Often times when people join a business they feel overwhelmed. Many people feel that there is so much they need to know before they approach anyone. So…WHAT is it that you should know before you approach people?

All you need to know is your why. That’s it!

When you join a business, usually you have become familiar with the products already. Most of the people that sign up for a home party business opportunity have used the products or purchased the products and sign up as a distributor to either get the discount or to earn some income. You already know you love the products and you already know why.

Think about what it is that prompted you to sign up for the opportunity, how did that person present the product and the opportunity to you?

I hear of so many people that never have their first party because they fear that they don’t know enough about the products. The reality is that it’s OK that you don’t know everything, in fact, you can present with very little at your first couple of parties, even if your upline is not there to guide you.

If someone asks you a question and you don’t know the answer there is a magic response…  “I don’t know, but let me find out and I will let you know. When is best to get in touch with you and how can I contact you?”….That’s it.

People are very forgiving and they would rather get a response like that than something made up. It’s also a great way to follow up with people and build rapport so .. sometimes not knowing everything is an opportunity to contact that person in the future. No one expects you to know everything so it’s not a big deal to say “I don’t know”.

So, you have this home party business selling X, Y and/or Z. You have had a couple of parties but seem to have a hard time getting people to book the next party. You might think “how can I get some parties booked so my hostess can get rewards and I can do more parties?”.

Plant some seeds!

As we have mentioned, if you are new to the business you can host your own first party because your family are friends are the most forgiving. Let them know that this is a new business for you and be willing to say “I don’t know, but I will find out and get back with you” when you really don’t know.

During the course of your party you will be doing some gardening… mind gardening. You will be planting seeds… booking seeds.  “Booking Seeds” are a very effective way to get more people to book parties. So what are booking seeds?

Booking seeds are hints… you are planting the seeds to an idea, the idea to have a party themselves. There are some obvious seeds and some subtle seeds.

During the course of the party you will put the idea into the heads of the attendants to have their own party. In the presentation you will mention things like “my last hostess earned this for half price at her party, isn’t it great to get free stuff?”, that is a subtle idea that gets planted into their head inspiring them to have a party.. then there is a little more direct …like “My last hostess got this for Free last week when she had a party with ten ladies in attendance!”

The statistics show that the amount of seeds you plant are relative to how many bookings you will get: 1-3 seeds -maybe 1 booking, 4-8= 1 booking,    9-12= 2 bookings,   15 or more = 3 bookings

It takes some practice to develop a way to include this into the presentation but you can do it. Use some eye contact as well, if you get a feel for someones high interest level in the product, let your eyes fall on that woman for a few seconds longer when you are planting the verbal seed. It doesn’t need to be an obvious gaze…cause that’s just creepy.

Be VERY INTENTIONAL with your words. When you are talking about what a hostess can earn there is a huge difference between these 2 phrases “If you book a party, you can earn X amount of free stuff” and “When you have your own party, you will earn this incredible deal”. The first is asking, the second is telling. When you say it out loud… it doesn’t sound that different but it means something completely different.

When you are taking your orders… LISTEN!  Have you heard anyone talking about some of the stuff they liked and they haven’t put it on their order form? Let them know that you noticed they liked product Y but they didn’t order it. Likely they will say “oh I don’t have the cash for that now” or some such statement. That’s when you let them know how much a party will help them purchase that thing.ALSO when you have the client sheet that they filled out with their contact info…. look to see how they answered the question “would you be interested in hosting your own party?” if it is checked yes, then ask them when they would like to have their own party and book it. Usually they are not going to come running to you to book a party… YOU HAVE TO ASK.

If they say they would like to host a party but not this month, ask what their ideal month is and ask when is good to contact them about booking. It’s a good idea to only book the current month or the next month in your last week of the month… ya never know what may come up.

If they checked the NO box, ask them, “is this No forever… lose my number and never call me? or is this NO not for now?” If they say it’s no forever, leave it at that, they are NOT interested. If they say, no, not now then ask if they would be ready in 6 months and could you contact them in 6 months. Again, ask what time of day is good to call or what is the best way to contact them.

Some people will say something like “No.. I don’t think I will.. I don’t know enough people”. I have heard this from a lady AND have booked a party with this person… What I said was… “I’m sure you know more than you think… I’m sure (hostess name) would come since you came to her party…right (hostess name)?” Then I said, do you know one or 2 people at work or have a mom or sister or sister-in-law in town that might come?” “… yea”, “Ok, what about a couple of people out of town that might order from the catalog?” I helped her find people to have at her party. So many will worry that they won’t have enough people show up so just assure them that a party is  a party whether it’s 2 people or 20, it doesn’t matter. When they are relaxed and feel at ease that you are not judging their circle of friends then they will usually get people over for the party. Empower the person to have the party and assure her that it won’t require a great deal from her for preparation.

When you have a hostess who is interested in a collection or getting several items but would like to spread out the expense, she would be a good candidate for your “Power of 10″ group. The Power of 10 is a technique we teach that is very effective for leveraging to earn more and have guaranteed bookings.

So, learn your presentation, throw the seeds around, because the more you plant, the more growth you will have. Then reap the harvest.

Charlotte Salafia

www.DesignedForDivineDestinations.com

“Where it’s not just about the destination, but the journey to get there”

Back in June I wrote about why anyone would blog. There is a critical piece I need to add to the reason people blog.

As I have been blogging, on a few different blogs.. and talk about what ever strikes me or which ever revelation I have.. I find that I attract different sorts of readers. I have found that different people google different topics and end up reading my stuff. Some readers find me because they follow me on Twitter or they are my friend on Facebook… once in a while it gets mailed to someone else. Which ever way people find it… I have noticed I am getting a certain type of follower.

What is this certain type of follower? Other people who are interested in what I am interested in. I have lots of different interests and I write about it all, I write about concerts I go to, my vacation, my difficulties with hairdressers, how I set goals, kids, relationships.. whatever it is. When I do this people that are interested find me. They feel a connection with me.

My blogs are online 24/7 representing me. My new online friends get to know me through my blog, they get to see my authenticity. They see that I don’t try and act like my life is perfect and that I have idiosyncrasies like collecting cookie cutters and sprinkles. They are attracted to me because my blog tells them who I am.

Blogging is critical for attracting the sort of people you want in your business, life, relationships etc. What ever sort of community you are building, blogging is key. Don’t worry about having to make it sound perfect or developing the correct sentence or grammar… I can say this, I was always a D student in English. If you are focused purely on the content, your message will get to who it needs to get to.

Blogging will bring in those who you wish to be connected with.

Try it, you’ll like it.

Charlotte Salafia

www.DesignedforDivineDestinations.com

“Where is not just about the Destination, but the journey to get there.”

When our kids are young we have hopes and dreams for their future.. we want them to grow up to be strong and independent. We want them to be confident and self assured. Those are natural desires that parents have for their kids.

When they are old enough to understand we discipline their behaviors when they act up, we tell them to have confidence, we tell them to believe in themselves, we tell them to be good with money, we tell them to be kind, we tell them to be strong. Every parent has a desire for their child to have a better life than they do…. are you starting to see where I am going with this?

We can tell our children lots of things but what they do is…what we DO. We don’t want them to make the same mistakes we do but sometimes we don’t change what we do, we only tell THEM to change.  For example, I have a friend who dates guys who don’t treat her very nicely, she does all the giving and dates takers. She is teaching her daughter to be a victim yet her desire for her daughter is to have healthy relationships with men. She is telling her daughter one thing and is in-congruent by doing the complete opposite.  My husband wants our kid to keep their rooms clean yet he’s got piles of stuff all around the house and doesn’t keep his part of the bedroom clean.

One of the things I learned from family counseling is the same thing people learn in dog training classes… in dog training classes, it’s not the dogs that are getting the training but the dog owners. In family counseling it’s not the kids who are getting the counseling but the parents.

Strong leadership starts at home. If you desire to work on your week areas, look at your children. They are your mirror… whatever they need to work on, is probably what you need to work on. To be a leader, you cannot ask those you are leading to do something you are not willing to do yourself. Some of the greatest generals in history are the ones who were on the front lines with the troops and not sending directions from an armchair.

If you feel your children need a change, then be that change first. They will follow your lead naturally. If you think that your children don’t know what your finances are like… think again, they can detect all that information from you. Children know when their parents are worried, they know your weakness and live them as well.

If you want your children to change then be the change you want to see in your children. Be their leader.

Charlotte Salafia

www.designedfordivinedestinations.com

“Where it’s not just about the destination, but the journey to get there.”

When it comes to Abundance and prosperity people usually think of this in a “right now in my pocket” kind of way.

After the hit book came out “The Secret” it really enlightened lots of people (myself included) that you can have the lifestyle, health and relationships that you desire.

It also had a negative aspect (which I found usually by people who had NOT read the book/or watched the DVD) that you could just ’sit on the couch’ and expect your millions to fall into your lap.

Here is my story that I would love to share with you on how I used the Principles from “the Secret” and brought an event into our lives without having made any extra money!

At the time we were living in a very tiny ‘two bedroom mobile home‘ and my hubby had just gotten a new job in a different town.

At first I just looked around at rental’s since we were hesitant to buy not knowing our new neighborhood yet.

My DH (darling hubby) had also been reading the Secret and was totally supportive of doing ‘envisioning techniques’.

Here is one ‘envision’ that I was holding firmly in my head each morning, probably for about 3-4 min’s.

“I am so thankful and grateful for sitting here in my beautiful sun-room enjoying my morning cappuccino.” Using this statement I would vividly picture myself in a well-lit yellow room, overlooking a beautiful lake, in a green chair and doing my morning journaling.  I saw myself smelling my coffee, and brought up images of how I felt in the chair, the refreshing view of the lake, the warm happy feelings that I was writing down in my journal. Basically I was “living” that moment in time.

Now to get back to our ‘rental’ situation. We ‘looked and looked’ at small homes to buy, since we could not find one single rental house.  This started in May and by mid-August we were getting a little frusterated, a house would come up for rent and before we were even able to call, it would already be rented to someone else.

My DH finally had a break-through moment at work when he was ‘yet again’ looking at homes for sale on the internet in his spare moments.  A colleague was walking by and casually mentioned “man, aren’t you getting tired of always looking online for a house?”  The light-bulb went on.  He realized he was putting out to the Universe the ‘Intention of looking’.  He immediately closed down the windows he was looking at, threw away all the mls listing stuff he had been carrying around and “knew” our home was going to be shown to us.

On his way back to our campsite…uh yeah I forgot to mention this…he was living in a campground for the past four months waiting for us until a home was found…he stopped at the corner store and saw a little ad “house for rent on lake”.

He brought it back to the campsite and told me about it.  I said “let’s go take a look”.  We phoned and by luck (mmmm really? ha ha) the owner’s who lived 4 1/2 hours away were there.  So we drove over and took a look.  It was crazy with our kids, their kids and dogs.  The price was a little more than what we were expecting, but we looked at each other and said “it’s on the lake though let’s get it!”

Within the week and just before school started we were moving into our new ‘home’.

After a few weeks had passed and we were finally settling in, I took my morning cap and went into the sun room (which we hadn’t even noticed when we looked at the place) and sat in my fav chair.  My hubby had placed the chair specifically for me so that I could enjoy looking at the lake.

I probably don’t have to tell you this part, because I’m sure you have already guessed it…but I will anyways.  Yes, I was sitting in my comfy green chair (which we had in storage when we were living in the trailer) looking out on a beautiful lake view (the sunroom was way out front of the house and had a totally AWESOME view) drinking a cappaccino, and the room (which was in a pale wood) suddenly lit up with the morning sunshine coming into it….a bright yellow!

A sense of deja’vu erupted in my heart, and I’ve had many moments of deja’vu but this particular time I knew that this EXACT moment in my life I had ‘brought to me’.

The coolest thing with this experience is that our money situation didn’t change (we weren’t suddenly making hundreds of thousands of dollars extra each month)the change came from within!  It started with my vision of exact-ness (uh is that word?..is now) where I clearly ’saw what I wanted’, envisioned it Every Day, felt what is was like to be there.  Money, or more money, was not part of this equation.

Here are a few tips that I would love to give to you to help make your Envisioning just a little more helpful.

1) Start with a simple phrase with a Gratitude in it!
2) Sit in a place where you feel warm, secure and have no interruptions. (this will take about 5-10 min’s)
3) Now sit back, close your eyes, say your manifestation out loud and then let your dream flow.
4) Notice particular parts of your dream (I love focusing on comfort level, what I see, sounds around me and what I can see & smell)
5) Do this EVERY Day!

I would Love to hear your stories as well.

Jody Maley

Jody is a WAHM and has been leading other ladies in their chosen field of business for the past 15 yrs! She is a mom of six, an Accomplished ToastMaster, and has a passion for helping other women find their ‘aha’ moments!

Jody is owner of the new website www.DesignedforDivineDestinations.com where she blogs about day to day issues with other moms in raising children, having your own business and how to “Blend” it all!

“Where it’s not just about the Destination, it’s the Journey to get There”

Raising children is the hardest thing in the world to do. As parents, our greatest concern is that we raise our children to be safe, responsible and well adjusted. Raising step kids is all that much harder. It is inevitable that there will be a certain amount of resistance because you are not their “real” parent. They fantasize about their missing parent or constantly compare you to the other parent in their life. Children of divorce or trauma (loss of a parent) have suffered some emotional blows early in their lives so how do you get through it with them?

How is it possible to get your step kids to like you when they are resistant? The simple answer is ….you can’t, nor should you try. What?? Then what do you do?

It doesn’t matter what you do, kids make up their mind about you and nothing you do will change it, they have to change it on their own. What you can do is be you. You will never be just like that parent and you shouldn’t try.

The most critical thing as a step parent is to have a united front (as my husband and I call it). My husband backs up what I say and any discipline I enforce and I do the same for him. If we disagree on the method, we talk about it in private. It’s a tough road if you do not have the support of your spouse and they do not emphasize to their children that they don’t have to like you but they do have to respect you.

The key element is not to worry about what they think of you. Every child is different and will therefore interact with you differently, even with your children born from you. If your step kids or your spouse points out what they see as inequity then you have to evaluate whether it is truly an inequality or if it’s their view point is inaccurate. It’s hard to take that look at yourself to see if there really is that unfair treatment, it there is, fix it. If you have done that search feel that their complaint is unfounded, explain to them how each child is different and has different needs (remind them of any previous complaints about comparison of siblings) and that you are interacting with each child as according to their needs, age and maturity.

Some days are easier than others but in the long haul, if you stay consistent you will eventually see how to get your step-kids to like you. If you do what you feel is best for everyone involved, they will mature one day and hopefully see that. If they don’t then it’s their own issue.

Charlotte Salafia

www.DesignedForDivineDestinations.com

“Where it’s not just about the Destination, but the journey to get there!”

It’s my favorite personal development movie. Po is an excellent example of a person (or a panda bear) who is ready to move forward in life but who is stuck. He feels stuck in the soup making business with his dad but yet has a desire to become a Kung Fu master. How do we know he is ready to move on?

In the beginning of the movie Po ( Kung Fu Panda ) is dreaming about his Kung Fu skills. Even when you may not listen to your concious, your mind will focus on your dream while you are sleeping. Po also focused on his dream during the day, he had action figures of his role models, those he desired to be like. He had a desire to be a leader and thought that if he could get close to watch these leaders, perhaps he would learn something. He emulated them as best he knew how. What he was missing was the master to train him.

I have felt like this in the past and so have you. You have this dream, you have the desire yet you don’t know how to get to it. You don’t have the skills or training. Perhaps you seek out some education or or you emulate someone you desire to be like but you don’t know exactly what is different about them.

Po knows what he wants, the possibilities are all around him he just doesn’t see them. Oogway also has a dream; it’s time to choose the dragon warrior. The dragon warrior will keep peace in the valley. Po desires to see who gets selected and he heads up the mountain to the Jade Palace. He knows where to go, the training takes place there. He only goes when everyone else goes. When Oogway starts his selection process, he can feel the dragon warrior and he closes his eyes and feels the dragon warrior and makes his selection. Po is selected.  Po has doubts in his heart but doesn’t decline, he takes on the challenge.

How often have you declined a new challenge because you didn’t believe you could do it? You felt prompted, you had an opportunity but didn’t take it because you didn’t believe you could do it and so you didn’t accept the opportunity or challenge.

Oogway is wise enough to know that Po can take on the challenge. Po desires to take on the challenge but has doubts about his abilities BUT he has confidence in his mentor Master Shifu. Po knew that if he could find a mentor he could get the right skills; he takes on this challenge the best way he knows how.

Po knows the significance of a mentor. His father could teach him about noodles but he couldn’t teach him how to master kung fu. Everyone needs a teacher or leader who can show them how to get to the next level. Do you have a mentor? Is there someone in your life that can teach you what you need to know?

Po has no idea how this master can help but he is sure that Master Shifu has the sort of skills and training he needs. Master Shifu learns how to teach him. Po is driven by food and Master Shifu learns how to teach Po kung fu using dumplings as his incentive. Po learns kung fu in his own individual way, he’s got the skills but shys away from the great challenge or the next step. He physically has the skills but he doesn’t receive them. He masters them but still doesn’t believe he can defeat Tai Lung, who desires to destroy the village.

As you pursue your dreams, how often do you hear people say thinks like “who do you think  you are?”, “why not just settle into this job?”, “You can’ t be successful with that.”, “you can’t master that”. Po heard that all around him but would not give up his dreams of being the dragon warrior. He didn’t listen to those around him telling him he couldn’t do it, what he had a hard time with was himself. He thought there was some magic that made these warriors in the past special.

Po finishes his training and earns the dragon scroll, the scroll that contains the secret. When Po opens the scroll, there is nothing written on it. He doesn’t get the message until he goes home to his father and his father tells him the secret ingredient to his special noodles. The father confesses that there is no secret ingredient, you just have to believe the noodles are special. Po finally understand the meaning of the scroll, all he has to do is believe he is the dragon warrior.

Po gets critical information from several sources in his life, he defeats Tai Lung but more importantly, he defeats his own fear by believing he is the dragon warrior; he is the Kung Fu. You have the secret to life all around you. When a you are ready to learn, the right teacher(s) will come along. Some of these teachers will be people you have known for quite some time and some will be new mentors in your life.

The lesson is to dream, take action, attract mentors and live your dream. What a great lesson to teach our kids but this is definitely a great personal development film for all of us.

What is your dream? Are you ready to take action? Do you have mentors? Are you living your dream?

Charlotte Salafia

www.designefordivinedestinations.com

Recession is a word that I hear most every day lately. It’s on the news shows, newspapers, online, twitter, you name it. Is there a recession? YES. Most of these people are talking about an economic recession. We hear about people losing jobs and companies closing. Is this an economic recession or another kind of recession?

Last Friday I went to a networking meeting. It’s an open meet up with no agenda and each Friday it’s rotated to different locations so that several people from the same area can meet up. The person who arranges these meet ups looked for  a local coffee shop for us to meet at. The group looks to support local businesses and encourages all attendees to make a purchase. That’s fair right? One would think that businesses are sprucing up their images and promoting great customer service.What happened last Friday was shocking and shed some real insight as to why so many businesses are closing.

This meet up was arranged with the owner of the business. It was not a great surprise for us all to show up there. I have been to this coffee shop before and I have never seen more than8 people in it at a time. We had 15 people at this event. Once it were to get established, there would be a lot more people show up. That is a lot of business. We got there and the teenager working looked dazed when we started showing up. Apparently the owner had not communicated the information to this teen girl. The owner had a family emergency and had to leave town suddenly which is understandable, however, she is a business owner and should have had things in place for us. This teen girl could not stay past 1:30. Amazing isn’t it? When the person who arranged this talked to her, she asked to speak to a manager, this manager was at another location so she had to be contacted. When we said we had people expecting to show, she said she had no one to send over nor would she come herself. WOW! They made no effort to accommodate or apologize.

So here we are scrambling to secure another location and this was even more incredible. When we looked up coffee houses to find another location, many that were near by closed up. Of the local businesses that were close and open, they closed at 2 and didn’t offer to stay open or required us to book a room. Rent a room? For us to meet at your place and bring you business?? Really?

This is so telling. Considering how many places have closed down one would think that the coffee shops left would be more interested in staying open because all the people that would have gone to the other coffee shops are now limited in their choices. The recession isn’t financial, it’s a service recession.

I live in Mesa, Arizona, part of the Phoenix metro area. So many businesses have closed down here. Many restaurants and coffee houses have closed. Yet I find the remaining ones have dreadful service. In the next city over, Gilbert, there is a man who owns 2 restaurants and a cafe. His businesses are always packed! There are people lined up outside some nights when I drive by, there is always hustle and bustle in his places. He has the most popular cafe around. Does that mean that people in Gilbert have more money to spend? NO. It means that this guy gets what customer service is. He’s not in a recession. He has a wealth of service, attitude and ambition. He is successful because he cares about his customers. He interacts with them, makes them feel special. He responds to me on Twitter and recognizes me from my twitter picture and says hello to me when I visit his establishments.

There is a great recession of customer service, in follow up, in care, in good attitude. Those who understand this, are the ones who are not in a recession. Those who get this are making money. Rather that be upset by what the news might have to say about finances and having a bad attitude, people who are wealthy in attitude, customer service and follow up are the ones who are not suffering financially. They see the importance in making people feel wanted in their business.

There are people out there willing and wanting to spend money, they just don’t want to hand it over to someone who doesn’t care about them, someone who doesn’t want a relationship with them.

So is there a recession? For some there is. Are you in a recession? If you feel you are in THE recession, think twice…. we address Customer Service & how to get people lined up to YOUR DOOR

Charlotte Salafia

www.designedfordivinedestinations.com

As I grew into adulthood I could never did like the smell of coffee. My mom was more of a tea drinker so I followed suit. I have always been a tea drinker and love my tea.

Tea is a comfort thing for me. I know the stereotype in England is that tea will fix everything. Some tragedy happens and then there is someone putting the kettle on next. Putting the kettle the indirect way for Brits to say “I want to comfort you”.

Before I lived in England, for a couple of years, I would drink any ol’ hot tea. When I lived in Coventry, I learned what good tea is, I even go to import stores and get some when there is no one I know making a trip to England that I can bribe or if I can’t find some stranger in the UK online who I can charm into mailing me some. (Yes, I have done that).

Since I returned to the US in 1991, I just can’t take bad tea. On occasion I will pick up some random Ceylon (oh my favorite blend) and try it out.. I know, it’s never going to be as good but lots of times I will get lucky and it’s good. It’s always risky drinking tea when I’m out, tea seems to be the bastard child if you go to any place that focuses on coffee “we have 8 million coffees, and oh, here are our 4 teas (usually some weird fruity thing)” I always end up with an English Breakfast blend OR if there is a turine with hot water in it, it’s iffy..I mean..it’s probably had coffee in it …and they don’t clean that out well and well, the tea just ends up smelling like coffee.. BLECH!

Why all the tea talk, it’s kind of a rant but not really, because what this really is..is to say that life is too short for bad tea. Seriously, I can’t just accept the tea I am given. I’m not drinking bad tea. If I pay $2 for a cup of tea and it sucks, I throw it away. If I buy some at the store and it is stale, I toss it.

Life is too short for bad tea! I won’t accept anything below my standard. If I am that way about my tea, imagine what my life is like anywhere else! If I won’t accept bad tea, I certainly won’t accept less in my relationships, my work, my spiritual life..or any place else.

Are you drinking the bad tea because that is what you were served, or are you holding out for the good stuff..finding out where the good tea is?