Boy talk about being put through a ringer. Well worked all day Friday, then came home to a sick little girl who I ended up having to rock to sleep, due to not keeping her cookies down and just feeling plain yucky. Finally around 11pm little was asleep and I went back to work on those center pieces. Well over 3/5 done by 3am Saturday morning. Got up a 9am feeling kinda not to good, thought it was cause of a rough day and little sleep (got up about 3 time to take care of little one). Went to work and about 2pm came home sick as a dog. I am barely able to get out of bed this afternoon. I feel like I have been put through one of those old washing machines that ring out as you wash. I am not truly behind on my center pieces and will be busting can to finish them in time for this weekends swarm. I also need to get back to work tomorrow or go broke.
So forgive me for not posting, but just could get away from the Procelain God for very long. I will try to post again this week, but I have to finish these dang center peices, so we will see how it goes.
Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Bad news for me
I just got called to go to work tomorrow till 9pm which is going to put me even further behind on these center pieces. Jesh, I need a little bit of a break. I guess I will be locked in my craft room all day Saturday and Sunday, thats if they don't call me in. I have already been worned that they might need me. Yikes!!! Well that was my 5 minute break, so back to the center pieces.
Hope eveyone had a great day and a better tomorrow.
Hope eveyone had a great day and a better tomorrow.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Party Time Blog Candy
You need to go and check out this blog candy. 3 people will win some really nice blog candy. Here is the link:
In My Minds Eye Blog Candy
Good luck everyone.
In My Minds Eye Blog Candy
Good luck everyone.
Too tired to think........
From 6 am this morning till about 1 hour ago, I have been cutting out the stuff for the 55 table center pieces I need to make for the swarm. My poor Cricky is burning up. He got way to hot to day. So I figured I better post what was up in my day. LOL Not much just a cutting.
Well tomorrow it is back to work. YUKE!!! I need to finish these dang center pieces. I have to have them done by Monday, because I am swamped Tuesday thu Friday next week. Wish me luck that I can get these done, it is me, myself, and I doing these and it is alot more work than I had planned.
Well off to hop around and check on people blogs before hitting the hay. I hope everyone had a wonderful day and an even better one tomorrow.
Well tomorrow it is back to work. YUKE!!! I need to finish these dang center pieces. I have to have them done by Monday, because I am swamped Tuesday thu Friday next week. Wish me luck that I can get these done, it is me, myself, and I doing these and it is alot more work than I had planned.
Well off to hop around and check on people blogs before hitting the hay. I hope everyone had a wonderful day and an even better one tomorrow.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
NURSERY RHYME AND CIRCUT CARTRIDGE BLOG CANDY / GIVE AWAY
Digital Delights has the Nursery Rhyme Cart for Blog Candy.
Here is the link: http://digitaldelightsbyloubyloo.blogspot.com/2010/09/500-followers-give-away.html
Go check it out, and good luck to everyone.
Here is the link: http://digitaldelightsbyloubyloo.blogspot.com/2010/09/500-followers-give-away.html
Go check it out, and good luck to everyone.
DCWV Stack Give Away
The Pink Cricut is have a great giveaway on her blog.
Here is the link to the post. http://www.pinkcricut.com/2010/09/dcwv-giveaway/
Go take a look, she also has a great project as well.
Good luck everyone.
Here is the link to the post. http://www.pinkcricut.com/2010/09/dcwv-giveaway/
Go take a look, she also has a great project as well.
Good luck everyone.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Holy Cow!!!
I just found out that I need to make 55 center pieces for the swarm on Oct. 2nd. YIKES!!!!
This is a picture of the sample I made. This is the purse from Forever Young done on the Design Studio to be 11.5 by 11 inches. I used the DCWV the Black Currant stack and CTMH Black Cardstock. I added Primas and I-Rock gems to the center of the flowers. But now I need to make 55 in 2 weeks, plus go to work, take care of my daughter and my dear husband. Ok, so much for me an creations for myself. lol Tomorrow I will be a busting can to get some of these done while I am not working. Say a prayer that I can get most of them done over the next 2 days while off of work.
Cartridge Give A Way
Cindy, over at Royal Things (http://royalthings.blogspot.com/2010/09/give-hoot-give-way.html), is giving away the Give A Hoot cricut cartridge.
Pop over there and take a moment to leave a comment to be entered for a chance to win. Winner will be picked on 9/24/10.
Pop over there and take a moment to leave a comment to be entered for a chance to win. Winner will be picked on 9/24/10.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Fantastic Blog Hop
I was so impressed, I wanted to share this blog hop with all of you. There are some wonderful projects that these ladies put together. I hope you all stop by and give a look and a comment or 2. It ends on Sunday night so you have plenty of time to hop through.
Enjoy the Spooktacular projects.
http://crazyaboutcricut.blogspot.com/
Enjoy the Spooktacular projects.
http://crazyaboutcricut.blogspot.com/
guest-blogger-michael-katz-e-nurturing-e-newsletters
I thought this was another intersting article for Direct Sales people. Hope you like.
Posted on May 27, 2008 by Amy Black under Email Marketing
I invited email newsletter expert Michael Katz of Blue Penguin Development (he wrote the book on email newsletters!) to write about the impact that email newsletters can have on a business. Here’s his perspective.
Best,
Amy
The following was written by guest blogger Michael Katz
According to my friends at the reference desk of the Boston Public Library, there are more than 1.9 million professional farmers in the United States today. Interestingly, this same source couldn’t find a single person in the nation categorized as a "professional hunter."
Frankly, this doesn’t surprise me. Despite having slept through much of Mr. Schweitzer’s 10th grade social studies class, I did learn that the people who grow food for a living are considered more anthropologically advanced than the hunter/gatherers of the world. And so it makes sense that in a highly developed country such as this, hunting as a career option has all but vanished.
What is surprising however, is that in the world of Western business, hunting – not farming – remains the dominant strategy for growing a company.
Cold calling; direct mail; email blasts; and most newspaper, TV and radio advertising represent hunting strategies. You come to work in the morning, look for your target, aim your weapon, and if you’re good, you’re eating by lunch time. This is the way most companies bring in business.
Farming strategies on the other hand – approaches that seek to grow the business by developing existing relationships – are considered optional add-ons by many companies. These tactics include things like loyalty, referral and feedback programs; customer events; thank you notes; and my personal favorite, electronic newsletters.
Although hunting has its advantages (results tend to come faster and are generally easier to measure), for my money, farming is a much better way to live.
Here’s why:
1.Farming is more targeted. Most of the challenge in hunting is finding your prey in the first place. Ask anyone who hunts and they’ll tell you that the majority of the time and effort is spent stalking, not shooting. A farmer on the other hand, doesn’t spend even a second wondering where the crop may have wandered off to today. He just opens the backdoor and there it is, right where he left it yesterday.
In business as well, there is no more targeted a place to look for more revenue than within your own house list. All of the people who have bought from you before are by definition people who are likely to buy from you again, and no matter how good your segmentation research is, it’s guaranteed to be a less accurate predictor of future behavior than working your existing relationships. When you send a monthly E-Newsletter to these folks you are looking for sales in the best place possible.
2.Farming is self perpetuating. Let’s say I go out hunting penguins and I catch five of them by the end of the day. Am I now more or less likely to catch any tomorrow? Who knows?! Every day is a blank slate, and today’s success doesn’t impact tomorrow (if anything it makes it harder, since I just thinned out the penguin population).
When I farm however, not only do I eat today, but in the process of harvesting I gather the seeds for tomorrow’s crop.
Similarly, while direct mail, advertising, telemarketing, and other hunting tactics may be successful in creating leads in the short term, they cease to be useful the minute you stop doing them, and they get less effective over time. Each wave of a given hunting tactic to a given audience is less effective than the previous, which means that over time you spend more money for reduced results.
A relationship based approach such as an E-Newsletter, on the other hand, gets easier over time. Your list gets bigger, your reader connections get stronger, and the same effort yields more results.
3.Farming creates an asset. You hunt for 20 years, and what do you have to show for it? Hunting skills. You farm for 20 years and not only do you have farming skills, you’ve got a farm to pass on to the next generation. Both approaches feed your family, but only one builds something of value that lives on.
In business, your database of contacts is your farm. Cared for properly, it gets bigger, better and more productive over time. The truth is, for most of us pure service providers, our house list is the most valuable asset we’ve got, and by increasing its value, we increase the value of our business.
The bottom line: My point here is not to suggest that you fire your sales team and cancel your advertising. The great news is that these two approaches – farming and hunting – are in no way mutually exclusive. In fact, the two approaches complement each other well; a customer who already gets your E-Newsletter is much more likely to accept your telemarketing call.
I am recommending however, that you take it from me and Mr. Schweitzer, and pay less attention to hunting strangers, and more attention to nurturing relationships with the people you already know. I’ll be in study hall if you need me.
Posted on May 27, 2008 by Amy Black under Email Marketing
I invited email newsletter expert Michael Katz of Blue Penguin Development (he wrote the book on email newsletters!) to write about the impact that email newsletters can have on a business. Here’s his perspective.
Best,
Amy
The following was written by guest blogger Michael Katz
According to my friends at the reference desk of the Boston Public Library, there are more than 1.9 million professional farmers in the United States today. Interestingly, this same source couldn’t find a single person in the nation categorized as a "professional hunter."
Frankly, this doesn’t surprise me. Despite having slept through much of Mr. Schweitzer’s 10th grade social studies class, I did learn that the people who grow food for a living are considered more anthropologically advanced than the hunter/gatherers of the world. And so it makes sense that in a highly developed country such as this, hunting as a career option has all but vanished.
What is surprising however, is that in the world of Western business, hunting – not farming – remains the dominant strategy for growing a company.
Cold calling; direct mail; email blasts; and most newspaper, TV and radio advertising represent hunting strategies. You come to work in the morning, look for your target, aim your weapon, and if you’re good, you’re eating by lunch time. This is the way most companies bring in business.
Farming strategies on the other hand – approaches that seek to grow the business by developing existing relationships – are considered optional add-ons by many companies. These tactics include things like loyalty, referral and feedback programs; customer events; thank you notes; and my personal favorite, electronic newsletters.
Although hunting has its advantages (results tend to come faster and are generally easier to measure), for my money, farming is a much better way to live.
Here’s why:
1.Farming is more targeted. Most of the challenge in hunting is finding your prey in the first place. Ask anyone who hunts and they’ll tell you that the majority of the time and effort is spent stalking, not shooting. A farmer on the other hand, doesn’t spend even a second wondering where the crop may have wandered off to today. He just opens the backdoor and there it is, right where he left it yesterday.
In business as well, there is no more targeted a place to look for more revenue than within your own house list. All of the people who have bought from you before are by definition people who are likely to buy from you again, and no matter how good your segmentation research is, it’s guaranteed to be a less accurate predictor of future behavior than working your existing relationships. When you send a monthly E-Newsletter to these folks you are looking for sales in the best place possible.
2.Farming is self perpetuating. Let’s say I go out hunting penguins and I catch five of them by the end of the day. Am I now more or less likely to catch any tomorrow? Who knows?! Every day is a blank slate, and today’s success doesn’t impact tomorrow (if anything it makes it harder, since I just thinned out the penguin population).
When I farm however, not only do I eat today, but in the process of harvesting I gather the seeds for tomorrow’s crop.
Similarly, while direct mail, advertising, telemarketing, and other hunting tactics may be successful in creating leads in the short term, they cease to be useful the minute you stop doing them, and they get less effective over time. Each wave of a given hunting tactic to a given audience is less effective than the previous, which means that over time you spend more money for reduced results.
A relationship based approach such as an E-Newsletter, on the other hand, gets easier over time. Your list gets bigger, your reader connections get stronger, and the same effort yields more results.
3.Farming creates an asset. You hunt for 20 years, and what do you have to show for it? Hunting skills. You farm for 20 years and not only do you have farming skills, you’ve got a farm to pass on to the next generation. Both approaches feed your family, but only one builds something of value that lives on.
In business, your database of contacts is your farm. Cared for properly, it gets bigger, better and more productive over time. The truth is, for most of us pure service providers, our house list is the most valuable asset we’ve got, and by increasing its value, we increase the value of our business.
The bottom line: My point here is not to suggest that you fire your sales team and cancel your advertising. The great news is that these two approaches – farming and hunting – are in no way mutually exclusive. In fact, the two approaches complement each other well; a customer who already gets your E-Newsletter is much more likely to accept your telemarketing call.
I am recommending however, that you take it from me and Mr. Schweitzer, and pay less attention to hunting strangers, and more attention to nurturing relationships with the people you already know. I’ll be in study hall if you need me.
When is the Product Due to Arrive?
©Copyright 2009 Christie Northrup
Feel free to forward this article or post on your website as long as the entire article is left intact.
If you've ever been pregnant, you know the first question you're always asked as your belly begins to protrude:
WHEN ARE YOU DUE?
After a while, I got tired of the question and felt like hanging a sign around my neck with my due date!
As the "owner" of your direct sales business, you have a pretty good idea of when an order will arrive at your host's or guest's homes once you've processed it. Let's say it's a seven-day turn around. That means if you hold a party today, August 27, you should give your host until the weekend to gather any additional orders (do not give more than three days). If you input and transmit the order on line on August 31, the orders should arrive around Tuesday, September 7, which allows for the Labor Day holiday.
At your party tonight, make a BIG SIGN with the words: SEPTEMBER 7 (or whatever date is appropriate for your company's processing and shipping time).
During the demonstration or open house, people will ASK YOU what the sign means and you can explain that's the ANTICIPATED delivery day when they'll be able to:
•Decorate themselves with their new jewelry
•Create new scrap book pages
•Make a meal in their microwave
•Begin a new skin care regimen
•Display their new fall decorations
•If these don't apply, write a statement that describes your company's products
You can use my analogy from last week where I compared the product delivery day to the due date of a pregnant woman; this protects both you and the host in event of any delays. When guests don't have to guess when their order will arrive, they are more likely to make purchases for gifts and they'll also eagerly anticipate using their new merchandise in their order; it's almost like waiting for a birthday present to arrive!
During this time, they'll be thinking of you and what they ordered and telling their friends about what's "new" in their lives (most of us in the industry are women and we love to share shopping stories!) If you focus on WHEN the guests will receive their order, you'll have more EXCITED people telling others about your company and more hosts anxious to invite their friends to the next party.
In the meantime, be sure you Connect your Calendar to your Checkbook as you plan your family's schedule this holiday season:
Christie
http://www.lemonaidlady.com/
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