You are here: Home / Archives for 2010

Direct Selling Jump Into January Teleseminar

December 1, 2010 By 1 Comment

January used to be one of my favorite times of the year for booking parties and I often found myself with more bookings than I could handle. Anyone can have lots of successful parties in January! All it takes is some determination and preparation and you too can have as many bookings as you'd like in January.Teleseminars and events online

Join me on Wednesday, December 8'th at 1:00 p.m. or 9:00 p.m. Eastern for my annual Jump Into January Teleseminar that has helped tens of thousands of direct sellers fill their calendar with January parties!

You'll learn:

    * How to prepare a special offer for January Hosts
    * A simple script for making calls to get January bookings
    * How to create a partnership with your hostess to get more bookings
    * My secret weapon that helped me secure and hold 16 – 20 parties EVERY JANUARY!
    * Plus lots more…
      So, make sure you register for this spectacular call and get ready to have a great start in 2010. When you register you can join me for either call!
     

Register Now at www.karenphelps.com/bookingtelewebform.com/html

Filed Under: Bookings, Motivation, Sales, Teleseminars Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Commitment to Your Direct Selling Business

October 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Over the years I have heard Zig Ziglar say over and over again, "Most people are as committed as a kamikaze pilot on his 99'th mission." I tend to agree with him, especially when it comes to direct selling. What is commitment anyway? The American Heritage dictionary says the commitment means "to do or perform, to pledge oneself to a position." You can be committed to your spouse, your family, your company, your goals, your exercise program or just about anything. But are you? Commitment means that even if it gets tough you are going to stay the course.

Committed people are tough! They would rather fight than give up! Committed direct sellers are on the phone making calls to generate new business. Committed Direct Sellers understand the need to work the business EVERY DAY, not just when it strikes them. They schedule business building activities into their calendar instead of just waiting to see if there is time to work the business today, tomorrow, this week or this month. Committed direct sellers treat their business like a job and commit to "go to work every day." It's not always easy to be committed but it is always rewarding.

A while ago I committed to working out with a personal trainer 3 days a week at 6:00 a.m. Until this time I had forgotten that there was a 6:00 a.m.! Even though I had been walking daily for over 25 years I began to realize that I need to build up my muscles. Since I was clueless in how to work any of the machines at the gym that I joined I hired a personal trainer to not only show me how to work the machines but also to commit myself to show up each day! (When you pay someone to teach you I guarantee you will show up!) The first day was torture! During this one hour I completed 60 lunges, (he did have to help me get up after the first 10!) 45 squats, plus other leg, arm and stomach exercises. During this first hour of exercise I set a simple goal for myself; to get to the car without falling down in the parking lot! There was no way I wanted all the fitness buffs on the treadmills in the window to see how weak and wobbly my legs were. At the end of the class my trainer said to me, "so are you coming back for more?" My body was telling me to give up right then and there but my mind was telling me that I had committed to this by pre-paying him for a month (what was I thinking?) and I didn't want to throw money away so I showed up again the following scheduled day. I went home and looked in the mirror because I was sure I left most of my rear end at the gym that day! No such luck it was still there! I knew I'd have to go back! After the first day's workout it took my body about 3-4 days for my body to quit hurting! After the second time it took about 2-3 days to quit hurting every time I moved! Each time I went my body became stronger and more used to the exercise and now I continue to workout 3 days a week and I feel GREAT, but it wasn't easy! It is worth it! It was the repetition of the exercise that helped get my body into condition.

That's what commitment will do for you! It will keep you doing what you know you need to do even when the results might not be immediate! It's what makes you dial the 10th person even after hearing the previous 9 people tell you NO! It's what keeps you focused on the end result not the bumpy ride! The repetition of Direct Selling activities will get your business conditioned for success. Here are some ways you can commit yourself to your Direct Selling Business!

  •  Take time when you begin to learn how to do things right! When you begin an exercise program if you don't learn how to lift weights properly you can tear your muscles and injure your body. The same is true of your direct selling business. If you don't take time to learn about the company, products and how to offer the opportunity when you begin you could exhaust your warm market without creating any business for yourself. Your company offers training, meetings and literature explaining what you need to know. Take the time to learn everything you can as soon as you join!
  •  Prepare your calling agenda and have our scripts ready. When you are in an exercise program, each time you begin to exercise you need to warm up and stretch before you begin the weight lifting part of the program. Before you pick up the phone to make your calls for the day get prepared. Make a list of who you are going to call. Jot down next to their name what you are calling about. (Example, are you calling to follow up on a product order, calling to book a party, or following up on the business opportunity?) Also, make sure you have practiced your phone scripts before you begin making your calls. Make sure you check
  •  Have and Keep a Consistent Schedule. When you begin exercising it will become easier on your body when you keep a consistent exercise schedule. You remember how to do the exercise from day to day and pretty soon the exercise program becomes second nature to you. The same is true of your Direct Selling business. Keeping a consistent schedule for your parties and your phone calls will help you to make your business easy for you to do! Your choice of words, the presentation at your party, your "I Story" and everything you do will become second nature to you when you keep repeating the pattern over and over again. Most people that struggle with their phone calls and/or party presentations do so because they never do enough to get "really good" at it. Getting on the phone once or twice a month or only holding one or two parties a month makes it hard for anyone to master the techniques. So be consistently working your business EVERY WEEK!
  • Don't be afraid to try new things. During your exercise program you will notice that there are a lot of other people in the gym that are doing a variety of different exercises. I discovered that it was good for me and my body to keep variety in my workout. When approached with a new idea are you one who tries it our right away or do you shy away from it because it's different. I have to confess, when I first heard about the "sponsoring game" (you can learn how to do this in the It's a Party Out There program) at a meeting I came home and didn't do anything about it. But, I did tell a new consultant about the game and she went out and played the sponsoring game that very night and called me the next morning with three people to talk to about coming into the business. She wasn't afraid to try something new and it paid off with 7 new recruits within her first two months in the business. I learned a valuable lesson too! Don't be afraid to try something because someone else is going to pass you by while you are waiting!
  •  Constantly remind yourself of your why. Busy schedules make it easy for us to skip our exercise routine. We rush to cram in a few more minutes of checking emails, watching television and endless things that cause us to waste our precious hours. Pretty soon, we have come up with a million reasons why we don't have the time to exercise. I keep a picture handy of the body I had a few years ago and it reminds me that I need to keep up the exercise if I want to get it back again. As a consultant with a Direct Selling company it will become very easy for you to lose track of time and skip making calls one week and deliberately take a week or two off from holding parties because you are just too busy! Think back about why you are doing this business, what you want to achieve and why you want to achieve it. Keep your why in front of you all the time. Continually remind yourself that you can do anything as long as it keeps you close to your reason for doing the business. It was never hard for me to book and hold three to four parties per week for twenty two years because all I had to do was look at my sons and knew that I was fulfilling "my why" of staying home with them!

Yes commitment is a very funny thing! It helps to keep you focused on the good things you can have in your life. You can and will make anything happen when you really want to! You are an incredible individual and you can be successful in Direct Selling as soon as you become committed to yourself and your business!

Filed Under: Bookings, Motivation, Sales Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

In Pursuit of Excellence

October 5, 2010 By 1 Comment

I'm one of those crazy people who USED to procrastinate because I wanted everything to be PERFECT! Not anymore! Well, I still procrastinate but not for the same reason. I no longer worry about being perfect! Over 20 years ago I discovered a motto I still live by today! "DONE is BETTER than Perfect!" If you keep waiting for perfection you'll be sitting on the sidelines only half participating in life. People will pass you by because they are running, while you are just strolling waiting for the perfect time to exert extra effort! Here are a few tips I've learned over the years that have helped me have the success I WANT and DESERVE!

1. "DONE is BETTER than Perfect!" What have you put off because you wanted everything to be just right! There is NO PERFECT TIME TO START A BUSINESS! The time to begin is NOW! You cannot study perfection! All you can do is keep doing what must be done, learning and implementing new skills, making alterations and improvements until everything gets better with time.

2. NOTHING will get better until YOU GET BETTER. You have to work on yourself first! If you don't know how to do something correctly it's time you learned! Insanity is doing the same things that DON'T WORK over and over again and expecting different results. If what you are doing doesn't work LEARN from someone who has been where you want to go.

3. Improve Your Head Game! You'll never be a millionaire if you don't see yourself as a millionaire first. The negative things you tell yourself on a daily basis (automatic negative thoughts) play a big part in your success. You must begin NOW programming your brain for success! Begin to consciously replace negative thoughts with positive ones and watch your business and your life soar. Ex:Negative – "It's so hard to get bookings." Positive – "I'm amazed how easy it is to book and hold 3 successful parties every week."

4. Dump the Negative People In Your Life. You read it right! If the majority of people you hang around with are negative you'll have a hard time staying upbeat and positive. Do everything you can to remove as many negative people as you can from your life or limit the amount of time you spend with them.

5. Do More Income Producing Activities. 20% of What You Do accounts for 80% of your results. It's time you started doing what will actually give you the results you are looking for. Stop doing activities that aren't income producing! Keep track of everything you do every 1/2 hour of the day for 7 days and then review the list to see how many of these things actually put you closer to your goals. Focus on doing more of those things the following week and you'll begin noticing an increase in your results. All distractions need to go!

6. Know Your WHY. When your WHY Is strong enough you'll figure out how! Take time to write down what you really want your life to be like next year. WHY do you want it? What will happen if your goals become a reality? How will you feel?

7. You can Never Stop Learning. Those who want to stay ahead of their competition will always keep learning. People who invest in themselves and their business BELIEVE they will be successful. I've never been afraid to invest in my education. Even though I don't have a college degree I have made a very good income over the years. I've learned what I need to know from people who know how to make money. When I come across a product that I know can help me or my business I get it. Not investing in myself is like telling my subconscious, "who are you fooling, you can't make money doing this?" I don't let negative thoughts influence me when making buying decisions. If you BELIEVE you will succeed you'll make decisions with an abundance mentality rather than a lack mentality. I provide some of the best motivational and direct selling tools on the planet. Check them out including "The Blueprint for Mastering Direct Selling Leadership" (pictured below) which is on Special for $647 and is geared toward leaders who want to earn $50k, $100k or more per year from their direct selling businesses. Leadership Blueprint Info

Filed Under: Motivation Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Avoid Sabotaging Your New Recruit’s Chances for Success

September 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

After watching this video if you want to join me for the "5 Mistakes that will sabotage Your New Reruit's Success and How to Avoid Them" Webinar
Click Here to Register

Filed Under: Leadership, Sponsoring, Teleseminars Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Put the Fun Back into the “Fundamentals of Selling”

September 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

In this day and age everyone wants to be on the fast track! Salespeople often look for and take every short cut possible in order to reach their goals and objectives, often cutting corners or burning bridges that sooner or later will have to be dealt with. It seems like with over 30 successful years in sales and teaching sales I would have learned EVERYTHING by now but truth is I have invested in 5 sales books and 1 sales course this year that are opening my eyes to what's happening in the sales arena. Here are a few things I have gleaned from my studies so far! From Jeffrey Gitomer's "Little Red Book of Selling"

   1. "People don't like to be sold, but they love to buy."
      Your job as a master salesman is to create an atmosphere where people want to buy!
   2. Study and implement an application. It's no secret that those who become GREAT at selling apply and implement techniques they have learned. Anything you learn is useless unless you apply it!
   3. Don't WHINE if it doesn't work right the first time. Basic selling principles WORK time after time but they don't work EVERY time. Get over it!
   4. Hang around with the right people. Hang around with successful people. Get as far away from the Whiners as possible.
   5. Ask questions, but make sure they are smart questions not dumb ones. Instead of asking, "what type of skin care do you us?" you could ask, "What is the one thing you would improve about your skin care?" Let them tell you why the product they are using is lacking. :)

      Okay so I've given you a few tips from Jeffrey's book now here are a few from Joseph Sugarman's Book – "Triggers – 30 Sales Tools you can use to control the mind of your prospect to motivate, influence and Persuade.
   6. Have Consistency. Do the "right things" over and over again to persuade your prospect to buy!
   7. Tell Stories – Truth is stories sell. You can demonstrate and show a product or you can tell a story about a product. Whichever you choose to do the STORY wins every time!
   8. Keep it Simple. The more complicated you make your presentation, pricing, special offer, etc. the less likely someone is to act. This is true when doing parties. Sometimes guests are in a state of overwhelm because there is TOO MUCH ON DISPLAY and they can't make up their mind!
   9. Have a sense of Urgency. "Susie, My dates are going fast and I wanted to give you first chance to share the new catalog with your friends, before I call the others in your circle." (works great for re-booking hostesses)
  10. Create the Desire to Belong. Take a look at the I-phone and the I-pad. People go nuts because they want to identify with the group who has all the latest gadgets. Create your own clubs that people can belong to!
  11. Invest in Yourself. People who invest in themselves and their business BELIEVE they will be successful. When I come across a product that I know can help me or my business I get it. Not investing in myself is like telling my subconscious, "who are you fooling, you can't make money doing this?" I learned from Jim Rohn to work harder on myself than I do on my business so I don't let negative thoughts influence me when making buying decisions. If you BELIEVE you will succeed you'll make decisions with an abundance mentality rather than a lack mentality. I provide some of the best motivational and direct selling tools on the planet. Check them out including "The Blueprint for Success and Prosperity"

Filed Under: Motivation, Sales Tagged With: , , , , ,

Simple Leadership System Will Get YOU on Track for BIG BONUS CHECKS!

July 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Listen to  several leaders and myself on a special call and you may or may not have had time in your busy schedule to listen in! You’ll hear  some POWERFUL INFORMATION ON WHAT DIRECT SELLING LEADERS ARE DOING TO BUILD THEIR TEAMS AND INCREASE THEIR INCOMES!! Make sure you listen to the WHOLE CALL AS EVERYONE SHARES DIFFERENT INFORMATION ON WHAT’S WORKING FOR THEM!

If you were on the call you would have heard:

1. Brenda with Pampered Chef share she LOVES HAVING A STEP-BY-STEP Leadership System to use as well as to teach other leaders on her team! She also shared how her new “Success Training” for new recruits is so good the new recruits are soaring past the seasoned veterans (who are unwilling to participate in the training) and how the new recruits are not only selling BUT ALSO SPONSORING. She has a new director and 7 Senior Consultants since she began implementing what she learned from “The Leadership Blueprint!”
2. Tina with Jewels by Park Lane who earned her first trip ever, a trip for 2 to Aruba! On a recent Direct Selling Doctor Gold Plus coaching call, Tina realized she had been wasting valuable time on the internet and cut down her internet use by 2 hours per day and has been getting many more “income producing” activities done. She began holding monthly meetings and sending out team newsletters and she is now getting more done in less time!
3. Maura with Tastefully Simple has a small team and she realized goal-setting was hard for her. Because she wasn’t doing well on her goals it was hard to work with her team on their goals. Using “The Leadership Blueprint”  she began to break down her goals into bite-sized pieces and is now 1/2 way to reaching the team sales goal she set for 2010 so she knows she’ll not only reach it but surpass it by thousands of dollars!
4. Kara from Gold Canyon invested in the system after she lost her leadership title. Devastated and ready for some drastic measures she realized she was constantly putting off things because of her desire for everything to “BE PERFECT” before she began! She needed a step-by-step way of doing things. She now uses the Interview to qualify leads, trains her recruits better and has MORE RECRUITS HITTING THEIR QUICK START LEVELS than ever before! Kara has also regained her title and is close to moving up to the next level!
5. Platinum Direct Selling Doctor member, Rosemary with Beauti-Control who understands the Power of Knowledge and having tools to work the business. She learned to listen to the people on her team and began teaching the “disgruntled consultants” how to book more spas and control their calendar. She is no longer signing up kit-nappers and with a “new attitude” is now FOCUSED on HELPING NEW RECRUITS REACH THEIR INCOME GOALS by challenging them to be ABOVE AVERAGE!
6. Platinum Direct Selling Doctor member, Jessie returned from the Leadership Bootcamp last fall and earned the promotion she had been working on for years in 2 months! Her team sales are up 30% over last year and her income is up 58%! ! Jessie is quick to implement what she learns and immediately began duplicating “the SYSTEM”, introducing ongoing Opportunity Meetings, new meeting formats and an exciting new team recognition program! She averages 30 new team members each month and has been using the system to keep promoting new consultants as fast as she can! SHE IS ON FIRE and the “Leadership Snowball” she has created in her team will be hard to beat!

It was exciting to hear each leader share how she discovered the areas where improvement was needed and used “THE LEADERSHIP BLUEPRINT” to move her past the obstacles and toward success. Each leader invested in the Leadership Bootcamp or the Leadership Blueprint at different points in their careers. Some were new consultants who knew they wanted to develop a strong team from the beginning, while others were leaders who were” stuck” in the business and unable to move past a certain level. All of them arrived with a DESIRE AND DETERMINATION to SUCCEED!

If you would like to hear their stories and what they did to get unstuck I’ll have the replay of the call up for a short time!

You can call (712) 432- 0453 pin 6745228# anytime 24/7 BUT HURRY because it won’t be there long! When you are done listening make sure you go to www.karenphelps.com/leadership.html
Now… if you really are ready to get out of the quicksand that is preventing you from earning $50,000, $100,000 or more in annual income from your direct selling business you should check into “The Leadership Blueprint” that has helped so many other leaders by providing them with an A-Z Leadership system for finding, calling & interviewing prospects, training and coaching new recruits to success, finding future leaders and moving them into leadership and all the ins and outs of holding opportunity meetings, training classes, team meetings and lots more you’ll want to check it out before the price increases by $50 on June 7′th!

The Leadership Blueprint not only comes with DVDs, CDs, Binder and Template for all materials it allows you to join us for the next “Mastering Direct Selling Leadership for 6-Figure Income” Webinar Series which begins on June 15′th. Hurry so you’ll have your binder and everything you need before the first class begins!

www.karenphelps.com/leadership.html

Filed Under: Leadership, Sponsoring, Teleseminars Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Lifestyle Freedom With Your Direct Selling Business

July 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I loved having my own successful direct selling business for twenty-five years. The parties were fun, my team was awesome and the money was a whole lot better than I would have been earning from my 9 -5 job! I earned 22 trips around the world and more contest prizes than I ever could have imagined when I first began selling in 1978.

Because, direct selling was so good for me I’m often saddened when consultants tell me they aren’t getting what they want from their business. I love the tenacity, ambition, work ethic and creativity displayed by successful direct sellers. It’s Independence Weekend  and I thought it would be fitting to share a few of the success tips that helped use my direct selling business to provide financial independence as well as the “lifestyle freedom” that is so important to many of us:

1. Set your goals! I know, you’ve been told this over and over and over again and you are probably sick and tired of hearing it. Truth is, if you don’t set your goals you’ll be halfheartedly working your business and shouldn’t expect much success. It’s been proven over and over again, those who have goals do better and EARN MORE!
2. Work Weekly! If you aren’t working your business on a weekly basis it’s just a hobby. Don’t plan monthly activity plan for weekly activity. Hold parties every week. Make follow up calls every week. Interview prospects every week. The consistency you’ll develop by doing things weekly will dramatically increase your sales and your paycheck.
3. Attend Trainings & Meetings! Only foolish people would attempt to begin their business with no training. Only non-committed consultants would continue in the business without support and continuing their education. If you want to succeed you’ll be where you are supposed to be when you are supposed to be there. NO EXCUSES…Find a Way!
4. Work harder on yourself than you do on your business. It doesn’t matter how hard you try if your attitude is lousy. Most successful people will tell you they work on their attitude and other success habits on a daily basis. Listen to motivational CDs. Listen to training CDs. Talk positively to yourself. Get away from the quick-sand crowd and start hanging out with winners.
5. Do the RIGHT THINGS, the RIGHT WAY. It’s not how much time you spend in your business it’s whether or not you are doing the right things while you are working. You can be busy doing things that won’t bring in income and in that case, you’ll still be broke. Or you can get smart and start doing things the right way. Got lots of party cancellations? People who mail invites for their hostesses experience less than a 20% cancellation rate. Your recruits lazy? People who have successful recruits know what to do to get them off to the best start. You’ve got to do things the RIGHT WAY!
6. Get healthy NOW! It’s hard to get things done fast when your energy is dragging. If you smoke, STOP! (I know it’s easy to say because I’ve never smoked but the truth is…it’s killing you. If you’re over-weight, LOSE IT! I’ve been a Weight Watchers lifetime member for 20 years and I’ve invested in JJ Virgin’s Fat Loss program last year which helped me take off 18 pounds and get healthier in the process. If you don’t exercise, GET MOVING! Doing the right things for your body won’t guarantee that you won’t get sick but you’ll feel much better all the way around and you will usually have greater energy which is a must when you have your own business. If you are too tired or sick to get it done, it usually won’t get done.
7. Invest in Yourself. People who invest in themselves and their business BELIEVE they will be successful. When I come across a product that I know can help me or my business I get it. Not investing in myself is like telling my subconscious, “who are you fooling, you can’t make money doing this?” I already told you to work harder on yourself than you do on your business so don’t let your negative thoughts influence you when making decisions. If you BELIEVE you will succeed you’ll make decisions with an abundance mentality rather than a lack mentality. I provide some of the best motivational and direct selling tools on the planet. Check them out.

I’ve learned that strategies for growing a successful direct selling business are not unique to certain individuals or companies. Success is determined by the use of predictable, repeatable, simple actions but not just any actions – the right actions. The driving force behind your success is YOU! Are you ready for the challenge?

Filed Under: Getting to know Karen, Motivation, Sales Tagged With: , , , ,

No Excuses Part 2 – Is it a Legitimate Objection or an Excuse?

June 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Last week I went over how to STOP making excuses yourself and this week I thought I’d switch it around and share some insight as to why our prospects give us excuses. Are you like millions of direct sellers who have a long list of people who have indicated they want to do business with you BUT they have not taken any action yet? Worse yet, every time you try to have a conversation with you they either avoid you like the plague or THEY GIVE YOU AN EXCUSE!

An excuse is merely a polite way of telling you they don’t want to do business with you. Yikes, I can’t believe I say that but it’s TRUE!  It could be they are not ready to do business with you YET, or it may mean they don’t want to do business with you ever.

If you joined me for the Monthly Booking Bonanza Teleseminar in June then you heard me talk about a new program I invested in this past Spring that I am absolutely loving. It is by Ari Galper,”Unlock the Game” and the concept is about creating trust between you and your prospects. It doesn’t matter what you are selling the principles are the same. People will do business with people they know, like and trust.

One of the reasons your prospects could be giving you and excuse is they don’t trust that what you say is really going to happen If this is a factor you need to working on building trust in the relationship. An easy way to build trust is to make the prospect feel comfortable and you can do this as easily as asking, “Would you be open to…?” and then insert whatever you want. Example: “Would you be open to getting together for a cup of coffee and I’ll share a few ways having your own business could be an advantage for you?” OR “Would you be open to exploring the possibility of having a (company name) party to earn some free products for yourself?”  You can easily see these examples are about creating a relationship with the prospect before deciding which way to go. ( Make sure you join me for next month’s booking teleseminar where you get the rest of the script as well as some more to help you fill your calendar with bookings!)

Another reason your prospect may give you an excuse is they aren’t sure they need what you are offering. In our never-ending pursuit of getting a booking, making a sale and getting a recruit we often overlook the fact that maybe it’s NOT RIGHT for them! Instead of going into pursuit mode you can ask more questions to get to the bottom of it. Asking questions like, “does it make sense to?” or “I understand you love our products and I know you want a lot of them, but on a scale of 1 -10 how interested are you in booking a party to get some for free?”

When you are overcoming excuses most of us have been trained to use the “feel, felt, found method” of overcoming objections and that can work but it often doesn’t help us to know if it’s a legitimate objection or just an excuse. Much like an onion you need to ask questions until you get to the real issue. Saying things like, “are you open to hearing more?”,  “does it make sense to set a date?”, or “where do you think we should go from here?” will help your prospects feel more comfortable with the process and will help you uncover the truth behind their excuse.

So, if you are open to trying some new language and you feel comfortable with asking more questions in order to get better answers you just might discover your prospects more willing to answer you honestly. You’ve got nothing to lose by trying!

Let Karen show you  how to get what you want from your direct selling business and life go to www.karenphelps.com/promo.html for specials or to www.karenphelps.com/shop.html

Want to know how you can bring Karen in to motivate and inspire your audience call our office (248) 625-4897or contact support@karenphelps.com.

Filed Under: Bookings, Sales, Sponsoring Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

NO Excuses!

June 9, 2010 By 2 Comments

“When confronted with a problem you have one of two choices to make. You can find an excuse for the problem or find a way to solve it. Ultimately the choice is yours.” ~
Karen Phelps

Last week I mentioned that having a direct selling business is a lot like having a garden. You must tend to your customers, hostesses and team just like you would the flowers in your garden. It’s not always easy but in the end your garden and your business look just the way you want them!

This week I thought I’d share few thoughts as to why people make excuses. I decided to make this a 2-part article with the first week focusing on how to overcome making excuses and next week focusing on how to overcome excuses others give you! You’ll want to read both parts so watch for next week’s newsletter!

You know, I’m not much different from you in many ways. I have fantastic family, I’m working from home, I have my plate more than full and sometimes I don’t get out of my office until 10:00 at night. Other times, (like last weekend) I just blow everything off and have fun, which I’m entitled to do once in awhile.

There is one thing I try never to do though and that is to “give excuses” as to why something isn’t done, hasn’t been started, or isn’t important enough to show up. I try my best to hold myself accountable in everything I do! For example, I volunteer through the Waterford Rotary Club,  where I’ll take over as Club President June 30′th. No one is busier than I am and yet I show up at fund-raisers and events, mentor a high-school student and attend the weekly meetings every Tuesday unless I’m traveling. I made a commitment to the club when I joined and there is no reason to go back on my word or begin giving excuses as to why I can’t be where I’m supposed to be when I’m supposed to be there.

I’ve made a commitment to myself to complete 2 books this year so every morning I am up by 7 a.m. (many days by 6 a.m.) and in my office writing. If I don’t discipline myself then down the road when the projects aren’t finished I’ll be looking for excuses as to why they aren’t done! I’m no different than anyone else, of course it’s NEVER MY FAULT! Hey we begin placing the blame on outside sources at a very early age, remember the broken case that wasn’t your fault? How about the homework that the dog ate? How about the time you struck out because you weren’t ready when the pitcher through the ball? I’ll bet you can go back and think of hundreds of times when you made an excuse BUT you are a grown-up now and it’s time to shape up!

In my many observations of people through the years I have discovered the most successful people DON’T MAKE EXCUSES! It is always easier to blame someone or something else for your lack of follow-through or commitment. It’s easier to blame the economy for lackluster sales than it is to “LEARN HOW TO PROSPER IN ANY ECONOMY.” I’m constantly amazed that 2 people living in the same town working for the same sales company can have totally different results. One will struggle getting people to book and hold parties while another will go on to set a company record for high sales. The big difference is the successful consultant will have a GREAT ATTITUDE and WON’T MAKE EXCUSES! The other consultant will have a lousy attitude and is constantly looking for excuses.

So in case I struck a nerve with you, I want you to really START PAYING ATTENTION to what you do on a daily basis and how many times per day you make an excuse. In fact I’m going to challenge you to keep a list and write them down. The only way you can correct something is to make a conscious change to do so! Then, there’s a great teleseminar this week on how to fill your calendar with bookings that will be held at 2 different times (sorry, no replay) so if you need bookings I’d find a way to be on the call! There’s another great leadership call where you can listen to leaders share what’s working to build their teams and increase their income,  you should probably find time to listen to that call too!  The number for the replay is (712) 432-0453 Pin 6745228#.
You see, I’m trying to help you by providing F*R*E*E resources for you BUT YOU HAVE TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP! No Exuses, right?
Here’s to YOU and YOUR SUCCESS!
Want to check out what’s on special?

WHAT ABOUT YOU??? DO YOU MAKE EXCUSES?  PLEASE SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS POST!

Filed Under: Motivation Tagged With: , , , , ,

Meeting & Training Success Action Steps

May 25, 2010 By 1 Comment

I just returned home from a 4-day training event I attended in Las Vegas and my brain was on overload with all the information I learned in these jam-packed sessions! Has this ever happened to you? Have you attended an event and you listen, take notes and then come home on overload and put the notes away and never get around to making any changes in your life or business? Well, I have to confess that as good as I am at taking control, I often find myself out-of-control after seminars and training because I didn’t take the time to immediately create my action plan with a FEW STEPS I COULD TAKE IMMEDIATELY!

This training was quite an investment on my part so I knew I wanted to get everything I could out of it PLUS MORE! So can I share five secrets on what I did during and after the event to get results?

1. I wrote my notes in the meeting binder so they would be in one place for review instead of writing on my own legal pad and then wondering where I put it! :) Actually had quite a few fill-in-the-blank handouts so it just made sense instead of re-writing everything which I am often inclined to do!

2. Took my “yearly notebook” where I have all my notes for the year as well as goals and list of things to do each week with me to the event. At the end of each day I reviewed my notes and created a list of things that I had to do “this week” and checked to see what needed to go on the list. In other words, anything that was a “must do right away item.”

3. Kept my meeting binder and notebook with me in my carry-on traveling home and re-read ALL MY NOTES from the training! This is very important because we do not retain past 48 hours 95% of the information we hear! During the review process I discovered a few more items that needed to be added to my must do this week list.

4. Numbered my “must do list” from this weekend in order of importance and made sure there were less than 7 things on the list which gives me a much better chance of ACTUALLY GETTING IT DONE!

5. Started doing the things on your list the very next day! DON’T WAIT! The longer you wait the less likely you are to implement what you learned. I’ve discovered over the years the fastest way to success is to implement what you learned immediately into your business. Don’t wait to do it perfectly just get it done!

Filed Under: Getting to know Karen, Motivation Tagged With: , , ,
« Older Posts