By: MELANIE MOORE Idea: Meeting Make-n-Take: At our direct sales network chapter meeting/party a couple years ago we did a pretty cool make-n-take! I totally reappropriated it (nice word for stole!) from Pinterest to write on and decorate with sharpies, but we took plastic ornaments (solid color/round) and sharpie markers & wrote the year really big on one side and then listed all of our business successes for that year all over the ornament with the different color sharpie markers! It was a neat activity, everyone loved it!! And with as cheap as those ornaments are right now after Chri ..read more

By Dana Phillips. You know the value of a new consultant attending training demonstrations whenever possible. Most likely, you never go to a party alone. You take new people with you at every chance. New leaders often don’t always feel comfortable taking someone to their sales events. Explain the benefits of shadowing to a new leader. The new leader will create better rapport with the new person The new leader will save valuable time by training while she is earning The new consultant will look at an event differently, knowing that she will be holding one herself The new consultant will learn ..read more

By Dana Phillips. Summer is here! Have you thought about how you will keep your team engaged and excited when there are so many distractions? When you create a new routine and add an extra helping of fun, your team will stay involved! Here are three ideas that may help you have FUN with your team during the summer. It starts with having fun meetings. Think about beginning the summer with a Fun in the Sun meeting:  If you can do live meetings, you can go all out with a summer theme. If you use digital sessions, give everyone a little time to talk about what they have on. Invite everyone t ..read more

By Dana Phillips. You own your own dreams. You own your own company. You are the reason for your success. So how do you develop a productive relationship with your company? It starts with getting a clear perspective on the relationship between you and your company. It starts with realizing that they want you to be successful. The more they can provide a platform for you to stand on and be successful, the better off they will be. And they KNOW that you are the reason for your success and want you to own the success. Your home office is not your ATM. You don’t just put in your PIN and get money ..read more

By: Melanie Moore   Distractions, whether they come from the TV, social media, the dishes, the laundry, your family, your pets, etc can hinder your productivity and make it challenging to get things finished. While you can’t turn off everything in your life to operate in “work mode”, there are some things you can do to minimize distractions. Create dedicated work area Having a specific space that you have assigned as your office space might help get your mind into “work mode” and keeping your attention. Ideally this space should be away from heavy traffic to keep your mind focused on wha ..read more

By Dana Phillips. We often hear a common lament from direct sellers. “I wish I wasn’t out working every night.”  If that is your concern, here are some thoughts about getting more daytime business. Before we list these ideas, checking your beliefs about building more daytime businesses is a good idea. Are your own thoughts limiting your success? Do you have doubts that you can get more daytime business? If you don’t believe that you can, all the ideas we share will never work for you. Okay, you believe. How can you get more daytime business?  Go to the places people are in the day ..read more

By: Melanie Moore I am sloooowly moving blog posts from my old blog over here to Team Connections blog and I wanted to share this idea from my late friend, Karen Clark. A-MA-ZING idea from the awesome, Karen Clark: “Thought I’d share a bingo I used to do with my team! I love incentives that motivate them to work! They had to do one thing in each category to win a smaller prize and everyone who did that were entered into a drawing for a larger prize! It was a kids product so you might want to change the school/daycare one to regular one on one appts or salons or whatever your niche is.” &n ..read more

By Dana Phillips. We often say that the best defense is a great offense. The most common objective is that people are too busy. Suppose you have been around direct sales; you know the “Ping-Pong” method of handling objectives. When someone offers an objection, the Ping-Pong seller has a ready-made, clever quip. Here is an example of the Ping-Pong exchange. Customer:  “I can’t have a party. My house is too small.” Ping-Pong: “Of course, you can; we have parties in small houses all the time.” Customer:  “You haven’t seen my house.” Ping-Pong:  “We will make it work.” Customer:&nbs ..read more

By Dana Phillips. If you are alive, I can say with absolute certainty that you have said this to yourself: “If only someone had warned me, I wouldn’t have made such a mess of it.” How much easier would it be if someone shared their mistakes with you so you wouldn’t have to repeat them! These are some common mistakes most leaders make and their consequences. Here’s to hoping that by sharing the big mistakes, you can avoid making them yourself and accelerate your success! One of the biggest mistakes is this: Focusing on what’s in front of you and ignoring the big picture. Too often, I poured eve ..read more

By Dana Phillips. Your success starts with you but will not happen without growing your team. Adding more team members and moving people up are two essential parts of your role as a leader. Remember that as your guide and help others. It lifts everyone! What would a healthy, successful team look like? You will want to develop some attributes as you grow your team. New team members are being welcomed every month. All members are appreciated for their unique gifts and talents. Team members are working to achieve their own goals in recruiting and sales, and they recognize their contribution to t ..read more