreneur is greedy. They have an insatiable desire to see their product come to market. They want to see their invention in the hands of as many people as possible. They want their book to hit the New York Times bestseller list. They will do whatever it takes to achieve their goal. They will stay up later and get up earlier. They‘ll say no more often.

Want to lose weight? Put yourself first. Schedule time on your calendar to exercise and don’t cancel for anything. Don’t let others get in the way of your goal. I get criticized for bringing my own food to parties and events. I don’t get this. Should I just go along with what everyone else is eating even though I know it’s not best for me? If I only wished for better health, I wouldn’t go through the hassle of preparing and bringing my own food and instead I‘d have a plateful of little weenies and Doritos. But I’m not simply wishful. I am greedy. Nothing is going to get in my way of better health — not even annoyed looks from the host.

The other 8 hours are the secret to improving your life. By focusing on yourself, and by elevating your own life, you are then best able to transform the lives of others. Self-focused is not selfish; self-focused is self-less. You learn this every time you get on a plane . . . “put on your own mask before helping others.”

When you invest in yourself during the other 8 hours, the life you change may be more than just your own. Now it’s your turn. Tap into your inner Gordon Gekko and relentlessly pursue your happiness.

The 30-Minute Business

I dedicate a lot of time to my Avon business. I can't help it, I love what I do. But there are definitely days when I just don't have the time to give 4-6 hours a day to my part-time business.

If you only had 30 minutes a day to dedicate to your business, how would you spend it? Mine would look something like this:

5 minutes: Input receipts into Shoeboxed.com
5 minutes: Review any new materials on youravon.com
10 minutes: Contact customers via email/phone/postcards/constantcontact.com
5 minutes: Look at upcoming brochures. Plan sales strategy for next campaign.
5 minutes: Listen to a podcast, audiobook or something inspirational

It's not a lot of time, but you can squeeze a lot of mileage out of just 30 minutes a day on your business

Campaign 11 - Double Dollars - Throw A Party w/my Party Pack

You've probably heard that throwing an Avon Party is a great way to boost your income as a Representative. Most reps don't have experience, or get tongue-tied or just simply don't have the time to prepare for parties with new products being released every 2 weeks.

This packet gives you the word-for-word script of what to say for 10 hot Campaign 11 Items! Simply print out the Party notes, arrange your items and start reading! It's as simple as that. And with the Clipboard Order Form, you have a hand ready-to-go order form custom made for this event!

NOTE: These are the identical notes that I will be using for my C11 parties. I'm starting the price at a low $3.99 so that you can try my products risk-free. In the future, I will add additional handouts including Which products to order, how to tab your catalogs and much more! Prices will go up when the entire packet is put together, so enjoy this low introductory price.

Want to order a downloadable pack for yourself? http://www.youpublish.com/files/29721

Avon's Representative Times

Up until a few months ago, we used to get a paper copy of the Representative Times newsletter. It's a great resource for sales advice, product tips and sales information. In an effort to go green (and probably save some green), Avon now publishes the Representative Times online only.

You find the Representative Times on your home page. Right now it's in the lower right corner, a pink box that says, "Representative Times". Click the link and enjoy the new news!

Social Media Marketing is Not Your Core Business

Nick's Note: Here's a great article by Jen Fong. It's true what she says, if you're spending more time trying to attract customers using Facebook, Twitter, etc than actually talking to your customers, you're doin' it wrong.

-------------------------

Are you spending your life in front of a computer? 

If you’re a direct seller, I sure hope not.

You see, direct selling is, at its heart, a person to person business, and your main job is NOT social networking.  While it’s great to use social media as one of the tools in your overall marketing strategy, it’s important to remember that this is NOT your core business.

Your core business is making appointments (booking parties in party plan), selling products, and recruiting new consultants/distributors into the business.  This is what makes you money.  Your social media efforts should be focused on creating more opportunities to do your core business.

Don’t get so swept away with social media marketing, that you forget what your job is.  Otherwise, you may find yourself with a huge list of friends online, and nothing to show for it.

So how do you use social media marketing to provide opportunities for your core business?

• Find people who may have an interest in your products or opportunity through targeted keyword searches, and word of mouth referrals from other friends.
• Provide content-driven status updates and links to articles that answer questions your target market has, related to your product line or home-based businesses in general.
• Build relationships with people through conversation and “small talk.”
• Be helpful to your online friends.  Find resources they’re looking for, and answer their questions.

That’s how you start.  Later you can provide an online community/group for your existing customers to drive reorders, blog for your business, and more.

But to get started, simply begin connecting with people.  And then, when the opportunity presents itself, try to turn that relationship into an opportunity for a call or a meeting with them.  That’s how you use social media marketing to create opportunities for your core business.

At the end of the day, isn’t that what it’s all about? 

Getting The Camps Organized

It's "New Catalog" time; time for me to contact customers and let them know that the newest catalog is out. I was assuming that everyone knows that our catalog comes out every two weeks, but it turns out (from an informal poll) that this is news to my customers.

Why is it important for them to know when the new catalog comes out? So that they're lookin' for it -- they become hungry for good deals and to be the first to see the new product.

My problem has become that there are so many ways to contact people that I can't always do it effectively. Here's what I find myself doing:

1) Customers who I know "buy": Drop a catalog off personally, sometimes with a handwritten note. Old fashioned customer service rocks and it shows in sales.

2) Email customers: I don't have the time to deliver books to each and everyone one, so I drop an email with details that the books are available online

3) I leave books out in front of my home. For as many people take them, they're not really "customers" because I don't have their contact info.

I need to find a better way to target customers and get them all notified. I've thought about a "Call Tree": A service where I call and leave a voice mail and it goes out to everyone whose phone number I have. Not sure if it would be worth the expensive price tag.

Disposable applicators are a must when showing make up at shows and parties. Suggest the following to your clients on how to try make up without having to put it on their face.

• the skin on the inside of your wrist most closely matches your eyelids
• the back of your hand is a good match for cheeks 
• put the lipstick on a knuckle [closest texture but not color to lips] so you can see if you like the feel of it and if it bleeds or feathers. then hold the knuckle up to your face for a color match to your skin tone

Best Business Advice I’ve Ever Received. Part 1

Loved this post. Simple. Crass. True.  Taken from http://whitehottruth.com
Once you get your business past the point of just making a few dollars, here's some advice on how to manage your Avon business:

Don't spend it before you have it.

- Melody Biringer, self-proclaimed start up junkie, founder of over twenty businesses, most currently: The CRAVE Company
This is such a difficult course to stay when the money finally starts coming in, or you get some serious interest from your biggie client on your biggie proposal, or you finally convince the loan officer at the bank that you’re a worthy human being. Hard fact: before you earn it, you don’t have it. Projections and ideals do not equal money in the bank.

Don't spend it when you get it.

- Robert Kent, wildly successful photographer and philanthropist

My last business partner and I were expecting mid-six figures for a book advance. Dreams were ballooning. Family was swooning. Our ship was coming in! The deal wasn’t even sealed and we had picked out a new house and the custom-made sofa to go with it.
“That wave of money is going to come in,” Rob said to me over Souvlaki, “and it’s going to take you right out with it.” My dreams of a Dwell pre-fab house started to crumble.
“Listen,” Rob continued. “You need to feel the power of sitting on it, of letting it actually feed your creativity. If you spend it when you get it, you’ll have to catch up with it, and that will sap your energy.”
We didn’t listen. We sank most of our advance money into the book and needless company growth. We didn’t need to expand. We needed to deepen, to stay lean and focused. Not long after, we were developing bigger projects to keep up with ourselves. I should have listened to this…

Grow organically.

- Rikia Saddy, marketing strategist

Rikia declined to invest in one of my companies because she thought it was the kind of business that should “grow organically…one step leading to the next. Your work needs to build on itself.” Those words would echo in my mind when it all fell apart. And when I started my solo, biggest venture ever.

Fuck your so-called principles.

- Mr. A., lawyer

Some young TV producers and I were very tangled in a very good-for-them but bad-for-me contract. “It’s not about the money grab they’re going for,” I ranted to my lawyer. “I don’t care about the money. It’s about the principle of the matter. What they’re doing is so wrong and they bloody well know it.”
“So you want to drag this out for months because of your principles?” he said. “You want to sink a few more grand into this because of your principles? I’ve had a lot of clients over the years that have made themselves sick, wrecked their marriages, or drained their finances to protect their so-called principles.
Of course the Producer Girls are wrong. They’re greedy twits. You could counter sue and probably crush them. But fuck your principles and get on with your life.”
And so I did.

Only do it if it's fun. If it's not fun, make it fun. If you can't make it fun, don't do it.

- Peter Russell, physicist/philosopher

Ah, sweet Peter. If only I took this jesterly sagacity to heart way back when, I’d have avoided so much agony. This has become my most impassioned mantra. I do only what I want to now, and that’s crazy fun.

Don't burn bridges.

-John Petersen, Futurist
At the time I thought this was staid and stodgy convention. Yawn - heard it a hundred times. And how could I possibly stomach being nice to General So & So for being such a such n’ such – I was outta there, wasn’t gonna look back. But John went on to philosophize a bit, and it touched me. “The world is a small town, and you never know when you’re going to circle back and need someone. Besides, it’s rarely worth telling someone off, there’s always something better to do with your time.”
Of course, I have burned some bridges. TNT kaboom and obliterated. In fact, I said to one client who accused me of shopping out his proprietary slogans to another client, “You best consider this bridge burned. To a crisp.” But generally, bridge preservation in work relationships is about basic kindness and dignity to all parties. And that’s always a good thing.

Lead Without a Title - 9 smart moves to win in business and life.

By Robin Sharma

Published: April 6, 2010

How to change the game in this new decade of leadership.

The old way of leading is dead. Many of our best-known organizations have fallen and some of our most revered leaders have lost face. The global economy has now transformed and with all the new media ranging from Twitter to YouTube, everyone now can build a following. And lead their field.
We have just entered what I call The Decade of Leadership. Leadership has become democratized. I'm not at all suggesting that we don't need titles and people at the top of organizations to set the vision, manage the team and take overall responsibility for the ship. What I am offering is that we now work and live in a world where leadership isn't just something executives do. It's something everyone needs to do—for their organizations to survive, in this period of dramatic change.
I've distilled everything I’ve learned into a step-by-step formula that I’ve shared in my new book The Leader Who Had No Title: A Modern Fable on Real Success in Business and in Life. Here are 9 smart moves you can make today to start changing the game and creating exceptional results:

1. Remember That You Need No Title to be a Leader. Leadership has less to do with the size of your title than the depth of your commitment. I've seen front-line employees, taxi drivers and carpet installers doing their work like Picasso painted. Leadership isn't really about authority. It's about a choice you can make to do your best work each and every day, regardless of where you are planted.
2. Shift from Victimhood to Leadership. No great career, business or life was ever created on a platform of excuses. Too many people play victim at work. They blame the boss or the economy or the competition or the weather for their less than mediocre results. Leaders Without A Title are different. They get that they have power. It may not be the power granted through a title like CEO or SVP. But they have power. And that's the power to see opportunity amid crises. That's the power to drive positive change. That's the power to encourage everyone on your team. And it's the power to step into the person you've always longed to be.
   For the past 15 years, I’ve had a simple mission that has become my obsession: to help people in organizations lead without a title—and play at their best in all that they do. This mission has taken me into client companies like Nike, FedEx, GE, Panasonic and Unilever where I’ve not only helped their best people grow even better but learned what world-class teams and enterprises do to create wow. This mission has allowed me to serve as the private leadership advisor to many billionaires and celebrity entrepreneurs. And this calling has caused me to meet people from every walk of life in every industry and learn what keeps them from stepping up to their leadership best when that's exactly who they are built to be.
3. Innovate or Stagnate. To Lead Without a Title is to leave everything you touch better than you found it. Mediocrity happens when people refuse to change and improve all that they do. Look what happened to some of the big car companies because they slowed down their devotion to innovation. The competition ate them for breakfast. And put some out of business. The best leaders and the best enterprises have a hunger to improve. It's such a deep part of their culture they know of no other way to be. And that's the edge that makes them great.
4. Become a Value Creator versus a Clock Watcher. Success comes from the value you add rather than from the busyness you show. What's the point of being really busy around the wrong things? Leadership is a game of focus. Focusing on fewer but smarter activities, the ones that create real value for your teammates, customers and the world at large.
5. Put People First. "The business of business is people" said Southwest Airlines founder Herb Kelleher. We have a ton of technology yet less and less humanity. Yet let's remember that people do business with people they like, trust and respect. So build your team. Meet your customers. Deepen human connections. Treat others with respect. And put people first.
6. Remember that Tough Times Build Strong Leaders. Look at any exceptional leader and you'll find that they stepped into their leadership best during a period of crises versus calmness. To Lead Without a Title is to hunt for opportunity amid every adversity. Every setback has the seeds of an opportunity. Companies like Apple, Google and Amazon were built because their people leveraged disruptive times into brilliant wins. And because their people refused to give up when faced with difficulty.
7. Go to Your Limits. The more you play out on the edges of your limits and take intelligent risks, the wider your limits will expand. The more you leave your comfort zone, the bigger your comfort zone will grow. Each day at work, do the things you know you must do but are scared to do. That's how you grow, build your leadership capability and access more of the leader within you. There's zero safety in staying within what I call "The Safe Harbor of The Known". That's just an illusion that bankrupts too many businesses and breaks too many human beings.
8. Lead Yourself First. How can you lead other people if you haven't first done what it takes to lead yourself? Get to know your values. Think through what you want your life to stand for. Become physically, mentally and emotionally strong. And have a remarkably good relationship with your family. What's the point of becoming supersuccessful yet being alone?
9. Give Back a Legacy. Success is good. Significance is even better. Sure profit and peer recognition and doing great work is mission-critical. But even more important than that is what you give – and all you leave behind. "Even the longest life is pretty short. And all that matters when you get to your last day is the difference you've made and the people you've helped." So as you Lead Without a Title and step into your leadership best, stay focused on adding value. And making an extraordinary contribution.

A highly sought-after keynote speaker and seminar leader for many Fortune 500 corporations, Robin Sharma is one of the world’s leading speakers on leadership.Website: www.RobinSharma.com

I'm Back from the Avon Convention

2010 Avon National Convention in Las Vegas, NV.  Spectacular. Worth the $100 plus the air miles and hotel. Learned so much. Saw so much. Viewed the company in a different light. Witnessed many, many $1 million dollar sellers including several people who sold over $7 million in unit sales last year.

Suze Orman spoke and put the seed in our heads, "Why settle for just putting food on the table? Why not strive for more?"

I will be there next year again. If you sell Avon, you should, too.

Making the Best Use of My Time

I do not have a TV in my house for the simple reason that it robs me of my time. Life is incredibly short and I don't want to waste any of it staring at a mindless screen.

This is where flying becomes a challenge. I love to fly; I love the miracle that a hundred of us are sitting in chairs zooming through space. What I find challenging about air travel is what to do for those few hours I'm sitting there. Laptops are too bulky for me to work on. I refuse to watch the edited movies they show us.


This flight I'm going to put together a mini-workshop, "How to Run Your Avon Hobby Like a Business". I'm noticing a lot of reps run their Avon business more like a hobby and less like a business. I'm going to outline and explain how to change your mindset and how to change your business.

See you all in Vegas!

I Like to Buy, but Don't Sell Me.

Before the Women's Expo opened yesterday, I had a few minutes to travel to other booths. I stopped at several entrepreneurs and took photos of their displays; some ideas are worth adapting! I bought a few things from different vendors and felt great that I was helping them out and I was getting a good "insider's vendor price."

I went back to my booth happy with my purchases.

A 50-something male vendor came to my booth. It was pretty evident that he singled me out because I was wearing a suit and because I was male. He bypassed all of the female vendors and anyone who was dressed in jeans. Immediately my guard was up.

After about 10 minutes of pointless small talk, I started giving him verbal clues that this conversation was over. Sensing that I had nothing else to share with him, he immediately said, "Do you have a financial adviser?" and then handed me his card and launched into his spchiel.

Had I approached his booth, that might have been one thing. If he was actual able to approach me without me knowing that I was being singled out because of the way I dressed, I might have been caught unaware.  Over and over I remembered this piece of advice:

Customers love to buy. Customers hate being sold.

Hire A Street Walker

No. Not THAT kind of street walker.

My buddy, Jeff, is looking to make ends meet right now. He doesn't want to sell Avon but he's happy doing manual labor. I've recently hired him to pass out catalogs in my neighborhood and I've had some good results from his work.

Three days ago, Jeff passed out my C8 books with only 1 day before the campaign closed. From the 70 books he passed out, I had 3 orders.  That might not seem like much, but I now have 3 new customers and 70 people in my neighborhood now know me as their local Avon Representative. My profits from those three sales more than covered Jeff's wage.

I'm going to have a ton of left over catalogs from the Expo show. I'm having my mom bag them up and Jeff is going to walk and hang them. He appreciates the exercise and getting paid to do the work, and I reap the benefits of his actions.

Do you have any friends who are looking for a minimum wage job? Hire them to help you!

Women's Expo Round Up - Day One

The attendance to the Women's Expo was far lower than expected, and the show was smaller than the participants expected. So, what do you do when life gives you lemons? Girl, since everyone is expecting lemonade, you make lemon chiffon pie instead!

The smaller show meant that women were moving at a much slower pace; they weren't in a rush to see everything. Since there were fewer customers, I had the chance to talk to a lot more people and to share more information.

I greeted everyone with a smile and said, "Hi! I'm Nick. Can I be your Avon Lady?" 95% of the time I got a smile and was easily able to give them a catalog. From there,  I used the "Would you like to win some fabulous Avon Products?" line.  More than 60% of the people who stopped gave me their contact information. Of those, 4 indicated that they would be interested in becoming a Representative or doing a fundraiser. More than half of the participants gave me an email address which allows me to do immediate marketing.

Today is the final day of the event. I'm going to kick my recruiting game into high gear and aim for spectacular results.

"Hi, Would You Like to Win Some Free Avon Products?"

I sat in on a sales conference call a few weeks ago with the delightful Deb Bixler.  Deb is the creator of "Create a Cash Flow Show" and I love her because I completely believe in her gospel of how sales parties are the way to generate cash flow for your business.

Deb was talking about working a trade show, something that caught my ear since I knew that I would be working the Women & Food Expo in just a few weeks.

She gave this great piece of advice when trying to get people to hand over their contact information. She suggested we ask, "Would you like to win some free products?" instead of the ususally heard, "Do you want to enter a drawing?"

"Would you like to win some free products?"  Sure! Who doesn't want free products? It's inviting. It's innocent. It's non-threatening.

"Do you want to enter a drawing?"  Uh, no. I'm busy. You're going to take my information and call me, aren't you?

I'll give it a shot today while I'm at the Women & Food Expo!

Follow Up Wisdom

I'm in the shower just a few minutes ago, brushing my teeth, thinking, "I wonder why my dentist hasn't called to schedule a follow-up appointment with me. It's been well over 9 months."

 Normally I would forget to jot a note to myself to call him and another week would go by without having made an appointment.

Then it struck me: How many of my customers are waiting for me to call them with a reminder? Have they gone weeks or months without hearing from me?

It's time to call them all and schedule my own follow-up appointment!

Great Name Badge from Delux Trophies

I ordered myself a name badge to celebrate becoming a Unit Leader. After a quick search, I found a badge at www.deluxtrophies.com. The online image looked serviceable, but nothing spectacular. I was in a rush to get it before I went to convention, so I just ordered it.

About a week later, my badge arrived. STUNNING! The quality of the badge is certainly not reflected by the only picture. The actual badge is shiny, heavy metal and has a 2-magnet closure so that it won't poke a hole through my clothing. Rock on.

Totally worth the $10.

Affirmations for Living An Empowered Life

“If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.” – Henry Ford


I am one of those people who believe that "if you can dream it, you can be it." For most of us, we have a soundtrack of negative thoughts in our head that tells us, "You're not good enough. You don't deserve it. You'll never accomplish anything." If you listen to those voices in your head, they'll win. 

Changing that soundtrack isn't easy. It's taken you years to convince yourself that you can't succeed. I have been listening to subliminal tracks for a long time and I truly believe they help, but I just found a new tool that I really dig.

Denise Lynch created Living an Empowered Life but it's not a subliminal message. You can clearly hear Denise's soft voice giving you encouragement and advice over a new-age soundtrack. I play it so that it's just softly audible, allowing myself to be subtly brainwashed with the positive messages. 

And you know what? After 48 hours of this therapy, I do feel more....lifted. More optimistic. 

And that optimistic attitude translates to a better salesman. What you believe, you can achieve, folks.

The Power of The Small Sale

Campaign 8 was a rough campaign for me. Due to personal reasons, a busy schedule and 100 other excuses, I didn't have a single sale up until yesterday. Nothing. Nada. Zip.

"This is it. I'm finished. No one wants to buy from me. The economy is flat and I can't make any sales."

Then I got an email from Kim Duke over at The Sales Divas. She talked about when she was in the same position and a boss who encouraged her to "Sell Something Small." Like Kim, I rolled my eyes and texted a customer. "Hey, Ultra Luxury Liners are on for $1.89 this campaign. I know you got some a few months ago. Can I get you any more?"

"Yes! Order me a black and an eggplant!" my customer responded.

That was it. I was back in business. The small sale was all that I needed to get my butt back in gear. I emailed another customer, then another. This personal approach was working really well compared to the dead-end mass emails I was sending. Sales continued to mount.

Then I texted a few customers. More orders!

The power of the small sale works when you're not moving. Sell something. Anything. Just keep moving forward. You'll get back into the groove.

The Avon Convention is a Week Away!

I've got my ticket and hotel reservation for the Avon National Convention in Vegas next week. Not only am I looking forward to a few nights away, I'm really looking forward to sucking up as much information as I can in those few days.

I hear from some of the women who went last year that they came home completely inspired and I watched as their performance levels sky-rocketed. I could use that little extra inspiration right now.

One of my iPhone apps I've got poised and ready is ForgetMeNot, a tool that lets me take a photo of a new contact and jot a few notes about that person, where I met them, and I can even link them to other contacts so I can remember the association. With ForgetMeNot's online tool, my registered account will allow me to view all of my new contacts online. I wish that there were some advanced features, like being able to search Facebook or LinkedIn for that person, but perhaps in time.

Anyone know of any other good iPhone apps for networking?

Direct Selling 101 - Neil & Dana Phillips

Let's make this clear: If you're going to purchase one book or audio book, this is the one you should start with.  Direct Selling 101: Achieve Financial Success through Network Marketing (Your Coach in a Box) is a no-nonsense, non-fluff guide to direct selling. Neil and Dana Phillips share their knowledge from many years of sales experience.

Especially helpful to me were the chapters dedicated to home parties and recruiting. Dana puts the words directly into your mouth giving you a script as to what to say, how to say it and when to say it. Sure, some of the dialogue is a little cheesy, but it's a great foundation for you to start building my own script to use with customers.

I loved the audiobook version of Direct Selling 101 and have listened to it twice so far. Highly recommended.

How It Works: Pro-Sirituins

You'll find Pro-Sirutins in the Anew Ultimate Gold Emulsion.

Think of a pair of elastic-waist pants. Over time, repeated use and washings, that elastic breaks down and doesn't snap back the way that it used to. Your skin has similar elastic qualities; over time the tissue that makes your skin taut and firm breaks down creating sagging and a dull droop.

Pro-Sirutin make the elastic qualities within the skin cells last longer. By giving them a boost, your skin looks lifted and younger. Pro-Sirtuin TX Technology is formulated to stimulate sirtuin youth proteins for healthier cells, and activate remodeling proteins to help restructure and strengthen skin.

Financial Site: Shoeboxed.com

Last week I was interviewed by Ryan at Outright.com about how I was using their spectacular site. I told him that I was so impressed how easy Outright was to use, and how a non-financial person like me could even understand it.

Ryan asked if there were any features that I'd like to see and I commented that I would like to be able to scan my receipts (ala Neat Receipts) and have those receipts auto-imported into Outright.

"Have you tried our partner site, Shoeboxed? With Shoeboxed, you can do just that; scan your receipts and have them imported directly into Outright."  I was beyond stoked.

Last night I registered an account with Shoeboxed, scanned some receipts and started playing around. With the free account, Shoeboxed does not auto-scan and OCR your receipts; you still have to manually import the data from the receipt into Showboxed. However, one thing I DO like about this is that the format to input the data is more like a form and less like a traditional ledger. For me, that makes it much easier to see and understand.

The instructions on how to sync Shoeboxed and Outright were a little confusing; the link was a little hidden. I had to take several trips to the "help" screens to figure it out. However, once I got it configured, magic happened.

All of my receipts were then synced with Outright's site, all of the details were ported over, and best of all, there was a link to see the original scan of the receipt. Way. Freakin. Cool.

To be fair to Shoeboxed, there is a service that ranges from $10-$50 a month that allows you to mail in your receipts. Shoeboxed with scan your receipts and I believe they will attempt to populate all of the fields including date, store, amounts, and even the credit card used for purchase. I'm not sure that I generate enough receipts yet, but I can see that being a valuable upgrade.

Final report? Shoeboxed is awesome. Marry it to Outright, and you have some downright spectacular tools. This is going to make tax time next year so much easier.

Business Cards - Make Yours Work Double Duty!

If you're like any other business person, you have a business card. Name, phone number, website address. Standard stock. Maybe some clip art. Very nice.

Why not make your business card work double duty as a recruiting tool?

On the back side of my card, I let customers know that I'm also a recruiter and I could help them build their own Avon business.

Advice: Make Your Bed

I used to be one of those people who bounded out of bed and rushed to grab coffee. "Why make my bed? I'm just going to sleep in it later," was my response.

Of course, there are several reasons to make your bed:
1) It's part of a ritual that makes you mindful
2) The bed will be more welcoming when you go back the following evening
3) If someone should stop by, you don't need to be embarrassed that your bed is unmade.

Same holds true for your business. If you're rushing around trying to get sales a couple days before a campaign ends, that's because you haven't "made your bed."  Here's why you should "Make Your Avon Bed" every day:

1) Making sales every day is part of a ritual and makes you mindful of your business
2) Your business will be more enjoyable and you'll be less stressed when you close your eyes at night.
3) You won't have to worry about being judged by your UL when campaign closing day comes.

So - put on a fresh face and make your bed!

How to Avoid Sucking

From WorkAwesome

What is Sucking?

There are really two types of sucking or “sucks” in this world:

• Something that takes away from what you should be doing.
• The results of your performance when you were spending too much time in something that takes away from what you should be doing.

For the sake of simplification, I’ll call the first examples “sucks” and the second examples of “sucking.”

Common Sucks

Television

It’s a suck because it rarely gives back. It robs of you of valuable time if you let it. The news used to be one of the examples where you got something in return for your investment of time, but with the advent of 24 hour news networks and the return of “yellow journalism” (not to mention the stories that tend to rely on increasing fear rather than knowledge) that has pretty much gone out the window. I’m not saying don’t watch it – I take in a few programs a week – but limit it. There’s much more out there to accomplish that involves turning your eyes and ears away from the television than there are keeping them glued to it. It’s not called “The Idiot Box” for nothing.

Read the rest of the article

What Does Your Voice Mail Say About You?

Do you use your cell phone as your Avon business phone? I do.

What do your customers hear when they call your number? I recently called one of my downline and after several rings, I was transferred to her voicemail. A baby was crying in the background. "Hey, you know who this is and you know what to do. Dig?"  I was horrified.

There was no way to tell if this woman was the party I called let alone if she sold Avon. All I could tell from her voicemail is that I didn't want to talk to her.Your voicemail should reflect your business. If you called an investment firm and you heard a baby crying, or someone saying "you know what to do," how would you react?

"Hi. This is Nick, The Avon Man. If you would like to leave me a message that includes your order, please do so along with your phone number. I'll call you back shortly. If this is a friend of mine, I'm looking forward to speaking with you soon."

What does your message say about you?

It's Always Something

"I had to take the kids to softball practice." "I needed to work late." "I was too tired when I got home from work." "I needed to take the dog to the groomer." "My nose was running." "I had tickets to a show."

These are all really great excuses why you can't go to work. If you were employed by someone else, it's their loss. Their employee doesn't show up for the day, and you get to enjoy your time off. However, when you're working for yourself, if you don't "show up", then your marketing department, your sales department, your financial department, your customer service representatives and your merchandising departments are all off for the day as well.

Roseanne Roseannadanna was one of my favorite Gilda Radner characters. Roseanna always had some kind of other-worldly experience going on in her world, but in the end, she always persevered. "It's always something. If it's not one thing, it's another." Either your dog needs a haircut or little Jimmy won't hit the whiffle ball.

Yes, it's always something -- but if you're serious about your business, what can you do to make your business a priority? What are you willing to do to become successful? What are you reasons for owning a business instead of working for someone else? Money? Freedom? Flexibility?

How Does It Work? Avon Reversalist Serum with Activinol Technology

Ask your customer to apply a little bit of Avon Reversalist Serum to their skin, and they're going to love how it makes their skin feel.

"But what does it DO?" is what you'll often hear a customer ask.

Reversalist Serum contains Activinol Technology. In a nutshell, here's how it works:

• When your skin is cut, a molecule called Activin is rushed to the wounded area. This molecule helps speed the production of new, fresh skin cells.
• Scientists and Dermatologist now consider wrinkles to be "micro-cuts", little lines etched by trauma from squinting, sun damage and age.
• Reversalist products have Activinol Technology, a formula that rushes activin to the surface of the skin to help regenerate new, fresh skin cells.
• The result is younger looking skin

Avon's Day and Evening moisturizers contain Activinol. The Reversalist Serum contains 5 TIMES the amount of Activinol than the night time moisturizer. Use the products as part of your skin care regimen for ultimate results.

HOWTO: Find Free Shipping Codes for Your Customers