“We all meet for a reason and we all change the world when we wait for our time. How many disappointments do we now understand? Without them, we could not be where we are. It follows that disappointments we feel in the future are really just directions to a better place. We must be patient but never lazy!” -Claudia Dutro-Nelson
If you have ever been in Direct Sales, you will know exactly what I’m talking about. Sometimes business is booming. Customers seem to be falling from the sky. Parties or appointments come easily and you may even be adding people to your organization.
And then for no apparent reason…
Nothing. Everything seems to stop. You feel like you have failed. Leads don’t pan out. People won’t call you back. Sales drop…
Sound familiar?
If not, I am so glad to hear it! If so, welcome to the wonderful world of Direct Sales. It is completely natural for you to have highs and lows in your business. The important thing is what you choose to do about it. Do you sit on your couch moping and hoping? Do you get out and pound the pavement and look for new people to talk to? Do you sit home and wonder what you are doing wrong or do you read new books, listen to tele-classes or take trainings to improve yourself?
The truth is, no matter what happens, you are going to have times of plenty and times of …not so plenty. Sometimes it is because of the season, a move, a life change (like a baby, graduation, death, etc.), or even just the time of the month. The difference is, those who survive these down times are the ones who push through it and get to work.
So which will you do- push through the tough times or simply give up?
“Little minds are tamed & subdued by misfortune, but great minds rise above them.” -Washington Irving
Recently I have been learning a lot about “Heart centered Listening” from the DSWA. I decided to try it out this past weekend. I was amazed at the results. I think that I truly heard some friends/family that I haven’t really listened to.
This whole experience has made me realize how often I start thinking about what I want to say next or get so wrapped up in myself that I don’t listen to the other person. It has been interesting and really rewarding to listen to someone else for a change.
So, I challenge you. Stop listening with your head. Listen with your heart. If you need a little help, the DSWA (Direct Selling Women’s Alliance) has some great resources available to you. Try it today.
Here are some great tips I’ve found online this week:
How To Create A Celebrity Status For Your Online Business!
Why your Small Business needs a Blog
Search Engine Optimization Strategies (Good SEO Strategy)
WordPress.com VS WordPress.org
Have you checked out the idea of the week over at the Booster? No matter what business you are in, you can find something in the simple (but wonderful) suggestions there. Visit http://www.thebooster.com/scripts/idea_weekly.asp to see what they have to offer you.
While shopping the other day, I saw the most shinning example of Direct sales! We were in the baby section of our local store and there were 2 other women shopping in the same area. Woman #1 is a direct seller. Woman #2 was a working mom in the fast food industry and was wearing her work shirt as she shopped.
Woman #1 approached #2 and complimented her, introduced herself and then asked her if she had ever given any thought to Direct Sales. Woman #2 said she had not. After a few more minutes of visiting, #2 gave her information to #1. The fantastic Direct seller told her that she would follow up with her the next day and they could visit some more about what they had just talked about.
My reaction- How cool is that?! It is so wonderful to see the power of the direct selling industry change lives and empower women. Even if this mom joins up and makes $200 a month working her business part time, she is still making $200 a month that she wasn’t before. Maybe it will help her spend more time with her kids or even quit her job altogether at some time in the future.
Lesson I learned- I should have approached woman #2 first. I was in the same area and it didn’t even occur to me. In the future, I will be more aware of others and the possible impact I could have on their life just by taking a second to share.
So for today, I award Woman #1, whoever you are, with the Direct Sales Diva award. You are a great example of what we should be doing and you did it with such class. Thank you for teaching me even when you had no idea I was watching.
“Your vision will become clear only you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” - Carl Jung
As a professional in the Direct Selling industry for many years now, I have realized many times what qualities I have that are considered strengths and weaknesses to me. Which ones help me and which hinder me.
All of us posses skills that will advance us in any career choice and others that will hold us back. The trick is to identify the ones that are holding you back and modify them into a strength.
For example- I am task oriented. I love to-do lists and checking things off of my lists. I also really enjoy talking to people and just visiting. I have discovered that If I do not make a list of what I want to accomplish each day, then I will waste away the day visiting to friends, family and even online “working” on my social media. IF I write out a to-do list and then work on my list, I can still visit, but I know the other things I must accomplish before I go to bed, keeping me more on track.
So what are some of the things you struggle with? What areas do you feel you could spend a little more time on to make it more of a strength? What areas do you feel your business may be suffereing becuase of?
By first identifying your areas of weakness, you can then work at turning them into strengths by finding a book, talking to others or just self reflection and a slight modification to how you have been doing things. If we can manage to make the weak things strong, our businesses will thrive and we, as individuals, will grow and excel too.
Have you noticed my new signature line? Well, I was able to create it for free at My Live Signature.com . It only took me a few minutes. I have tried a few different times to search Google for just such a site, with little success.
All you have to do is enter in the text you want turned into a signature. Then you get to choose from over 100 fonts to find the one you like best. Next you choose the size, color and even the slope (so that if you always sign on a slant, it will reflect that too).  You can even upload an image to their site. The process was so simple and I LOVE the results. I have changed all my email signatures to this one and I’m even using it here on my blog as well as on my other blogs.
I highly recommend this service as well as adding a custom signature to your blog and/or email. It makes it more personal and a lot more pretty (not to mention professional).
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