Quickies!

Quick Party tip: Offer quick, short parties like a 5-5-5: Starts at 5PM, invite 5 friends and show 5 of your HOTTEST Products. Great opportunity to book regular length parties for the following month. 

Quick Holiday Tip:  Send postcards to husbands with gift suggestions for under $25.00.  Or to the single Dads you know - gift ideas for daughters.  It's marketing with a purpose and focus.

Quick Recruiting tip: Go for No!  Don't prejudge anyone...make the offer once you hear a cue "I wish I could afford more"  "We have so many bills" or something similar. No does eventually lead to YES!

September Contest - no results yet.

October Contest - Sales - for every $200 in sales you get one entry into a drawing for a new Cookie Lee Tablerunner.  

Let's make this a great month!!!!

3 Tips to Grow your Business

Keep Your Eye on the Ball.

When you start your Cookie Lee business, money is always tight. Attractive opportunities present themselves as quick ways to bring in revenue, but they are a complete departure from your core business strategy. Before you decide to go for it, stop and think about the ramifications of your decision. How much of a distraction is this going to be? One of the biggest reasons many of us fail is because they take on projects or products that are completely unrelated. Trying to be all things to all people is impossible.Stay focused on your core business - finding hostess and recruits who love jewelry as much as you do!

Set Milestones.Create a plan with a timeline and milestones. Without established benchmarks, days, weeks and months can pass by while you talk, talk, talk about what you’re going to do, but you never get around to doing it.You may not meet all your goals as quickly as you predicted.In fact, in most cases you won’t. It typically takes twice as long, as you think it will to achieve your objectives. Nonetheless, your established milestones keep you focused on progress.

Take Action Every Day.Never let a day go by in your Cookie Lee business where you haven’t done at least one activity to help you reach your business goals. Business success requires discipline–the discipline to practice those things that are instrumental for your success. Only occasionally making a sales call or attending a networking event won’t keep the pipeline filled with new business opportunities.One thing that works well for me is creating a list of top priorities, “the must dos” for the day, and getting those items completed first. Otherwise, I find it’s easy to get sidetracked with answering emails, cleaning my office area or working on a project I enjoy but isn’t a strategic business need.

I am here to help - let's chat about your goals and plans for your Cookie Lee business and how we can grow as a TEAM!

Booking Ideas

1. The telephone is your best friend, use it. Make at least 5 calls per day for bookings and recruits. Do this faithfully and assure yourself a full date book.

2. A walk-in or open house. To acquaint neighbors and your community with you product, send invitations to friends, neighbors and acquaintances. Advertise that there will be refreshments and a chance to see your product.

3. Mystery Hostess Party. The consultant has a party in her home and awards the hostess credits to the guests. The credits can be divided up or given in different ways. For instance, name goes in for each $25 bought.

4. Trade shows, fairs, expos, events. Check on local activities and reserve well in advance. Consult your up-line on methods and set ups.

5. Advertising. Carry your tote bag, newspapers and online.

6. Brochures/Pages from a recent Catalog with a note. Leave them everywhere that makes sense.  Distribute at dentist, doctors, or anywhere you do business.

7. Business referrals. Real estate office, model homes, flower shops.

8. Bridal registry/bridal showers. For the bride where the guests may purchase gifts. (This can get expensive - watch your costs!)

9. Show on the go/Booking in a basket. Excellent for the office. Place several small items in a basket and one larger one. When an order of $30 is placed, the customer can select a small gift. When all the gifts are gone, the hostess gets to open the bigger gift. (suggest 10 gifts)

10. Delivery Day Special. Offer the hostess, at the time of delivery, a special gift from you when she picks up a booking or two as she delivers her guests items.

11. Offer the hostess an additional gift when she re-books herself with-in 3 months. You may want to offer her an extra incentive for holding 3 shows within a year.

12. Offer a free product of their choice to people who take the brochure home, share it with friends and family and get 5 additional orders resulting in a certain amount of dollars.

A Must Do List for A Successful Fall Selling Season

You've been hearing it for a few weeks now, like the theme song from "Jaws"playing in your head…Dah dum…dah dum… dahdumdahdumdahdum…getting faster and faster. The fall selling season for direct sellers is sneaking up on us and you better be ready! Take a deep breath. There's still time to get set up for success in your direct sales business before the crazy holiday selling season hits you right between the eyes. Here's a must-do list that should help you get ahead of the game and be prepared to take advantage of all the momentum you can during the 4th quarter of the year: Make a plan – This is the place to start if you're serious about your business. I'm getting ready to sit down and create my quarterly plan next week, so when October hits, I have a step-by-step vision and clear projects I know are planned. Take an hour and set your goals for the 4th quarter of the year. Click here to download my "Goal Setting Worksheet" taken from our "Powerful Tools for Your Direct Sales Business: Leader's Edition." It will help you make a strong plan.   Create a contact list Include people you haven't contacted recently – I guarantee, there are at least 50 people with whom you could follow up but haven't. Think about your customers, guests from your parties, previous hosts, and any other leads that may have fallen through the cracks. Make your goal to actually come up with 100 names and 50 will seem easy.   Throw your own celebration party You have lots to celebrate th is time of year in your direct sales business (and lots of awesome new products to share). Invite all of those people on your list of 50 and everyone else you can think of. Choose a fun theme and offer lots of great give-aways to compel people to want to attend.   Think about who needs help This time of year, as we head into the holidays, people are wracking their brains trying to come up with great gift ideas. If you've worked with someone they need to give a gift to, you've got some great ideas! If you don't have contact information for spouses or significant others, contact your customers and let them know what you're up to. They'll be happy to provide the information for you. Consider setting up a special "shopping" night in your home for husbands, have the gifts shipped to you, and deliver them wrapped and ready to give once they arrive.   Give back This is a great time of year to do fund raisers, which also generates greater interest in your business. You can make a difference while growing your business.   Make sure your customers know they can shop with you online If you don't have an e-mail list with your customer's information, work on that now and then be sure you e-mail them at least once mid to late November with clear instructions about how they can "shop from their chair" with you on your webiste. Julie Anne Jones is a direct sales corporate consultant, coach, and trainer, and the CEO of Julie Anne Jones, Inc. She is known for her authentic and easy-to-use scripting and specializes in specific language and tools for success in direct sales. To learn more about Julie Anne and her products and services, and to read her weekly blog posts, visit her at www.julieannejones.com

Summer Tips

I got this from one of my gf's who is in another direct sales businss and thought it was worth sharing......... enjoy~

Summer can't be no work and all play! 

from Mary Christensen, author of Be A Recruiting Superstar, Be A Network Marketing Superstar and Be A Party Plan Superstar.

Don't take a three-month vacation from your business this summer if you want to change your life. It's all about balance and  these steps will keep business flowing while you're enjoying time out:

Combine not-working with net-working: The person picnicking next to you at the park, beach or camping ground  may be your next team member, host or customer. Pack catalogs, business  brochures and samples in the car with your swimsuit and sunglasses.   When you're not working you will have more time for networking!

One  of the most basic rules of direct selling is that the more people you  meet the more money you will make, so be ready when the opportunity  presents itself. When we're on vacation, we are more open to new people  and new ideas.

Polish and perfect: Practice  your 15-30 second story so that you can spend more time listening and less  time talking. This formula will make it easy: 'I am.... but... and  so...'

Here's an example: "I am a mom. I  have two beautiful boys and I love spending time with them. But I don't  want to lose all my independence. And so, I have a small biz selling  ...... from home. I get to buy all my products wholesale, and take a  break from the kids for some 'me' time. And the money I make pays for  things I would feel guilty buying if I didn't have my own income."

Learn as you burn: Taking a few books away with you this summer? Include one of these books, Be A Recruiting Superstar, Be A Network Marketing Superstar, Be A Party Plan Superstar, or Make Your First Million In Network Marketing with you. Highlight the 'ah-ha's' that jump off the page at you so when  the pressure of real life returns, you can quickly scan the book for  the highlighted passages. If you have an electronic reader, all books  are now on Kindle at www.amazon.com **I have most of these on my Kindle and refer to them often (Debie)

Daydream and decide: While the kids are playing, relax and imagine what your life could be  if you had an extra $1000 a week in your budget. Where would you go?  What would you do? What would you buy? When what you want is powerful  enough, you will do what you have to do.

Prepare and plan: Take a few minutes to search for Expos, and Trade Shows coming to your  area in fall. Apply for a booth now so you are committed to the event.  I'll be sharing how to make your booth stand out in the crowd very soon.

Be visible: A magnetic decal on your car will make sure people know who you are and  what you do; and easier to scoop up customers who have lost contact  with their distributor.

Words of Wisdom from Seth Godin's Blog

"I have kids at home, I don't have a manager, I need to pay off student debt, my boss never lets me, I'm really busy because of soccer season, my knee is acting up, there's already five galas coming up, my RSI hurts when I type, I don't have a degree, I have a degree and can't waste it, I'm not good at that, I tried it before but it didn't work, I've never tried it before, the weather is crazy, isn't it, the election is right around the corner, it's been too long at this job they won't listen to me, I'm going to retire soon, I'm too young, I'll never learn, it's too risky..."

We all have a list. Most of the things on it may in fact be legitimate reasons for no.

I guess the self-marketing question is, "how often do you remind yourself of what's on the list?"

If the first thing you do when considering an opportunity is consult the list, the list is the most important thing in your life, isn't it?

Check him out at http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

Have you seen this great idea?

What a great idea!  Offer a toe ring for the best sandals and be done with a party in a hour!  Use the "Party in a Box" concept to make display and packing up quick and easy.

This is a sure winner for Summer!  I am leaving these flyers everywhere - You should too!