Let's face it, we are all interested in improving our business, reaching and maintaining customers, and earning more money. That's the American way. The question is, in a not-so hot economy and a very competitive marketplace, how do you go about accomplishing those goals? The answer is simpler than you may think: get back to basics and start applying to your business the old adages we all learned as kids. In this article are my top choices for "Words To Live By and Improve Your Business With", in no particular order. Please feel free to comment and add your choices as well.
Do Unto Others As You Would Have Done To You- They don't call it the Golden Rule for nothing. If you make this your mantra, not just in business but in your personal life as well, you will reap the rewards. The key is that you aren't doing it for a pay off, but you are doing it because it is what's right, because it is how everyone wants to be treated. And in the end, there is a pay off...you feel good because you have taken the high road and others feel good because they have been treated well. When people feel good about how they are treated, they will be loyal to you. Almost all of the other "words to live by" spring from this one sentiment.
If You Can't Say Something Nice, Don't Say Anything At All- Like I said, this follows in the footsteps of our first adage. Nobody wants to hear negative things about themselves, it immediately puts them on the defensive. Don't talk trash about your competition and don't get nasty with a customer who is giving you grief; instead, try to find some kind of positive and shift the focus onto that. Remember, You Get More With Honey Than With Vinegar (also known as Kill Them With Kindness or Never Let Them See You Sweat). Sometimes people need to feel that they have won a small victory and that they got what they "deserved". So let them win and they will be yours.
What Goes Around Comes Around/Instant Karma's Gonna Get You- OK, so I stole the second half of that from John Lennon, but it fits. If you put positives out into the universe, you will get positives in return. If you are sending off negativity and hostility, it will come back to haunt you. Along these lines, we also have You Reap What You Sow and Don't Burn Your Bridges Behind You.
You Don't Get Something For Nothing, You Have To Spend Money To Make Money and If It Looks To Good To Be True, It Probably Is- These go hand in hand and are pretty self-explanatory. Be cautious when someone wants to recruit you to sell their products and says you will be making $XX a month! You will have financial independence! Be your own boss! While all those things may actually be true, they come at the end of lots of hard work on your part. Nobody is going to hand you a fully established business, complete with customers, inventory, marketing tools, staff, etc. You will need to put your time, effort, money, resources, and creativity into making all those enticing promises happen.
If At First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again (aka Practice Makes Perfect or The Best Things In Life Are Worth Working For/Waiting For)- These all follow along with the previous adage, but they put an even stronger focus on the focus on the work factor. Running your own business, no matter how big or how small, takes A LOT of time and effort. If you have put in countless hours, pounded the pavement, made phone calls til your ear is numb, sent emails til you have carpal tunnel, and feel you have nothing to show for it on your bottom line, hang in there and keep on truckin'. Maybe there is a marketing pitch you haven't tried yet or a customer base you haven't tapped into. Dig deep, be creative, and don't let hard work scare you. It will pay off in the end.
Slow And Steady Wins The Race- This is probably one of the toughest for me to live each day. I'm the kind of person that, once I have a plan in mind, I go full-steam ahead to reach my goals and want it all done yesterday. In this world of instant everything, I think many of us feel the same way and want to see results and see them now! You've got a blog, a Facebook page, a Twitter account, Google Ads, Yahoo ads, Personal Website, Business Website, multiple email addresses and phone numbers (I'm sure I'm leaving something out!). So where are all the customers? Why aren't they beating down your door or flooding your sites? They are out there and you will reach them. It takes time, lots of time. Rome Wasn't Built In A Day ya know. Be patient and keep at it and I know we'll meet at the finish line.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Happy Fourth of July
Just wanted to wish anyone who happened to stop by a very safe and happy Fourth of July! Please come back soon for more blog posts :)
Friday, June 24, 2011
Oh, my eyes!!!
I don't even know where to begin writing this review, because this product has totally made me a believer in anti-aging, and I know that everything I say is going to sound like a commercial, but OMG Anew Clinical Eyelift Pro is amazing!
Here's the backstory- I am 43 years old and the one and only thing about my face I have ever liked are my eyes. I have always been one to wear dramatic eye makeup, so it was good luck for me to be a teen in the 1980's. While I have toned it down over the passing decades, I still like a dramatic eye...so imagine my trauma when my once smooth and tight lids began to tug and pull under the eyeshadow applicator. Then my right eyelid started to sort of fold over a bit but the left one didn't- it just started to wrinkle in its own weird way so that they didn't even match anymore! As time went on, I became used to it; although I did find I was spending a lot of time trying to put on my shadow in such a way that my eyes actually matched, but you do what you gotta do, right?
Recently, as part of my regular Avon order, I bought some samples of the Anew Clinical Eyelift Pro and decided to try it myself. According to Avon, most people see results in three days and almost everyone sees results by day 7. THEY ARE NOT KIDDING! Holy cow....the first time I put it on, I could feel the tightening on my upper lid. I didn't see a difference, but I could feel it working. Over the next few days, I noticed my eyeshadow going on without the depressing skin tugging, and then one day I realized that I was getting done a lot quicker than usual-no more constant correcting to get my eyes to look even! I am telling you, I was ecstatic....
A week later, I leave for vacation with my mom, dad, hubby, and kids. Wouldn't you know that among a bunch of other stuff that I forgot to pack was the Eyelift. This was not a good thing, especially when faced with those nasty hotel mirrors that have like 10,000 watt lights so you see every tiny flaw in all its glory. Needless to say, as each day went by, I felt that I looked older and older. While I knew the product made a big difference, I didn't realize how big until I had to do without it for a week
You'll be happy to know that I have been home for five days and my eyes are looking great again. I know it sounds vain, but it is nice to glance in the mirror and have smooth, youthful looking eyes glancing back at me.
Here's the backstory- I am 43 years old and the one and only thing about my face I have ever liked are my eyes. I have always been one to wear dramatic eye makeup, so it was good luck for me to be a teen in the 1980's. While I have toned it down over the passing decades, I still like a dramatic eye...so imagine my trauma when my once smooth and tight lids began to tug and pull under the eyeshadow applicator. Then my right eyelid started to sort of fold over a bit but the left one didn't- it just started to wrinkle in its own weird way so that they didn't even match anymore! As time went on, I became used to it; although I did find I was spending a lot of time trying to put on my shadow in such a way that my eyes actually matched, but you do what you gotta do, right?
Recently, as part of my regular Avon order, I bought some samples of the Anew Clinical Eyelift Pro and decided to try it myself. According to Avon, most people see results in three days and almost everyone sees results by day 7. THEY ARE NOT KIDDING! Holy cow....the first time I put it on, I could feel the tightening on my upper lid. I didn't see a difference, but I could feel it working. Over the next few days, I noticed my eyeshadow going on without the depressing skin tugging, and then one day I realized that I was getting done a lot quicker than usual-no more constant correcting to get my eyes to look even! I am telling you, I was ecstatic....
A week later, I leave for vacation with my mom, dad, hubby, and kids. Wouldn't you know that among a bunch of other stuff that I forgot to pack was the Eyelift. This was not a good thing, especially when faced with those nasty hotel mirrors that have like 10,000 watt lights so you see every tiny flaw in all its glory. Needless to say, as each day went by, I felt that I looked older and older. While I knew the product made a big difference, I didn't realize how big until I had to do without it for a week
You'll be happy to know that I have been home for five days and my eyes are looking great again. I know it sounds vain, but it is nice to glance in the mirror and have smooth, youthful looking eyes glancing back at me.
Glazewear Shine Lip Gloss is a winner
In a previous post, I touted the virtues of Avon's Glazewear Duo Reflect Lip Gloss and how it helped me make the move from the 80's into the current century. Well, the next in Avon's Glazewear Lip Gloss line-up, Glazewear Shine, has converted me for good! I am currently using Iced Pink and it is just beautiful. This gloss gives me full coverage with just one swipe and it lasts for hours (If you read my other post, you may remember that I have very dark lips, so getting a light color to show up usually takes more than one or two swipes). This gloss feels very light, even more so than the Duo Reflect, and is not sticky at all. While I really like both glosses, I have to admit that the Glazewear Shine is my favorite and I will be branching out into other colors (besides the Iced Pink, I also have the Tickled Pink...sensing a pattern here?).Check back top see how it goes!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Why I'm Excited About Being an Avon Lady and Why You Might Be Too
It sounds like a real cliche: a forty-something, stay-at-home mother of two, selling Avon to earn a few extra dollars. But sometimes being a cliche isn't as "cliche" as it seems.
When I first sold Avon over twelve years ago, my first-born was just a toddler and was the type of child who needed to constantly be in motion; so walking around the neighborhood dropping off Avon books was a great way to keep him moving. I was so focused on taking care of him (he was and is my sun, moon, and stars) that I didn't put too much time or care into Avon beyond those drop-offs and selling to family and friends. This time around it is a whole different ball-game!
That toddler is now 15 and has a little sister who is 10. Although they are in school all day, and don't need my constant attention when they are home, I still want to be available to them at all times. Due to their conflicting school schedules, I can only be away from the house from 9:30am to 1:30pm- not a lot of jobs out there with those hours! I have worked as a cafeteria aide for the last four years, but that just wasn't giving me any personal satisfaction and I have been feeling a real need to do more than open milk containers and tie shoes (not that there's anything wrong with that!).....and along came Avon again.
Avon can be so much more than passing out books to your mom and your neighbors; if you take it seriously and approach it as running your own business, the possibilities are limitless. And I'm not just talking about financial gain, but also about the personal fulfillment that comes from being able to use skills that for a lot of mom's are going untapped and/or unrewarded.
To be a serious Avon Lady you need to be organized, creative, persistent, good at marketing, budgeting, and financial planning. You need to be able to communicate well with people, understand their needs, and be able to deliver the service they are looking for (sound familiar, moms? we all do this everyday, right?). If you are ambitious, you can make fundraising presentations, as well as recruit, manage, and train other Avon Reps. You can work independently and sell products online or you can go all out and do a marketing blitz everywhere you go. .If you are a techno-mom-geek you can use your skills to print flyers, make coupons, start a facebook page, write a blog...It's all up to you!
So that's why I'm excited about selling Avon again. I get to take things that I do as a mom everyday and bring them to the next level. I get to be a business woman, but on my own terms. And I get to use great products that make me feel good about myself and that I can feel good about sharing with others...but we'll leave that for another blog!
When I first sold Avon over twelve years ago, my first-born was just a toddler and was the type of child who needed to constantly be in motion; so walking around the neighborhood dropping off Avon books was a great way to keep him moving. I was so focused on taking care of him (he was and is my sun, moon, and stars) that I didn't put too much time or care into Avon beyond those drop-offs and selling to family and friends. This time around it is a whole different ball-game!
That toddler is now 15 and has a little sister who is 10. Although they are in school all day, and don't need my constant attention when they are home, I still want to be available to them at all times. Due to their conflicting school schedules, I can only be away from the house from 9:30am to 1:30pm- not a lot of jobs out there with those hours! I have worked as a cafeteria aide for the last four years, but that just wasn't giving me any personal satisfaction and I have been feeling a real need to do more than open milk containers and tie shoes (not that there's anything wrong with that!).....and along came Avon again.
Avon can be so much more than passing out books to your mom and your neighbors; if you take it seriously and approach it as running your own business, the possibilities are limitless. And I'm not just talking about financial gain, but also about the personal fulfillment that comes from being able to use skills that for a lot of mom's are going untapped and/or unrewarded.
To be a serious Avon Lady you need to be organized, creative, persistent, good at marketing, budgeting, and financial planning. You need to be able to communicate well with people, understand their needs, and be able to deliver the service they are looking for (sound familiar, moms? we all do this everyday, right?). If you are ambitious, you can make fundraising presentations, as well as recruit, manage, and train other Avon Reps. You can work independently and sell products online or you can go all out and do a marketing blitz everywhere you go. .If you are a techno-mom-geek you can use your skills to print flyers, make coupons, start a facebook page, write a blog...It's all up to you!
So that's why I'm excited about selling Avon again. I get to take things that I do as a mom everyday and bring them to the next level. I get to be a business woman, but on my own terms. And I get to use great products that make me feel good about myself and that I can feel good about sharing with others...but we'll leave that for another blog!
Friday, June 3, 2011
Glaezwear Duo Reflect Lipgloss
Let me start by saying that I have been trapped in the 80's for the last twenty years in many ways, not the least of which is my lipcolor. I've been sporting a frosty pink or frosty beige for a few decades now, and every time I try to follow the trend of the day and switch to gloss, it leaves me looking washed out and drab. So needless to say, when I ordered a demo of the Avon Glazewear Lip Gloss, I wasn't expecting much (well, I was expecting not to like it and to pawn it off on my sister, but you get the point). Anyway, I have been wearing it now for the last three days and I feel like a new woman; seriously, a change in lipwear can make you feel years younger, which at 40-something is a welcome feeling.
I like light colors, because my skin is fair and my teeth aren't the brightest (I am a coffee-holic), so I don't like colors that are too bright, too red, or too orangey; also my lips are very dark, so I need something that will lighten them up. I've been wearing the Glazewear in Nude over a thin layer of my foundation (Anew Age Transformation in Sand Beige) and it looks just great. The gloss goes on smooth and very shiny, but does not feel sticky at all. It lasts a very long time....even after drinking a 16oz coffee and eating an everything bagel, I was looking good (this includes wiping off the random "everything" that stuck to my lips). During the course of the day, I really only had to reapply after lunch and then once more if I was going out late in the day.
I can honestly say that I have finally taken a step into the 21st century...who knew what a little lipgloss could do?
I like light colors, because my skin is fair and my teeth aren't the brightest (I am a coffee-holic), so I don't like colors that are too bright, too red, or too orangey; also my lips are very dark, so I need something that will lighten them up. I've been wearing the Glazewear in Nude over a thin layer of my foundation (Anew Age Transformation in Sand Beige) and it looks just great. The gloss goes on smooth and very shiny, but does not feel sticky at all. It lasts a very long time....even after drinking a 16oz coffee and eating an everything bagel, I was looking good (this includes wiping off the random "everything" that stuck to my lips). During the course of the day, I really only had to reapply after lunch and then once more if I was going out late in the day.
I can honestly say that I have finally taken a step into the 21st century...who knew what a little lipgloss could do?
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Anew Age Transformation Liquid Foundation
I have been using the Anew Age Transformation Liquid Foundation for about a week now and the results have been truly amazing. I have always had a problem with periodic breakouts, large pores, and very fair skin; so I need a maximum coverage makeup that doesn't make me look pasty and that matches my skin tone (not leave that tell-tale color line between the jawbone and neck!)
In the past, I made out pretty well with another name-brand "age tranforming" product, but I had to apply it in copious amounts to get the coverage I need; plus, I didn't see much transformation in my age or my skin. After one application of the Anew, I could see and feel the difference. It goes on very light, so at first it feels like you will need to apply a heavy coat, but slow down! After that first second or two, you can feel it sort of tightening and adhering to your skin. Before you know it, you have beautiful full coverage that looks like you are not wearing any makeup! My skin looks and feels natural all day and my blush apllies so much smoother and easier. I can use less of it and still get the color I need with that as well.
I was pleasantly surprised at how little product it takes to get such great, all day coverage. I started with one of the little sample packets (it's not much bigger than a large postage stamp) and I got almost 4 days application out of that. I can't imagine how long the full size product will last, but it will definitely be longer than my previous brand. I can't wait to start using the Anew Rejuvenate Skin Care Regimen as well; if my skin looks this much better with just the makeup, I can't wait to see the difference after adding in the skin care!
In the past, I made out pretty well with another name-brand "age tranforming" product, but I had to apply it in copious amounts to get the coverage I need; plus, I didn't see much transformation in my age or my skin. After one application of the Anew, I could see and feel the difference. It goes on very light, so at first it feels like you will need to apply a heavy coat, but slow down! After that first second or two, you can feel it sort of tightening and adhering to your skin. Before you know it, you have beautiful full coverage that looks like you are not wearing any makeup! My skin looks and feels natural all day and my blush apllies so much smoother and easier. I can use less of it and still get the color I need with that as well.
I was pleasantly surprised at how little product it takes to get such great, all day coverage. I started with one of the little sample packets (it's not much bigger than a large postage stamp) and I got almost 4 days application out of that. I can't imagine how long the full size product will last, but it will definitely be longer than my previous brand. I can't wait to start using the Anew Rejuvenate Skin Care Regimen as well; if my skin looks this much better with just the makeup, I can't wait to see the difference after adding in the skin care!
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