When I started in the world of entrepreneurship, I paid my investment and said to myself “now I am going to make some money!”

Months went by. I attended every meeting, actively participated in every teleconference, bought leads and called them diligently and even traveled to Orlando for our convention.

I was with that company for about two years before the company changed names and leadership and I left. I never made a sale, I never made a dime. And I had invested so much money, that I actually had to consolidate my credit.

One of the biggest lessons, I learned from that experience, was that you have to be a product of the product.

Sure, we all get into business because we would like to earn a little more than our usual paycheck, but if all you are thinking about is the money, chances are…you are not going to make any.

You need to be able to explain why your product is useful. Not in a sleazy salesman kind of way, but honestly. And the only way you can do that is to use the product yourself.

Personally, I don’t believe in representing anything I do not believe it myself. For one thing, I am a terrible sales person. I need to really know what I am talking about and really believe in it and then I don’t need to do any convincing at all. I am just naturally excited about it.

I believed in the product my company was selling, but I had never ‘experienced’ it.

So when I told people about it. I would try to rush over the details and get to the money part as quickly as possible. But I felt weird about the money too, because I was not totally convinced it was worth it since I had not experienced it. In short, I sounded dishonest.

Many of us shy away from business because we are afraid to “sell”….but it’s not that daunting when all you are really doing is telling people about a great product YOU use, YOU trust and YOU believe in. You do that every day anyway.

“hey, did you see that last episode of Scandal?” – you just ‘sold’ a TV show

“Oh I just love the banana pudding at Magnolia Bakery” – you just ‘sold’ the bakery AND the banana pudding…which I DO love by the way 🙂

So, if you are already in the business, make sure you know what it is you are representing. Take a look around your websites and Product Pages, USE the product, do you love it? You need to be your best customer.

So this is my rule number one. No matter what business you are in,

You need to be a product of the product!!

 

Much as we may not want to admit it, the countdown to the end of the year is definitely on. Halloween is round the corner, the Turkey is close behind and Santa is servicing his sled as we speak.

So…how do you feel about 2014? Have you achieved all you set out to at the beginning of the year? Do you feel any level of accomplishment?

If my questions are making you feel a little unfulfilled because you feel like you could have accomplished more, don’t beat yourself up!

Two things; 1) forgive and accept yourself and determine that you will do better going forward and 2) With two full months left, it is not too late to set and achieve a goal.

It usually takes about 30 days to establish a habit, so there is still plenty of time.

It all starts with the most important step of all – Making the decision to do make a change!

Make a decision, set a goal, read my post on forming habits, get going and SUCCEED!

2014 can still be your best year ever!

 

 

I find it most annoying that in this day and age women are still being treated as less equal citizens than men. John Oliver had a great feature on this matter on his show “Last Week Tonight” recently.

Even though they claim the gap is smaller than it used to be, the point is, it still exists.

So we women should fight this, right? Get into those Corporations and demand our rights!

That is one way to go about it!

We could take our protest to government, many of whom preach but do not practice gender equality.

That’s another option!

But I have an action plan of my own! I say, let’s show them how it’s done! Let’s set ourselves up in businesses that fuel our passions, give us the time freedom to be career woman AND moms, and make the same kind of money if not more than our male counterparts.

I am not saying that our focus should be outdoing the men. That does not have to be the goal. That is just something that may happen naturally when we follow our bliss and what matters to us.

I could name numerous mentors in the Empower Network who are making this happen right now.

They are not punching the clock, they are not asking their supervisor if they can stay home because Tommy has a cold or if they could leave early because Sarah gets out of school early that day. They are not rushing home in an insanely crowded commute to get home in time to cook dinner, do homework and pop in a load of laundry before falling asleep in front of the television.

These women are stay home moms, making six and seven figure incomes…which they would never have been able to do in their “jobs”, they are taking their kids to Disney World for the summer – how many people know that Disney is NOT cheap, they are staying in beautiful rented properties on the most beautiful beaches of the world. And they are standing on stage leading woman and men to the same earning power they are experiencing. No gender gap here!

Don’t believe me? Look them up for yourself: Tracey Walker

I find it most annoying that in this day and age women are still being treated as less equal citizens than men. John Oliver had a great feature on this matter on his show “Last Week Tonight” the other week.

Even though they claim the gap is smaller than it used to be, the point is, it still exists.

So we women should fight this, right? Get into those Corporations and demand our rights!

That is one way to go about it!

We could take our protest to government, many of whom preach but do not practice gender equality.

That’s another option!

But I have an action plan of my own! I say, let’s show them how it’s done! Let’s set ourselves up in businesses that fuel our passions, give us the time freedom to be career woman AND moms, and make the same kind of money if not more than our male counterparts.

I am not saying that our focus should be outdoing the men. That does not have to be the goal. That is just something that may happen naturally when we follow our bliss and what matters to us.

I could name numerous mentors in the Empower Network who are making this happen right now.

They are not punching the clock, they are not asking their supervisor if they can stay home because Tommy has a cold or if they could leave early because Sarah gets out of school early that day. They are not rushing home in an insanely crowded commute to get home in time to cook dinner, do homework and pop in a load of laundry before falling asleep in front of the television.

These women are stay home moms, making six and seven figure incomes…which they would never have been able to do in their “jobs”, they are taking their kids to Disney World for the summer – how many people know that Disney is NOT cheap, they are staying in beautiful rented properties on the most beautiful beaches of the world. And they are standing on stage leading woman and men to the same earning power they are experiencing. No gender gap here!

Don’t believe me? Look them up for yourself: Tracey Walker

Dee Verrengia

Sue Soucy

Nicole Cooper

and many, many more women who are beautiful, talented and now… Wealthy!

Sisters!!! Stand up and let’s not wait for the government to close the gender gap.

Let us close it ourselves!!