Ready...Set...Quick Start!

Being totally new to direct sales, I am learning more every day that my gut instincts about Urban Botanic were totally right on. That is a completely validating feeling!

It is my nature to follow my instincts but to back it up with research. I have found a multitude of resources online that give great information for those of us in direct sales. It made me smile when I came across the article below that talks about the importance of a 90-day Quick Start plan.

The 90-day Team Scentsational plan with UB is challenging but completely attainable. I met my 30-day goal in under 30 days, and I'm over half-way to my 60-day goal with 25 days to go. I have been working my booty off but I do attribute a lot of my success to my upline (who, by the way, is one of the main reasons I signed on to UB!). Shawna gives UB 110% every day and I swear, I doubt the woman ever sleeps! She leads by example and is always there to answer questions and offer encouragement.

Okay...enough about me and my team and on to the article which is an excerpt from the book Build it Big...enjoy!

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Start Your Business Off Right
By Rachel Kerr Snyder
Lighting the way for others

article found at http://www.mlm.com/mlm/user/mlmarticles

Starting Quickly
Now that you’ve made the decision to begin your own home-based business it is important that you get started immediately and experience early success. Setting and attaining goals within your first 90 days of business will keep you motivated and start you making money. Some companies refer to this time as a “Quick Start.” Whatever you choose to call it, just do it—fast!

Getting Off The Starting Line
Get control of your calendar. It’s critical to form this habit early so that you manage your business, rather than your business managing you. Meet with your family, spouse, and any others who have a claim on your time and decide when you are and are not available to work your business. This simple act of marking off time on the calendar for family and other commitments, establishes boundaries that will give you clarity in making appointments, scheduling phone time, doing presentations, and attending trainings. You and your family will find it much easier to operate when everyone knows the schedule. Family scheduling should become a weekly, scheduled meeting.

Host a Business Kick-off event at your home. Personally invite guests to come and see what you are doing, sample your product, and give their opinion. Everyone has an opinion—and is usually willing to share when asked.

Don’t spend a lot of time organizing an office. A phone, calendar, and your enthusiasm are your most critical components of success. Forget fancy handouts and blasting e-mails. Your personal connection is the key that will unlock the door to your success.

Talk to as many people as possible. Direct selling is just a numbers game. The more people you talk to, the more appointments you will book and the more people you can share the business with.

Be consistent. The business of direct selling is not difficult, but demands consistency in sales and sponsoring. If you are consistent, you can generate a steady and growing income while keeping your life manageable. When others see you incorporating your new venture into your life without turning your life upside down, they will be more inclined to support you and eventually join you.

Make FRANK a friend in your business development. This is a well-known acronym for Friends, Relatives, Acquaintances, Neighbors, and Kids, and is a memory jogger to help you build a list of individuals to introduce to your product or business. This list, with phone numbers, needs to be with you at all times, so that you can make that call when you have a moment and so you can add names as they come to you. This document is a most important piece of your business development, as it focuses you to stay on top of your prospects at all times.

Order business cards, and give them out at every opportunity. When people ask for your name, phone number, or other contact information, hand them a card. Surveys show that people hang onto business cards—for a long time. It’s an easy way to publicize your business without being intrusive.

Use the resources available to you and attend trainings regularly. Your sponsor and leaders are available to mentor and model successful business practices for you. Listen in on their calls, go with them to appointments, and watch them make presentations. Schedule this on-the-job training time just as you would any other business activity.

Embrace and incorporate these activities into your first 90 days of business. Teach others the same principles and watch your income multiply.

Actions For Today And Tomorrow
1. Set a date and time for your family scheduling meeting. Emphasize how important it is to you that everyone makes a point to be there every week.

2. Set a date for your Business Kick-off event and set goals for the number of guests, total sales, number of bookings, and potential team members you would like to gain from the show.

3. Begin your FRANK list and commit to add at least three names every day.

This is an excerpt from the best selling book Build It Big – 101 Insider Secrets Form Top Direct Selling Experts, brought to you by the Direct Selling Women’s Alliance (DSWA). The DSWA provides industry-specific education, resources and support to direct sellers in more than twelve countries, representing over 275 companies.
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Interesting Perfume Project

I've been looking at a lot of different blogs out there -- wedding and lifestyle blogs, beauty blogs, and blogs dedicated to the love of fragrance.

Through reading a few of the fragrance blogs, I learned about this interesting project where two of the top perfumers who work for major perfume houses are creating "dream" fragrances for two women who each run a fragrance blog.

The entire project is being chronicled on (what else) a blog called Made by Blog (click the title to go check it out!).

Because I am new to the world of perfume through my involvement with Urban Botanic, reading through their process is utterly fascinating. Just getting a glimpse of the olfactory training these perfumers have gone through is humbling indeed.

The Science behind the UB Personality Test

My newest teammate posed a question to McKenna Gordon, the founder of UB, about how science was used to create the UB Personality Test. Below is McKenna's response. She eloquently and articulately explains how she and her team developed this component of UB and I thought it was a great item to share.

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The idea that fragrances can portray certain personality traits is not a new one. To illustrate this, go grab any magazine you have lying around and open it up to any perfume ad. Look at the model in the ad. Look at her hair, makeup, and clothing. Look at the colors in the ad. What is she doing? What is her body language? In all of these elements, the story of someone's personality is being told.

An example: Estee Lauder Pleasures fragrance. If you haven't seen a magazine ad for this, go here: http://www.esteelauder.com/templates/products/multiproduct.t mpl?CATEGORY_ID=CATEGORY6835&cm_sp=top%20navs-_-fragranc e-_-fw_elpleasures
The ad does NOT say (nor does it need to) "this scent is very floral and romantic and bright and happy" - because you just know that from looking at the personality portrayed.

Another example in contrast: Calvin Klein's Euphoria fragrance. Ad here:
http://www.pvh.com/Brand_CK_Fragrance.html
Model's makeup is smoky, colors are deep caramels and intoxicating maroons. If you were to imagine what this fragrance smells like just by looking at the magazine ad, you'd probably guess this was a dark, mysterious, and seductive scent using lots of spicies and woodsies with a hint of florals to keep it just feminine enough. And you'd be right. But the ad doesn't tell you that.

Urban Botanic's personality test takes years of my personal research along with a team of other experts including psychologists and other fragrance experts. The information and data for the test isn't "made up", it's just never before been compiled in a format like we did. We reverse-engineered the method all perfume houses around the world use for marketing. It turns out that flirty people wear flirty fragrances (floral/some fruity) because 1) Flirty people LIKE floral/some fruity fragrances better than others and 2) Floral/some fruity fragrances also reflect "Flirty's" personality.

The fact that fragrances portray certain personalities is a proven fact. What those personalities are, and which scents connect them is somewhat of a mystery, so the question a few years ago was "Will UB's personality test work?" You tell me :) It's hard to measure a personality test because so many people answer untruthfully, and one's personality can change with their mood. But what I do hear over and over from anyone who takes the test is that the test was dead on. Both with the personality description, and which fragrances they prefer. This is all part of our patent-pending U.B.You System. Nothing remotely close to our personality test or our method of blending fragrances has been patented before, so this is very exciting for UB and our Fragrance Designers!

McKenna Gordon
Founder, Urban Botanic
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Write Up by DesignMom.com

So much to my surprise this morning I got an email that another blogsite had written about Urban Botanic.

Gabrielle Blair runs DesignMom.com. She is based in NYC, has 5 children, is a graphic designer (like me!), and has impeccable taste. She posts and writes about all sorts of stylish and hip products so I am supremely flattered that she took the time to post about UB.

Check her blog out at: http://www.designmom.com/

You may have to scroll a bit to see the UB write up because she does multiple posts each day.

How is your PMA?

PMA - positive mental attitude.

I remember people saying that all the time back in high school. Mostly my friends who were on sports teams. On the cheer squad, we would say it, too, and we talked about what it meant to be a member of a team and the attitude we portrayed to the community.

It's easy, as an adult, to forget about PMA sometimes. I thought this short little article was a nice pep talk and I wanted to share it. Whether you are starting a business (like me with Urban Botanic) or you have a job working for someone else, it's a nice reminder about the power of PMA.

It even sounds a little cheerleader-ly! ;)

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Decide to Be Fired Up!
Jan Ruhe
copied from http://www.mlm.com/mlm/user/mlmarticles

Use every email and call you make
Every conversation you have
Every meeting you hold or attend
To let everyone know your dreams and desires
Let people know of your vision of what you expect
Fire Up! others around you
Fire Up! and forgive those who have hurt you
Fire Up! your vocabulary and choose your words carefully
You are a powerful person
Spread the fire of desire
Radiate your passion
Believe in yourself
Concentrate on what you do right
No human is perfect, forgive yourself
You can't change the past
on your goals, your dreams and your hopes
Believe in miracles, expect them do not be surprised by them
Come to the table of plenty, there is a place set for you
Your success will be served on a silver platter

Stay Fired up no matter what.
The day you decide is the day that your life will change for the better forever.

Decide to stay Fired Up! For life!

- Jan Ruhe
www.janruhe.com

Write-up by KenzieKate

I wanted to share the good news that Mackenzie of KenzieKate has written about Urban Botanic on her blog.

Mackenzie designs the most beautiful wedding invitations and she also writes a very witty and stylish blog sharing her opinions on cool products relating to weddings and events. So I am over the moon that she wrote about U.B.!

Check it out at www.kenziekate.blogspot.com.

Rules of Thumb for Email

Since so much of our communication for our Urban Botanic businesses takes place on email and over the internet, I thought this article was a good refresher on some ways to make sure our electronic communications are effective.

A good rule of thumb that I personally follow is to expect that my email (or message board post, etc.) will be forwarded. Meaning, I don't write something in an email that I would not want to be shared widely.

Also...my number one rule - always, ALWAYS proofread. Read it backwards, read it three times, save it and read it the next day before sending it (for fresher eyes), and always ask a few trusted friends/colleagues to look at something before going live with it. The more important the communication or the bigger the audience, the more it pays to be careful and methodical.

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Seven Rules of Email
Bob Osgoodby
article can be found at
http://www.mlm.com/mlm/user/mlmarticles

Now there is no law that says you have to follow these rules, but if you are in business on the Web, you should definitely pay attention.

Rule #1 - Turn off your CAPS LOCK
Some people seem to feel that if they write their E-mail in ALL CAPS it will be more effective. Quite the opposite is the case. CAPS should be used only for emphasis. Many people consider the use of ALL CAPS as being the equivalent of shouting and do take offense at it.

Rule #2 - Never send multiple E-mails without using Blind Carbon Copies (BCC)
If every E-mail address you sent it to is displayed, you are making the spammers job a lot easier when theyharvest addresses. But you have to address it to someone, even if using BCC, so remember, there are a lot of "kooks" in this world who will persecute anyone they can identify.When using BCC, never send the note to someone on your mailing list. If you have a second ID use that, or send the note to yourself with copies to everyone on your list. That way, if someone decides to "vent" it will come back to you and not someone on your list. It also gives you a permanent record of the E-mails you sent to your mailing list. If you don't have a second ID#, you can get one easily at Juno, Hotmail, etc.

Rule #3 - Are you sure your E-mail was actually sent to your mailing list?
One easy way to be sure it was, is to include your E-mail address in your file of names you send it to. A good method is to include your address at the very end of the list. If you get your copy, you can be sure everyone else did as well.

Rule #4 - Don't Bore Them to Death
Advertising by E-mail is a cheap and effective way to get your message out to people, and most people don't mind getting an E-mail if it is short and to the point, but don't spam and send to people you don't already have a relationship with. Also, don't try to sell them your product or services with your first mailing. Try to pique their curiosity instead and have them either reply to your E-mail or visit your Web Site.

Rule #5 - Honor Removes
If someone asks to be removed from your mailing list, do it immediately and send them a courtesy note advising them it has been done. Keeping people on your mailing list that don't want to receive your information is not only bad form, but can cost you your ISP if a complaint is lodged against you.And NEVER forge headers so they can't respond to you by E-mail. This is the favorite trick of the scamsters who don't want you to respond to their E-mail, and give you a number to call or a form to fill out instead.

Rule #6 - Be sure that you are not sending the same person multiple E-mails
This is a definite sign of spam and most people will simply delete them.

Rule #7 - Be careful with attachments
I still get E-mails with no text and the message they wish me to read is an attachment to the E-mail. It is immediately deleted as it could very well contain a virus - even from someone you know. Some ISP's have a top limit to the amount of text they will display, and anything larger is automatically converted to an attachment. Many people will not go through this exercise, so you should ensure that your E-mail message can be read by all the people it is sent to, without them having to open an attachment.

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Bob has been publishing online since 1996. All the "tricks of the trade" are contained in his latest E-book. Learn how to avoid being shut down by your ISP for Spamming, and where to find "E-mail friendly ISP's. Learn which software packages are available to easily manage and distribute your email. For more information - http://www.adv-marketing.com/business/handbook.htm

I Have a Code in by Dose

I have a bad cold...this picture is how I feel on cold meds...having the inability to use your nose is a major job impediment when you are a Fragrance Designer!

Defining Strategy and Tactics

Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat. - Sun Tzu (Chinese General, circa 500 BC)

I love that quote.

In my career in marketing communications, it was several years before I really understood the difference between strategy and tactics. Likely, this is due to the fact that the first few years of my career, I only dealt with tactics. The strategy talks happened between the clients and people higher on the food chain in my group. I was just called in toward the end to "make it so", i.e. create the ad to go in whatever publication, design the brochure / program / invitation for whatever event.

Over the years as I moved up the food chain, I began to be brought in earlier and earlier in the process and realized that earlier, I had been operating half in the dark - I didn't know the "why" to the "what". Once I was aware of the "big picture" in whatever campaign I was working on, i.e. the strategy AND the tactics, I became so much more effective as a communicator.

In creating my marketing plans for my Urban Botanic business, I started reflecting on strategy and tactics. Especially since my budget is tight (my own personal money) and my time is at a premium. I stumbled across this little glossary on another website and thought I would share it here:

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Objectives 101.
What is an objective?.
What is a goal?. What is a strategy?.
What is a tactic?.
What is a plan?

Objectives and Goals.
Objective a : something toward which effort is directed : an aim, goal, or end of action b : a strategic position to be attained or a purpose to be achieved by a military operation.

Goal a : the end toward which effort is directed : AIM (Also a specific, measurable achievement behind an objective)

Context.
Business: How to make money from spending money - Engineering, Finance, Operations, Marketing Sales.
Marketing: How to build demand with the market place - Product, Price, Place, Promotion . Communications: How to promote effectively - Messaging, Media.
Personal: How to contribute to all of the above

Strategy.
Strategy a : The science of military command, or the science of projecting campaigns and directing great military movements; generalship. . The set of decisions made to best ensure achievement of the desired objectives, based on an assessment of:... one's own current situation/position; capabilities & shortcoming; competitive position... options/alternatives -- risks ... timing

Tactics.
Tactic a : a device for accomplishing an end; b : a method of employing forces in combat. The set of requirements for a plan to take effect

Tactical vs. Strategic.
Always relative to one another.

Tactics: the set of actions taken to fulfill a strategy

Plan.
Plan a : a scheme devised; a method of action or procedure expressed or described in language; a project; as, the plan of a constitution; the plan of an expedition. . The combination of objectives, strategies and tactics. The specific articulation of how the tactics will support the strategies that will achieve the objectives in time. The rationale that supports this course of action

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pulled from The Marketing Playbook at http://marketingplaybook.com/2004/07/08/strategy_vs_tactics.html

When I have to make a decision on how to spend marketing dollars or my time in pursuing an earned media opportunity, I try to relate the strategy and tactics to my bigger goals. How does this fit in? What is my return on investment? How is this targeting/reaching a specific audience? And the ultimate question So What?. (I love asking myself that question).