There are many people who we cross paths with and affect us deeply. I’d like to introduce my amazing grandfather who just turned 95 and share with you how he has helped me grow into the business woman I am today! He has taught me about optimism, to be persistent, generous and to live life with love and compassion.

Optimism- I remember when I was 7 my sister and I stayed at my grandparents house. At the dinner table he always tried to trick us with a glass of milk- asking us “Is this glass half empty or half full.” Of course either anser was correct but it taught us that it is all how you looks at things in life.

Persistence- I remember after college I was inbetween jobs and he took it upon himself to teach me about life’s obstacles. Instead of letting me feel sorry for myself he stayed up all night dreaming up ways I could propse advertising campaigns for one of the local businesses. He taught me to bounce back and to learn from my experiences.

Generous- Grandpa has told us many times about how he helped street people who came by his business asking for money. Instead of handing over the money he would take them to a local restaurant and treat them to a meal. He took the time and interest to help them out!

Love and Companssion- There was no better example than the love and compassion my grandparents expressed towards eachother. They communicated with one another and it was apparent that they knew eachother so well they could finish eachother’s sentences. We all learned that proper communication is the key to relating to one another and building long term relationships.

Please share some of your mentors and how they have helped you in your business!

March 24,2010  by Jill Pfefer

Whether your home based business is in direct sales or any other industry – I find it helpful to be organized and accountable in my work. The following are 5 basic tips that I do to keep on track. Many of us both work at home and run a household and it is important to be able to balance the two and feel successful in both arenas.

1. Don’t procrastinate- I do live by the saying “Do what you can today and don’t put it off until tomorrow”. It feels good to accomplish all that you can today because you never know what will come up tomorrow- especially with kids! Setting reasonable goals and finishing your tasks will give you a great sense of acheivement.

2. Write lists- I am constantly writing lists because I am a visual person. If I have written it down I can see the list in my head even if it is not infront of me. I find myself writing lists on sticky notes all over the house, which drives my husband nuts. Instead, I made a great discovery this week – I can keep an ongoing list on my blackberry which follows me wherever I go.

3. Learn something new- Each week I set a goal to learn something new. Whether it is a topic on social media (such as Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter,) blogging, networking etc. I know I have gained something each week by accomplishing a new task or topic.

4. Clean your work area space- About 6 months ago I took an Incubator class with Ladies Who Launch. It was a wonderful class where I learned a great deal from fellow female entreprenuers and every week we had an assignment to help us grow our businesses. I thought the assignment of cleaning one area of your home/ work environment was a bit strange but I found it really helpful . It was sort of like a cleansing or a fresh start. I love to pile up stuff but it is amazing to have a clean slate! (OK, I admit, I still need to work on this!)

5. Make yourself accountable- whether it is a weekly task or something that is montly be consistent and just do it! For example, every Friday I try to go through my emails and delete the ones I no longer need. Another one is setting specific times like Tuesday and Thursday from 1:00-3:00 for phone calls to grow my business.

I hope these are helpful tips. I would love to hear how you organize yourself in your home based business!

When you are learning how to promote your direct selling and hostess opportunities with a prospect via telephone you will find that there are actually two reasons to encourage the other person to share their feelings, hopes and dreams with you. One is for the reason stated above. The second, is that a prospect doesn’t usually end a conversation…while THEY are talking about something important to them!

Bring that thought into any direct selling process, whether on the telephone or in person. Make it a goal that, whether you are simply establishing a realtionship with a prospect, or actually giving a party presentation that will hopefully result in a sale, that you talk only 25 percent of the time and listen 75 percent of the time. And, the way to accomplish this is to ask questions. Ask questions that the prospect wants to answer, allowing her to engage in the conversation and and this will help her toward the decision of joining in your Sydney Andrews business, or selecting the perfect piece of jewelry to enhance her wardrobe.

Remember what the great sales master, J. Douglas Edwards used to say “Questions are the answer”. How are you doing, percentage-wise in terms of listening versus talking?

People often ask me where I get my ideas from for my designs. Every 6 months I come up with a Spring and a Fall line. Being the CEO of Sydney Andrews, I have several responsibilities but wherever I go I constantly have my mind on designing. When I am at the mall, on vacation or even at The Great Indoors store my mind is on what my next piece of jewelry will look like.

Color is a very important component of my work. I love being surrounded by color and why not bring it to your everyday wardrobe. Accessorize with colors that make you feel good. My customers seem to really like my multi color designs for their versatility. I look to a lot of Israeli designers for their color combinations.

I also pay a lot of attention to shapes in my pieces. Inverted shapes and creating symmetry can really add excitement to a peice. Assymetry can also add a lot of interest to a design. In my Tini Martini design- I use inverted circles with alternating sizes and colors. I got the idea for this design with scrapbooking paper. I actualy tore up the paper and placed it on my sketch and shot it in photoshop.

I get a lot of feedback from my reps and my customers that help me improve my designs. In fact, some of my best suggestions have come from them! My brand new Tri and True Belt came from an idea from one of my reps- Amy M. We were looking at a tri-color bracelet and she thought about how great it would be if a similiar design was intergrated into a belt.

It’s funny, I never in a milliion years would have thought I would be a jewelry designer. I was an art major but fashion was never top on the list for me. It started as a hobby and I got tons of encouragement from my friends and family to pursue this as a career. Being a jewelry designer has been such an important part of my life. It has given me the opportunity to contribute to my family financially and to add another dimension of myself and be known as the “jewelry lady.” I am very passionate about offering other women the opportunity to provide income for their families with flexible hours and to allow them to add dimensions to their life they didn’t know was possible!

Anyone who tried out for a team of any kind is familiar with the process. At the end of try-outs, they tape a list of who made the cut on the wall for all to see. If you find your name on the list, you celebrate! If not, you make the long walk home holding back the tears…

But the story didn’t end that way for one teenager after Laney High School basketball try-outs in the late ‘70s. Instead of believing that basketball wasn’t ‘his thing,’ the dejected player went home, had a good cry with his mother, and made a decision that changed history—to commit himself to improve.

“I started working on my game the day after I was cut,” he says. “Whenever I was working out and got tired and figured I ought to stop, I’d close my eyes and see that list in the locker room without my name on it. And that usually got me going again.”

For the next year, he worked out day after day, month after month. While his 5-foot-11-inch body gained four more inches, he practiced shot after shot and dribble after dribble, showing up early to school and using the hoop in his driveway to prepare for next year’s try-outs and the season that would follow.

The dejected teenager made his Laney High School Varsity team the next year and eventually led them to a state championship.

Thus began the legend of Michael Jordan.

Long before his sixth NBA Championship season, his fifth MVP award or any of his postseason scoring records, Michael Jordan learned that “some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.” Great athletes and great business builders can, almost without exception, point to moments in their lives when they realized that simply being interested or doing the average won’t make a difference. They had to make the choice to commit!

Some become discouraged and shy away from the challenge of making the choice and seeing it through. Others seize the situation, make a commitment and take control of the steering wheels in their lives. For Michael Jordan, that moment came when he saw a blank space where his name belonged. Have you had YOUR moment yet?

If so, and you choose to commit it is because you have understood one very important principle: successful people are willing to do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. Therefore, you decided to do what it takes to become successful.

Are you willing to pay the price of success? True commitments are followed by sacrifice—dedicating more time and effort to achieving the goal. That can also mean taking time away from other things—sometimes even good things—to fulfill your commitment.
Sometimes ‘making the decision’ involves working smarter as well as working harder.

What is your message? In consumer-direct marketing, you are the message you’re sharing with potential customers. Before customer buy your product or service, they must buy YOU. Successful people know their weaknesses and strengths, and they are committed to resolving those weaknesses. Why? It’s because they know they will then deliver a better message because they took the time for personal development.

Michael Jordan’s long-time coach, Phil Jackson, says of Jordan’s work ethic: “The thing about Michael is he takes nothing for granted. When he first came into the league in 1984, he was primarily a penetrator. His outside shooting wasn’t up to professional standards. So he put in his gym time in the off-season, shooting hundreds of shots each day. Eventually, he became a deadly three-point shooter.”

Urgency Counts! When you have the urgency to really pursue your goals, you’re quick to make changes to improve your business and yourself. You know that some prospective customers will only give you one chance to share, and you know that you need to make that one chance count. Successful people are willing to “look in the mirror,” to change elements of themselves in order to become better business owners and in turn, foster growth of their business.

Team Up for Success. Do you have a strong team? Are you the leader that others want to follow? If not, what can you do to improve? Reach out to others who have walked in your shoes and watch them closely because success always leaves clues!

Whatever you do, don’t back down from your business. Imagine how things would’ve been different if Michael Jordan had decided to quit basketball after he was cut from his high school team—surely most NBA fans and citizens of Chicago alike would agree that would have been a tragedy. Now imagine the tragedy of your business left untapped. Don’t back down; make a commitment for the long haul and then be prepared to reap the benefits.

Sources:
1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jordan
2 http://www.quotes-famous.com/person/Michael-Jordan-quotes.html