A New Layout: Just for Fun

I was just playing and the Blogger software has been upgraded quite a bit. I love it. :)

I also found a cool little tool on another website. Have a look at what this little blog comes up with for a word cloud when a computer and a graphic artist get together and analyse it. I really like that the biggest word in the word cloud is the word "business" because I know PartyLite is a great business.

Bye for now. More coming!

July Focus

At our Unit Meeting this week, we talked about things we should keep doing, things we should think about, and things we should stop doing in our business. Here is a list of the ideas we brainstormed:

GREEN LIGHT - What we're good at:

Talking
Calling customers
Using the call tracker
Being creative
Burning candles
Paperwork

YELLOW LIGHT - What we're unsure about:

How to pack up quicker
What to take to shows
How to talk to guests as they arrive – breaking the ice
How to deal with “No”
Being persistent versus being pushy
How to address price

RED LIGHT - Things we’ll stop doing:

Procrastinating
Giving away too much
Stressing about things we can’t control
Talking too much

This month I will post articles about each of these topics to help us all. If you would like to send me your own input to these topics, I will be happy to include your ideas in the posts. You can send your input to wendy @ wlcenterprises.com. Thanks. WLC.

The Press Conference

Oct 28, 2009 - Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images Europe

Sports analogies are used all the time for businesses. I was watching a press conference last week sometime. I think it was after the NSW Blues were trashed in game 2 of the State of Origin by the Queensland Reds. Anyway, for some reason it really struck me that these coaches and players get asked questions about their performance immediately after the game whether they win or lose. They are force to analyse their performance and their feelings about their performance immediately after the event.

It's part of their job.

It made me wonder if we should do the same thing.

Introducing: On Reflection....

On Reflection... is a little press conference you can have with yourself, with your family, with another PartyLite buddy, or with your Leader. You really need to do it right after a show to get the best impact. Here are the questions you need to answer. You might need your door prize slips to answer all the questions. For highest impact, I think you should write the answers down.

1. What went right?
2. What went wrong?
3. Who was interesting?
4. Who was interested?
5. What would you change?

Don't forget to also ask yourself how you feel about the show. Sports people are always asked about how they feel. They are either elated or gutted. Either way, they make changes and then go out again the next time. And so will you. Win or lose - just keep learning from each show.

On Reflection... you will get better and better.

What do you do to recap your show experience each time? Do you think that using On Reflection... would make a difference to your business?

Getting Organised

One of my favourite strategies of late is the Daily Action Plan promoted by Eliana. It is simple and achievable. I probably don't have it exactly right, but here is my synopsis:

1. Call a client
2. Call a host
3. Call a lead
4. Call a consultant (someone in your downline)
5. Read a book (not the whole thing, obviously)

For most consultants, this daily action plan could be modified to this:

1. Call a client
2. Call a host
3. Call a lead
4. Call or write to your upline
5. Read a book

Four calls and some personal development. That's pretty simple. Maybe it'll work for you.

How am I getting organised?

Today I took some time to organise my office and my schedule around daily, weekly, monthly, and ad hoc activities. Everything in June and July has been diarised, but I used big chunks of time so that I could be a little bit flexible while still giving myself some much-needed discipline. The goal was to enable me to MAKE THAT CALL five days a week. After all, this is my job. If the plan works well, I'll do it for the rest of the year.

I did have one major breakthrough in my thinking as I set up this system. Let's say that I wanted to spend one hour making client phone calls. In the past, that process has been pretty labour intensive. That's because I would pick a name, look them up on the CBC, see what they've ordered before, decide what to call them about, and then call. It's called procrastination and I was really good at it.

My breakthrough in thinking is realising that all of that prework is important and should happen, but that I can do it as an administrative task to get ready for my calls. Then, when it's time to make the calls, I'm ready. The hour of calls is nothing but an hour of calls.

Even for a daily action plan that breakthrough works. If you are going to make four calls today, who will you call? Why will you call them? What is their number? And what actions will you have once the calls are done? That's the prework.

So, how to get organised? Each night, make a list for your daily calls the next day and do a little research so you are prepared to make those calls. Divide and conquer.

Getting organised... it's a breakthrough!

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Sweet, sweet carrots!

Ange and me at the Furama Resort in Da Nang

We returned from our trip to Vietnam on Wednesday morning. From the sun, heat and humidity of Da Nang to the overcast, cold and wet of Sydney took a little bit of adjustment.

It was a fantastic trip and I could wax on about it (pun not originally intended, but how great was that?) for pages and pages, but I have another idea....

My good friend Ben and I were having a coffee together this morning and we were discussing how amazing the trip was. I told Ben that I hadn't written my blog yet and that I honestly didn't know what to say. As we talked, we compared the benefits of PartyLite to all the other jobs we've had in the past. No one else had ever offered us the same sort of reward for doing our jobs. No one. We asked ourselves, why does PartyLite do it?

I think I figured it out. It's all about carrots.

After thinking about it on my walk home, I'd like to share something personal with you. Something I'm not sure you'd probably think about me.

The reason PartyLite is so generous in its rewards, recognition and incentives, is because it has to be better than every other opportunity out there to keep me involved. To keep me interested. To keep me motivated. To stop me from throwing in the towel when the going gets tough.

Yes, even I think about throwing in the towel.

This job is fun, simple, social, flexible, lucrative, exciting, and free. AND sometimes it is just plain hard. Hard to stay motivated. Hard to put up with no. Hard to deal with cancellations and postponements. Hard to fit it in with other things (work, family, and friends). Hard to regroup and get bookings. Hard to make that call.

So sometimes I do think about throwing in the towel and getting a "real job."

But that's where the carrots come in. The incentive trips are incredible: five star, exotic, no work, all play. No business will match them. The fact that I get to work when I want to (or work when I can) is amazing. No business will match that. The money I earn from my shows is great money for a simple (fun) activity. No business is as fun as a show. The money I earn from my leadership activities is unlimited. No business will match that. The training and development and inspiration and friendship I get from others in PartyLite is constant and uplifting. No business can match that. The freedom I have to do what I want, how I want, and when I want is unheard of in a "real job." No business can match that. The investment I make into developing my PartyLite business is time, not money. So even (nay, especially) starting my own business doing something else can't match that.

So when the internal voice in my head says it's all too hard, I think about the next incentive trip and I consider the possibility of not going on the next one and I completely change my attitude. I simply can't miss out.

That's why PartyLite does it. It's to motivate people like me. Because I need motivating to keep this up just like everyone else in the business needs motivating.

No matter what your goals are in this business, I can promise you this: you're not alone when you think of quitting. It is hard. We step outside our comfort zone everyday. But here's what you need to remember: That's why they pay us so well. That's why we get recognised for what we do. That's why the carrots are so good. That's why PartyLite does what no other company in my professional experience will do.

That's when you should take a deep breath, a time out, and start again tomorrow.

And you know what? It is worth it. Every time.

Eat your carrots.