Such a Cliche

When I first started my Mary Kay business I told myself I wasn't going to fall into the Cliche of the typical Mary Kay lady and I wasn't going to follow the "rules." I was going to do this MY WAY! But now that I am really concentrating on my business trying to work at it, I've noticed that its the cliche's that work. Honestly, I'm a little disappointed. But at least I can be disappointed at the bank. I was going to be a "Maverick" and make my own rules. Now I am finding out that my "own" rules are rules and practices that many a Mary Kay and anyone involved in Direct Sales has done before. Like leaving my business card with the check at restaurants. Casually mentioning my business in conversation. Yes, a cliche but OMG! It works! Like today, I was talking to my IT guy at work. We were talking about texting and I casually mentioned that I have customers who text me their orders. All of a sudden, he's like, "My wife was talking to me about Mary Kay, she was wanting something" So I gave him a catalog. This is a customer that I would have never had, had I not casually mentioned my business. The weirdest thing, as much of a cliche as it is. Casually mentioning my business is how I got a majority of my customers.

Even practices that I have seen on the Mary Kay Consultant website that I thought,"Nobody does this" I have tried and then I hear, "Oh yeah, you totally need to that. I.e. putting my label stickers on all my product, so my customers will remember me when its time to reorder.

The world is full of cliches but what are you going to do? I think, I am no longer going to consider them cliches, but time tested, tried and true practices to follow. Not just in Mary Kay, but in life.

Post Holiday Lul

Christmas is over. New Years is just around the corner. Time to start the new year off with a BANG!!! I have 2 clients who have expressed interest in wanting to throw a party in the New Year. Let's shoot for a January party. It would be perfect, a New Year a New Look and a party, facial and new products in time for Valentines Day so they will have their perfect romantic look for the guy they have for the guy they want.

Business wise I have been working!!! I have been devoting time and energy to marketing my business and telling new people about what I do and have to offer.

With the holidays I feel like I have just been sooo busy that I haven't even had time to really work my business but that is also the time where I also feel that things have just been coming out of the woodwork. I hope that continues.

In terms of being a small business own of the things that I am a little frustrated at myself about is that with Mary Kay every 3 months you have to order at least $200 worth of wholesale. I have ordered $188.00 this month. Ugg. So as soon as I publish this I am going to put in a small order. The only frustrating thing with that is now I have more inventory I need to get rid of. That is part of the challenge. Part of the business. You can't sell from an empty cart, but now I have overhead. Giving me incentive and motivation to sell sell sell!!! Get rid of my inventory move that product.

So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. And be sure to visit my website, www.marykay.com/alexisknelson for your NEW 2010 Look.

Been Busy

Wow, it feels like forever that I have been on here. But i have been so busy. Work, traveling, the holidays. And I am absolutely EXHAUSTED when I get home. As I write this i am sitting in my jammies about to go to bed. I am going to stay up just a bit longer to see if there is a new episode on my favorite TV show. If its a repeat, I am going to bed.

Anyway, as they say, hard work and dedication pay off. And I am beginning to see a slight glimmering of this. I called some of my clients. I had some good conversations with them. If nothing else, it gets me back in contact with them and lets the know that I am still here to serve them. I few others did mention that after the holidays they might be wanting something, so after the holidays it is. I will totally take them up on that offer and give them a call in January.

I did have a very nice sale with one customer however which was amazing since it was exactly what I needed to help my business and my confidence. Did I mention I am mentioning my business everywhere I go and to whoever I talk to. Leaving my business card with the bill at every restaurant we go to. Mentioning what I do to everyone I meet. I did with my Dental Hygienist and she ordered something from me right there. Again, great for my business and my confidence.

So, I am most certainly not there yet but I am getting there, and along this journey of mine, I cannot give up. I must remain positive and must keep at it.

Really?

Is it really in me to do this? Is it? Really? Putting myself out there and giving my business card to everyone I meet and talking to strangers and telling everyone one about Mary Kay? Getting them to buy cosmetics and skin care? Is it in me? Really?

And then calling all my friends, getting them to order and then reorder. Is it in me? I don't know? Do I really want to go out of my comfort zone?

Maybe I am doing all this because I am afraid to give up. Giving up is such a bad thing. We are taught not to give up. To never give up. Winston Churchill said "Never, Never, Never give up" So why am I afraid to give up if I am afraid to step out of my comfort zone and actually sell my product? Why don't I just throw in the towel

What should I do? One day I want to have my own business, I want to have a store. But is a store different than Mary Kay? I mean, I have a store, it is open and people walk in and buy my product. Sure i will advertise. In the traditional way. But I'm not going to have to give my card to everyone I meet. To call all my friends, etc. Yes, it is true. Business are hard and many fail their first year in business. I have sold Mary Kay for a little over a year and now I am just not sure. Should I keep on doing it? I can't get ahold of any of my customers, its hard to find new customers. I just want an answer. Can someone please tell me what I am supposed to do?

Yes, today while I was at my 3 hour overpriced hair appt, just when I thought the hair dresser had forgotten about me and my hair was going to fall out, I wrote my list of goals and wants that I said I was going to.

They were the typical goals and wants that i have always had. To pay off my credit card (good after spending $300 on my hair) , to pay off my student loans. To just be able to pay cash for stuff. Those are goals that I have always wanted. Yes, I can achieve them on my own. But Mary Kay will certainly help. It can help to earn that extra income I need to five my finances a boost and pay off that $300 dent in my credit card from my hair. Yes that pissed me off!!!

I seriously don't know what to do. I hate giving up. All I feel I can do really is to keep trying. That's all I know how to do. I don't know if I want to give up yet.

Attitude is Everything

In a business like Mary Kay. Where your entire business and success depends on you. It is so easy to give up. To get discouraged and just walk away. Almost everyday, I think, I can just give all my inventory away for Christmas and walk away. But why? I actually like this business. I like selling Mary Kay. There are going to be a million rejections before someone says yes! and I succeed. I have succeed so many time already. And with those successes I have had rejections and failures.

But when this is my business, it gets personal. With all these failures, what incentive is there for me? I am funding this business with my own money. This is my gamble. How do I know its going to be worth it? When will this business start taking off? When will it all be worth it? How much longer do I have to go? I am not about to give up but I like having an end in mind.

Maybe I should actually set some goals. Seriously sit down and write down in detail some actual concrete goals for my business. What do I want? What am I working toward? At what points will I have reached my goals and key milestones in my goals?

OK that is my goal for the weekend. My task:
What am I working my business for?
What are the key milestones of my goal?
At what points will I have reached my goals?
and last but not least - the most important....

What do I want out of my business?
What do I want my business to be?

Thursday Night walk

Tonight after dinner, my fiance and I went on our evening walk. Before we went however, I grabbed like 10 business cards, and wrote "30% off first order" on the front and back. After our walk in the park, while we were walking back to the car, my fiance, out of embarrassment, walked quickly ahead pretending not to know me while I happily put all those cards in the various mini-vans and suv's just sitting at the park waiting for the mom's and families to come back from pee-wee football practice.

Let's see how it works. Hopefully it does.

Other than that, I am really kind of tired tonight so I am off. Going to knit and watch my shows. Try not to think about Mary Kay tonight.

The Night "Off"

So I was going to take tonight off of my Mary Kay.

Directly after work I went to a photography studio across town to get engagement pictures done. Then my fiance and I went to dinner. By the time I left the restaurant it was 8pm. Being across town, it took me a half hour to get home. So all the way home I am thinking, I am going to have a glass of wine, put my feet up and take the night off. I won't even worry about the MK order that came in today.

So I get home and suddenly decide. OK fine, I will put my order away. I had no customer orders in my box, instead, a TON of inventory. My little Mary Kay area is now overflowing. AHHH I need to SELL. I need to get rid of this inventory. At least alot of it can be used as stocking stuffers. If anyone is reading this.... wink wink.

At least now while I type this, I do have my feet up. My wine is sitting on the coffee table just inches from my feet and on of my favorite Food Network shows is on.

I do have to give myself props though. I do happen to know the photographer and owner of the photography studio I went to today. So while I was there I have her some catalogs to leave in her lobby. I even asked if I could bring more. She said sure. I also brought some goodie bags left over from Halloween. I even offered a discount on the back of the catalogs. So here goes nothing. At the restaurant I even left my business card for the waitress. However, of course, as I was LEAVING the restaurant, I thought, I should have put a discount on the back of that card. I can't tell you how many times I have left business cards on restaurant tables. I really need to start putting discounts on the back of my cards and catalogs that I leave. Everyone loves a sale!!!

So here goes nothing, I have a dining room full of inventory and its day 2 of my 31 products in 31 days. Hmm. I think I am going to study now.

Pacesetters - December

It is a new month. On the first day of each new month on the Mary Kay Consultant website they have a program called "Pacesetters" It is actually a great little program. This is the first time in a long time that I have actually paid attention to it. But really, if you do pay attention to it, it is great, it helps with goal setting your business since it gives you those goals. In the past, I admit I haven't paid much attention to it. Thinking I was just not going to be able to achieve those goals. I still am not sure if I will achieve this goal, but I will try. So, now not only is my goal for the month to sell 31 products in 31 days, but now I have to hold 10 beauty appointment. Hmm. Like I say, I will certainly try. I have decided that if I am going to be serious about my business and make the money that I want and have the success that I want, I need to be optimistic and positive.

No more saying I don't feel like doing any Mary Kay tonight. Do you know how many times I don't feel like going to work? Like almost everyday. But I do. Because its my job, and if I don't show up, I'm going to lose it. Same with Mary Kay. If I don't do the work, I'm going to lose this opportunity. And yes, its an opportunity. No guarantees in this opportunity. But if I try, who knows. I have my goals, I have my vision, I will achieve.

I was also thinking while listening to some of my Pacesetters booking training programs, that Mary Kay itself has a goal, for its consultants to hold 5 billion Mary Kay parties by its 50th anniversary. Which is like a year away. I was thinking, what makes them think that is going to happen? Even with all the analysts and brains involved with the company. They still have no guarantees that they will get their 5 billion but they are optimistic. And because they are optimistic, I am confident, they will get it. So now I have to be confident that I will achieve my goals.

I know, I am disgustingly and uncharacteristically optimistic about this today, but like I said, I honestly don't think I am going to get anywhere if I am not optimistic and positive about my goals.

So here I go.

Mary Kay My Way - 2nd Edition

So here I am, my big goal and my big hurdle I feel is to sell the inventory that I have!!! I must have like $400 worth of inventory in my dining room/Mary Kay room. (Come on, like you eat in your dining room anymore) I am trying to sell it. It is the holidays. While yes, I didn't jump on the band wagon and get all the Holiday product and gift sets, I have plenty of Satin Hands, Timewise and various lotions and potions. Including TONS of Eye makeup remover and Soothing Eye Gel. So here I am, just trying to make the money back from what I spent ordering all that product so I can stay active and hopefully sell.

I am actually kind of proud of myself, I did a few follow-up calls and plan to do one or two tomorrow.

I even put on my Facebook my promotion for the month, 31 products in 31 days. Get 31% off your purchase when you mention 31/31 in the comments when your order on my website. This serves several purposes. One, it forces me to set a goal for myself, I will sell 31 products in one month. Two, it advertises my business, and last time I did this in September, I did very well. Three, it advertises my website. I also have a fourth goal, I will get 1 new customer per week. Last September I got like 5 customers. So AWESOME ME!!! I am also doing something very common in the retail world. Having a SALE. And hoping that once I bring new customers or even customers I haven't seen in awhile with my 31% off, I will keep them for awhile and they will be repeat.

Also, for Halloween, I put together sample bags for all the moms in my neighborhood that came by with their kids. I have yet to hear from anyone from Halloween. Did I mention tomorrow is December 1st. And I still have a bunch of those Sample bags lefts that I am still trying to figure out what to do with. I am thinking hanging on my neighbors doors. Despite my HOA's no soliciitng policy. Hey, if Bob's Bug Service and put a flyer on my drawer, and I can hang some lipstick samples on my neighbors doors.

With all my hurdles and goals, I remain optimistic. Every other time I have put my mind to something in the past I have achieved my goal. I can do this. I can do this. I CAN DO THIS!!!!

Mary Kay My Way

So I have been selling Mary Kay Cosmetics for a little over a year now. When I was recruited and started selling I told myself I would do this MY WAY. Not anyway anybody told me to do it. Of course I was going to take the tried and true selling advise that they give you and I did take it seriously. I figure, anything worth doing is worth doing right. But I wasn't going to fall into the typical sterio type of the "Mary Kay Lady" that was constantly pushing lipstick in your face and trying to recruit you also. No. My philosophy is, if you want my services, great. If not. Oh well. I understand, but I'm here when you change your mind. Until then, we won't talk about it.

Of course, when I signed up there was a reason, the typical reason. To make extra money! I have a mortgage, student loans and champagne taste on a beer budget. So I wanted to make a little extra money. Pay of my credit cards, pay my student loans and be able to have a little extra spending money at the end of the month.

But I never really gave Mary Kay everything I could really have put into it. If I want to make money, what am I doing to EARN that money. This is a job, this is work. Just like any job, with Mary Kay, you have to work at it to be successful and make money.

Before I go any further, let me make it clear, this is a journey through my Mary Kay career. This is in all respect to Mary Kay Ash and her philosophies and teachings and her business. This Blog is in all respect to the company that Mary Kay is today and every one of my sister Mary Kay Consultants.

So here I am, having sold Mary Kay for a little over 1 year and my birthday/Christmas present to myself was to continue on this Mary Kay Journey and SHINE!!! To be successful in this business and to watch my profits soar.

Stay tuned for more updates on my journey, my goals, my triumphs and tribulations. My ups and my downs.