Direct Selling

Here are just a few quick facts about working from home in the direct selling industry.

In 2003, the US retail sales – this means all SHOPPING that took place in the US totaled 29.55 billion dollars.

73% – three quarters of ALL the shopping done in the US is done by face-to-face selling.

61% of all the US SHOPPING takes place right in someone’s home. This doesn’t count online shopping.

Now get this: 28% – over one quarter of all the retail shopping done in the US, is done in the home party industry.

What does this tell you about our culture in the US? This means that generally, people appreciate and believe in the home party industry. The numbers tell the story. People spend a lot of money at home parties. It’s a preferred way to shop.

HERE’S ANOTHER FACT:
In 2003 there were 13.3 million direct sellers in the US. 85% of them worked less than 30 hours per week, which means they were able to do their business alongside family and other jobs.

79.9% of people in the direct selling industry are female.

So, once you have done your research, if you find that this is what you want to do and that Urban Botanic is for you, visit me at www.urbanbotanic.com/sandrasparties and I will be happy to help you get started on this wonderful, popular ride!

Urban Botanic Lazy days

Lazy days invoke the image of sitting next to the fire, drinking cocoa, reading a good book ( just finished The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell by Lilian Jackson Braun) or just relaxing doing nothing. But with Urban Botanic, that is not what my lazy days are like. If I am having a lazy day, it just means that I don’t have a party on a day that I have marked off as a work day.
So what do I actually do on an Urban Botanic lazy day? I make phone calls. I talk to party hostesses, coach them on how to have a great party with a large attendance and even larger party sales total. I call potential consultants, those that have gone to my website, www.urbanbotanic.com/sandrasparties and those that have called me or those that have told me at a party that they would like me to call them.
I place an order for more oils, or more unscented product, more brochures, more droppers, order forms, hostess gifts etc.
I update my blogs.
I place ads.
I check my virtual office.
I call team members and see how they are doing, if they need anything, cheer them on.
I file.
I make deposits.
If it is Monday, I am at www.cwham.com doing our book chat, and if it is Wed. I am also at www.cwham.com doing a live opportunity chat.

And then, I take a break, get a good book, get my cocoa and sit down and read.

Wear a Melody

What does it take to make a melody? Oprah had a piano prodigy on her show today. Oprah picked out 5 notes; E,F, G, B, C. The prodigy then put them together and in about 45 seconds improvised a song using this 5 note melody. Amazing. There are 88 keys on a piano keyboard. The same 7 notes in varying tones repeated over and over from very low to very high with keys to make them sharp or flat. The combinations are endless and so are the melodies.

That is basically what we do at Urban Botanic. We have 66 “keys” or perfume oils. We have high notes and low notes and a lot of notes inbetween. And the combination of these notes is endless. Some combinations are sharp and some are flat and others are simply amazing. We can also take 5 simple notes; Chocolate, Coconut, Heliotrope, Vanilla, Cedarwood and you get an amazing, smoky haunting scent.

However, if you change one note- say change Cedarwood and put Sandalwood instead and it changes the whole melody. Where before it was smoky, now it is fresh. Before it reminded you of winter and perhaps curling up by a fireplace with a good book and some cocoa, now it feels like summer and swimming and picnics. All with just the change of one note. It is no longer haunting, but lilting instead.

Come join us and learn how to make your own scent melody. The combinations are endless.

Snow days

Yesterday was a snow day. And I had a Urban Botanic party. And most of the guests were coming from 60 miles away. In the snow. Over the point of the mountain. In the snow. In the dark. And did I mention there was snow? A LOT of snow. And come time to leave for the party, it was still snowing. HARD. I got to the party and almost slid into the ditch. And I was in the Suburban in 4-wheel drive.
Needless to say, no guests showed up. So there was no party. But that was ok, we just rescheduled the party. And that is ok. I came home and put my kids to bed. Then I listened to the conference call that I missed.
The call was about Urban Botanic’s new Right Start program. (Right Start is not the name, it hasn’t gotten a formal name yet. UB is having a contest for the consultants to name it.)
On the call, Craig Davis, President of Urban Botanic, talked about the vision of Urban Botanic. Which is:
Urban Botanic was founded to celebrate individuality and help our customers create a lovely fragrance that portrays those unique and wonderful character traits that every human possesses. The art of perfume is complicated, but to McKenna it is really simple. And after a lot of research and experimentation, she has developed a very simple, affordable, clear-cut system for creating a signature scent that works for everyone.
This new program to help consultants get started right and fast will do two things:
1. Increase the success of all consultants. When your team succeeds, you succeed.
2. Help leaders succeed long term.
The growth of a team with this 90 day program is phenominal! (details on my Dec. 29, 2006 blog) But in a nutshell here is how great the growth could be in a perfect duplication cycle.

First 90 days you add 3 team members (you are now a team leader)
Second 90 days each of the 3 adds 3= 12 total team members (at 7 members you become team manager)
Third 90 days each of the 12 adds 3 team members =39 total members
Fourth 90 days each of the 39 adds 3 team members =126 total team members!!
In one year, you can have 126 total team members! And you would be making money because You keep 40% of all party sales. You get paid instantly, no waiting for a check in the mail. You also receive between 6% and10% on the sales of your team members
Team building and other bonuses .
How cool is that?
And the support is even greater than that. We all get together and support and help each other. Besides the conference calls where the founder, McKenna Gordon, and the president, Craig Davis, guide us and help us and give us tips and helps, we all help each other. How do we do this?
Right now we are all reading the book, “Build it Big”. On Monday nights we get together at http://www.cwahm.com/ and have live chat about the book (8-10 pm Mountain time). In the next week or so, we are going to set up one night a week to do a live opportunity chat for those interested in becoming a consultant. We have a message forum for consultants and interested people at http://www.wahm.com/forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=144. Team leaders are awsome. We can always go to our team leader (and my team can come to me) for help. We cheer each other on and give each other help and we all know that there is enough to go around for everyone. We are just a big happy family.
And remembering that is what makes a snow day a good day after all.