Branding

Marketing tip of the day:
Before creating your business tagline, try to define your business in 3 words. Try to introduce your business to prospective clients in just 3 words. Focus on what you want your consumers to know about your brand and product. For example, Younique: beauty, mineral, cosmetics.

Words to live by: Intelligence and Ambition

Salvador Dali was a creative figure, but definitely an intelligent and ambitious man.
When you're intelligent but not an ambitious person, you don't have the will and the courage to pursue your dreams and exceed yourself to become a successful person.
A bird without wings doesn't fly. He doesn't die either, but he will stay on the ground, feeding himself from the ground, looking up at the sky, imagining the possibilities without the possibility to fly.
Someone with ambition is someone with dreams and goals in life, and the intelligence will just make those dreams and goals a reality.

The Wonders of Being Self-Employed

Being self-employed isn't fun and games as many people think. Having your own schedules, being your own boss, being able to work in any place, it might sound like heaven to most people. But it requires a lot of work, 24h a day, thinking about strategies, how to advertise your products, do the actual advertising, taking care of customer relationships, and so on.
But we would lie if we said that there aren't any benefits in being self-employed.
To start, you are your own boss. No more grumpy bosses, no more boring meetings, no more trying to please someone else and figure if the boss is in a good mood or not.
Your earnings are yours and yours alone. If you work hard and give 110% of your energy and soul, all the profit will be yours, not only financially speaking, but in terms of achievements as well.
You work at your own pace. If you're more productive at night, you can work at night and sleep all morning. You can stay at home with your kids and work from home, or you can travel and stay by the pool, enjoying the sun and work. Plus, you won't depend on anyone when you want to schedule your vacation.

5 Direct Sales Myths VS. Facts

MYTH #1: 99.9% of direct sellers lose money; people are afraid to drop out for fear of looking like a failure 

FACT:

• four in five (82%) direct sellers have been with their current direct selling company for one year or more, and 47% for five years or more.
• 89% of direct sellers rate their personal experience in direct selling as excellent, very good, or good.
• 84% of direct sellers say that direct selling meets or exceeds their expectations as a good way to supplement their income or as a way to make a little extra money for themselves.
• 91% of direct sellers say that direct selling meets or exceeds their expectations as a business where the harder they work the more money they can make. 

(Source: National Salesforce Survey, Research International, Inc.)

MYTH #2: Most direct selling companies are pyramid schemes that are doomed to fail. 

FACT: There’s a big difference between legitimate direct selling companies and pyramid schemes. Pyramid schemes seek to make money from you (and quickly). Legitimate direct selling companies seek to make money with you as you build your business (and theirs) by selling real products and services. Ask yourself these 3 questions:

1. How much are you required to pay to become an independent consultant? If the startup cost is substantial, be careful! The start-up fee in direct selling companies should generally be low and cover the cost of your start-up kit (usually sold at or below company cost) which can include training materials, sample products and other items to get your business going. These companies want to make it easy and inexpensive for you to start selling. Pyramid schemes, on the other hand, make nearly all of their profit on signing up new recruits. Therefore, the cost to become a distributor is usually high.
2. Will the company buy back unsold inventory? If not, beware! Legitimate companies that require inventory purchases will usually “buy back” unsold products if you decide to quit the business. Some state laws and the DSA Code of Ethics require buy-backs for at least 90% of your original cost.
3. Are the company’s products sold to consumers? If the answer is no (or not many), stay away! This is a key element. Direct selling (like other methods of retailing) depends on selling to consumers and establishing a market. This requires quality products, competitively priced. Pyramid schemes, on the other hand, are not concerned with sales to end users of the product. Profits are made on volume sales to new recruits, who buy the products, not because they are useful or attractively priced, but because they must buy them to participate. Inventory purchases should never be more than you can realistically expect to sell or use yourself.

MYTH #3: Recruiting is the key to success in direct selling; sales to end-users of the products and services are minimal 

FACT: There’s no doubt – recruiting is an important element of direct selling – just as expansion is important to any business that wants to grow. For direct sellers looking to build a business, recruiting others and mentoring them so they, too, can achieve their goals is important. But, recruiting is not a requirement for individual success in direct selling, and compensation must always based on the sale of products and services – whether your own sales or the sales made by your recruits.

MYTH #4: Companies require inventory purchasers; direct sellers who drop out are stuck with the inventory they purchased 

FACT: Not all companies require inventory purchases! Younique doesn't require any inventory purchases and there are no auto-ships. 

MYTH #5: Direct selling products are overpriced.

FACT: The consumer market won’t sustain products that are overpriced for long. Competition is a powerful force and products that aren’t competitively priced won’t sell and can’t last.But for direct selling, there’s a bit more to the price equation than might immediately meet the eye.The decision to sell a product through direct selling is often based on very specific factors. For example, products that require demonstration to convey the finer points of their operation are ideal for direct selling because a knowledgeable salesperson can personally conduct that demonstration for every customer. In a traditional retail setting, consumers might not understand the product’s unique qualities based on appearance or packaging.It’s true that some direct selling products are priced at the upper end of the retail market’s acceptance level, but there is higher acceptance based on the value-added incentive of the demonstration and personal service.

Learn more about becoming a Younique Presenter! Work with amazing natural, mineral makeup + beauty products! Startup kits are only $99 US, there's no auto-ship or inventory purchases, NO other monthly/yearly/hidden fees & tons of support available! 

Benefits of Being Your Own Boss

1. You’re in Charge of Your Income. This can be seen as a pro or a con at first, but eventually the sky will be the limit as you develop your business. In the beginning, seeking self-employment might not make you as much as you used to, and you also may have to worry about issues like individual insurance coverage. The huge advantage is the fact that you keep every dime that you make and your salary is not capped by your employer.

2. You Have Creative Control. You get to make all of your decisions, no one else is telling you what to do. This is huge because many people run into boredom issues at their jobs.You do what you want, when you want.

3. You’re Responsible for Your Success. If you’re self-employed you can truly make a difference when you start your own business. This is because the success of the business lies on your shoulders. When you work for a large corporation, it’s easy to mix in with the rest of the employees and feel like it doesn’t even matter whether or not you show up to work. While you’ll still have to work hard when you’re self-employed, you really matter because you are your business.

4. You Set Your Own Hours. Setting your own hours is a huge advantage. You know yourself best and you’ll be able to build a schedule that’s most efficient for you. If you want to work really hard one day, and take a half day the next day, that’s perfectly fine when you’re self-employed. You can work all night and sleep all day if that’s your personal preference!

5. You’ll Be Challenged. Most people will find that they not only reach a salary cap when they work for someone else, but they also reach a point where they’re no longer challenged. When you embark on this new journey for yourself, it’ll be a risk and it’ll be a challenge. Also, as you keep gaining experience and income, you’ll continue to be challenged as you reach higher and higher levels.

6. You Can’t Get Fired. This is a great reason in itself. In the self-employment world you can’t get fired! You can change your mind about certain business opportunities, but that would just be shifting the focus of your business, you’d never be firing yourself. This takes a certain amount of burden off your shoulders because you don’t need to worry about someone suddenly taking away your income just because of cutbacks even if you’re doing a superb job.

Remember that there’s always a certain amount of risk associated with making a major change in your life. It’s never easy when it involves income and the future of your family. However, if you want to be your own boss, you can certainly do so. It may end up opening many doors to better your financial future.

Consider a career with Younique! Check out my FAQs about the business :)