Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Coffee, a monkey and glue

Coffee, a monkey and glue. Those were my problems of the morning. Seemed everything was going wrong. It's not Monday, but it sure felt like one since the girls had off of school yesterday. I was dragging it pretty bad this morning and after shipping them off on the school bus, coffee sounded AMAZING. I popped a k-cup in the keurig and sniffed the air as the scent filled the kitchen. MMMMM. I mixed in some sugar and poured half and half in the cup, stirred, and that's when the problems started. What was that little white blob floating in my coffee? Another one. Another one. Those are friggin curdles. The date on the half and half is nearly 3 weeks away. :( Major sad face!!!! So I dumped the coffee and started my projects for the day. Project 1: diaper cake. I have never made a diaper cake. I don't even think I had one made for me when I had a baby shower years ago. Come to think of it, I don't even know if I've ever seen one in person and I am positive I never cared enough to look closely. But a dear friend of mine and I were chatting about her up coming baby shower and she mentioned that her loser friend who offered to make her one flaked out on her and probably wasn't even coming to the shower because it was her "Birthday weekend." She is about to have her third child and has never had a big all-out baby shower before. I'm not about to let her be disappointed. She touched on finding someone to make her one and paying for it herself. UM. NO. Since finances were kind of limited after back to school, 2 car registrations/inspections/repairs, and 2 baby showers this week, I had to do this on a budget so there was no ordering a ridiculously outrageously priced diaper cake option. So I Googled it. Easy enough. I had already bought her a pack of diapers so I opened them up and started rolling! I managed to make it almost look like an actual diaper cake. Woohoo. I set my goal low Somewhere between doesn't suck and at least it's not falling apart. Mission accomplished. Then my crafty brain took over and I busted out the craft box. After borrowing my hot glue gun back from the neighbors who borrowed it months and months ago (because I craft so often nowadays) I got to work glueing ribbon and bows and making it kind of pretty. Then came the monkey. Have you ever tried getting a monkey to stay in one place? Not easy right? Not even if he's stuffed. This stuffed monkey looked super cute at the top of that cake. But he kept falling over backwards. So I tied his legs to the cake with thread. That worked for all of 5 minutes. Then he started falling forward. So I tied some thread around his neck. I couldn't get it to tie properly around the ribbon or diapers without making him look like a crooked neck "walker" on the Walking Dead so I decided to glue the thread to the ribbon. Instead, however, I glued my finger to the ribbon. I'm pretty sure I screamed every curse word I could think of in that five seconds that my finger screamed with burning, searing pain. I pulled and I shook and I couldn't get the damn thing off my finger. I jumped up and ran, because apparently the glue was chasing me, and the entire diaper cake fell apart except for the ribbon that was still attached to my finger. Yep. I checked. No fingerprints left!!! Good news, the monkey was still attached to the top of the cake. I think I need a coffee :/

Monday, August 11, 2014

Pink Zebra vs. Scentsy 2: The business model

So it's been over a year since I posted my very first direct sales related blog comparing two similar direct sales companies and their products. I couldn't be happier with my decision to join Pink Zebra and my success with the company! My team has grown to 40 on 5 levels, I've enjoyed two promotions, made tons of new friends and I wasn't even sure I wanted to sell the stuff! What was I thinking? But recently a facebook friend invited me to join her Scentsy launch party. I have tremendous respect for that company. They have a great product line. But I've proven that Pink Zebra is soooo much better so why would she invite me to her launch party? Am I not posting enough? Am I failing at informing my own facebook friends? (If you're friends with me on facebook, you know that this is not the case, I can't shut up about this stuff, it's just so exciting!!!) So what was it? I mean, I see the appeal. A bunch of your friends use these products and really like them so you should sign up to sell it and make a few bucks, right? Wrong. You should show them this awesome "new" product that's taking over the market and give them something new and fun to be excited over and instead of selling them a few $5 bars from time to time, you can upgrade all of their warmers instead, therefore increasing your commission check. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I recently took a look at their compensation plan. In case you're in the process of deciding which of these companies to join, let me break down a few pros and cons and try to be as unbiased as possible.
# of consultants 
Scentsy: Approx 120,000 current consultants in the US alone. This does not include the many former consultants and those in other countries
Pink Zebra: Approx 15,000 consultants ever. This includes active and inactive consultants because you're never "terminated" for not making a sales quota.
Scentsy is definitely more saturated. It's likely that the person you're chatting with is a consultant, used to be a consultant, has a close friend or family member that is a consultant, or once had a party...or two.... for someone else.
Location
Scentsy: worldwide including  Canada, Europe, Mexico and Australia
Pink Zebra: US only. Expanding international in 2016
If you're outside of the US and looking for something to join today, Scentsy it is!
Length of time in business:
Scentsy: 11 years
Pink Zebra: Less than 3 years
Being around a long time you become a household name and you build brand recognition. But being a newer company YOU get to introduce people to your company. Plus, it's much easier to build your team. Where are those people that joined Scentsy in their first 3 years? At the top. Where can you be in 7 or 8 years if you join Pink Zebra in it's first 3 years? __ ___ ___ :)
Requirements to be considered Active
Scentsy: $150 in a single month every 3 months.
Pink Zebra: $150 cumulative in a 6 month period.
Compensation plan 
Scentsy: 20% for your first $1000 then 25% and additional bonuses when you promote into leadership.
Pink Zebra: 25% on your sales. If you reach $900 in a single month you receive 5% bonus If you sell $2000 in a single month you get another 5% bonus for a total of 35% of your sales plus additional bonuses when you promote to leadership.
Consultant discount
Scentsy: None. You must order at full price and wait for a check.
Pink Zebra: 25%. You may choose to keep your commission up front or wait for a monthly check
Method of Payment:
Scentsy: Paid to your Scentsy Credit Card
Pink Zebra: Keep your commission up front in cash, elect for direct deposit, or sent it to e-wallet.
New consultant Incentives:
Scentsy:
1: length of time: 70 days
requirement: $1250 in sales OR 3 active recruits
reward: $50 product credit, pin and certificate
2: length of time: 70 days
requirement: $2500 in sales or $1250 in sales AND 3 active recruits
reward: $125 product credit, pin and certificate
3:  length of time: 70 days
requirement: $5,000 in sales and 6 active recruits
reward: $200 product credit, pin, recognition in newsletter and at convention
Pink Zebra:
1: length of time: 30 days
requirement: $500 in sales
reward: $75 product credit
2: length of time: 30-60 days
requirement: $1000 in sales
reward: $125 in product credit
3:  length of time: 60-90 days
requirement: $1000 in sales
reward: $150 in product credit
4: length of time: 90 days
requirement: 1 qualified recruit
reward: $75 in product credit
5: length of time: 90 days
requirement: 2nd qualified recruit
reward: $75 in product credit
6:  length of time: 90 days
requirement: 3rd qualified recruit
reward: $75 in product credit
Total you can earn if you meet all 6: $575 in product credit
Additional Incentives:
Scentsy: (I'm sure the Scentsy consultants will provide this information for me to update. I know they do charm bracelets for promoting and an annual trip incentive but I don't know of all the details)
Pink Zebra:
Annual trip incentive (lesser prizes of an ipad or dell tablet for small point totals)
Annual awards for top performers in several categories
Random free product incentives
Executive Managers and up get to attend our annual family reunion for FREE. Executive Directors and up get an upgraded suite and pamperings as well :)
Jewelry: Managers receive Silver Necklace and charm. Executive Managers receive bracelet and charm. Directors receive custom fitted cowboy boots and a VIP trip to home office in Houston, dinner with founders, tiara, and other fabulous pamperings. Executive Directors receive exclusive trip, and a diamond bracelet. Presidential Directors receive (this level has not been achieved yet! It's a surprise!)
Career Plan: (This is where the big money can be made in this business)
Scentsy:


Pink Zebra:

The differences:
These plans are very different. Pink Zebra starts out at 10% (7% for every personal sponsor plus 3 % level one) for every person a consultant sponsors while Scentsy starts out at 2%. Pink Zebra also does not have an initial team volume requirement at the lower levels while Scentsy does. However Scentsy offers a 2% bonus on personal sales volume to consultants while PZ does not. Also, Scentsy will decrease your paycheck as your level one promotes. Their commission structure is based on your rank and the rank of the frontline consultant. Pink Zebra's commission structure stays the same as rank increases but opens up additional levels of pay deeper into your downline as you promote.
The bottom line:
If you are a new consultant and start building your team, Pink Zebra will reward you better with 10% of your recruit's sales with no minimum team volume ($400 PSV). Scentsy will only be paying you 2% on sales of that very same recruit and you have to hit $1000 team volume ( and $500 PSV). Scentsy rewards you for personal sales at the higher leadership levels, but at that point in leadership you should be more concerned about team training than personal sales, no?
So if you want a higher pay on your sales on day one, a higher pay on everyone you personally bring into the company, a ground floor opportunity with the potential to make it to the top, go with Pink Zebra.
If you would rather a bonus on your personal sales as you promote and are ok with a percentage cut as your team members promote, and are willing to work in a highly saturated market Scentsy might be a better choice.

Ultimately, the choice is yours and your house is going to smell AMAZING. As always, if you've decide to join Pink Zebra, my team is hiring! www.sprinkleaddicts.com plus, I'm on facebook so look me up if you have questions that need answering. www.facebook.com/sandiessprinkles I'm always available for my team! I'd love to help you reach those goals, whatever they may be!!!


Wednesday, July 23, 2014

The blog since the blog

It was over a year ago when I wrote my first blog post. My neighbor was trying to get me to try a new product when I already used something else. Who would have thought that one year later this is where I would be? I tried that product. I loved that product. I stood behind that product. And that product has given me so many amazing gifts in return. Friends. This has been the best gift of all. As a military wife who moves a lot, it's hard to make new friends. Especially since my husband is AGR and we don't usually live on or near a military base with other women going through the same thing. I've got a great new tool to make friends. The rest is just a bonus in my opinion. But I'm getting ahead of myself. This weekend was AMAZING. To think, I had almost decided not to go. But I wanted to lead by example so I packed my bags and headed to Nashville, Tennessee for our 3rd Annual Pink Zebra Family Reunion (yes, third, we are 3 years old, ground floor, and quickly making a name for ourselves in this industry, come back here in 5 years and we'll chat about how awesome this is).
Friday: I was scared out of my mind on Friday when I showed up to register for this part of the weekend. Leadership meeting. As a brand new manager I would be surrounded by the top leaders in this company. Yes, they've kind of got celebrity status with us consultants and I got to have lunch in the same room with them. It was delicious. Then we got a private leadership training by one of the greats in this industry. If you haven't heard of Belinda Ellsworth, you're probably not in direct sales (yet. want to join my team?). She was awesome and gave me some great tips on leading that I'm already starting to implement! A quick change of clothes and we were off to the Grand Ole Opry! We got to go back stage for drinks and snacks. We cleaned them out of coconut rum. We all had floor seats for the show (which included Brad Paisley). It was such an amazing experience and I couldn't have picked better people to share it with than the leaders who helped me to succeed. That was just the first day! 
Saturday: Saturday was so exciting! I walked in the room and it was FILLED with zebras! I'm so impressed that so many came out to reunion, see the fall line, and learn some tips to boost their business! The morning brought recognition and I got to walk across the stage as a Manager! I received a pink rose and, of course, my manager necklace!! It's so cute. I think everyone should have one! We took a group picture and were treated to lunch. Then, another great seminar by Belinda Ellsworth! Then, it was workshop time! I was soooo honored to be one of only 4 managers asked to host a workshop. Partnered with another manager, we were able to deliver information to other consultants on what was working for us so we could help them succeed. I was TERRIFIED! But I did it. And it was FUN! Honestly I don't remember much because I was so nervous and kind of blacked out, but I've gotten great feedback. :) After workshops I got to spend some time with my family that came with me to Nashville. We got to have dinner together, then it was back for the reveal!!! I was soooo excited to see the new fall and winter products and smell the new scents. I definitely have a favorite, but I won't tell!! Dessert and Drinks were yummy and we were given lots of goodies to take home. I bought some more catalogs (who wants one?). I was sooooo tired when I got back to my room but my head was spinning with penguins and snowmen I could barely sleep! 

Sunday morning I was sooooo tired, but not ready to stop! The excitement of the morning was enough to get me going! We were told we were able to offer $25 off the starter kit this month. Woot woot. But the big announcement was our next incentive trip. We're going to Jamaica!! For FREE! All expenses paid! I was so close last year. This year I'm GOING! Who is coming with me? It's so easy to do if you work at it steadily. I've already got my plan! We had one final seminar from Belinda (she's so awesome, I love everything she has to say) and more workshops from our peers. Our founder even sang for us :) I learned so much from everyone. I just had to soak it all in. Then I headed back to my room to shower and change for our dinner cruise on the General Jackson. Great food. Great people. Great night. I watched some of the top performers receive much deserved awards. I even made one of the top 100 lists myself (omg top 100 in the company??? That's soooo awesome!!!). We also found out that our next reunion is going to be a little closer to home. San Antonio, here I come!!! 

The loot:
As a leader I was given a beautiful leather bag and clutch. A pink and white zebra striped scarf. I also got a commemorative back stage pass and one of our gorgeous shades from our fall line. Plus a reunion planner to take notes! Don't forget the real backstage pass and ticket to the Grand Ole Opry, lunch, dinner and drinks! On Saturday, consultants were given our new fall Sprinkle testers, a single catalog, one of our beautiful new shades, and if they attended our last rally, they got a bonus red warmer! Plus 2 empty jars to fill with a single scent or recipe of their choice! Plus, in our rooms, we were given a 2-dish simmer pot and 2 jars of an exclusive scent! I also got my necklace for promoting to manager! How awesome is that? On top of all of the information I retained which was priceless! I love my "job."  Why are you not doing this with me??? www.sprinkleaddicts.com <---- Go there and get started so you can come hang with me in Jamaica and San Antonio!!!

Saturday, June 21, 2014

generic sunscreen

For your benefit I will not post a picture. I am having MAJOR skin-feels-like-it's-on-fire problems today. Laying in bed last night I was belting out the Alicia Keys tune trying to make light of my situation. I recently bought some store-brand spray on sunscreen. I was going to go for the good stuff as usual, but the store brand stuff was on sale. And I had a coupon for 20% off of store-brand merchandise. So I went the cheap route. Anyway, a friend and I packed our 5 kids ranging from 2-9 into the car yesterday and took them to the beach. Upon our arrival, I broke out the sunscreen and started spraying kids down. One of mine hates the lotion and prefers the spray. One of my hates the spray and prefers the lotion. I usually keep some water babies lotion in the car for her but we weren't in my car. So I proceeded to spray my hands with the stuff and wipe it all over her. I handed over the can to my friend to spray her 2 year old because I'm pretty clumsy and not interested in being responsible for spraying a kid in the eyes. When she's done with it, she chucks it in the sand. Let me put this into perspective for you. My hands were COVERED in the stuff as I was wiping my daughter down. Therefore the sunscreen was all over the can. My friend chucked it into the sand and there is now sand all over the can. It's my turn to get sunscreened. so I pick up the sand covered can and spray myself all over. now my hands are covered in sand. Whatever, I sprayed myself. I'm good, right? wrong. After 2-3 hours at the beach we jammed these tired kids back in the car and by the time we made it to sonic for half priced slushies, I was feeling like my shoulders were frying on a pancake griddle. I look down and I have STRIPES ON MY SKIN. Apparently the places where I sprayed directly were very well protected and the rest of me were a nice shade of boiled lobster. I should also mention that this FRIEND I went to the beach with is getting married next week and guess who is the made of honor? She's going to have a zebra striped maid of honor in her wedding pictures alllll because I couldn't rub the sunscreen in with my sandy hands. OK it's not entirely her fault. But it's much more fun to blame her than have her mad at me for looking like a bottle of ketchup in her wedding pictures.

Friday, May 2, 2014

Accomplishment

The sense of accomplishment is a strange one. When you work so hard for something for so long, it becomes a part of you. You find yourself strategizing about it at all times of the day whether it is just for a few seconds or for a few hours, you plan your direction on how to reach those goals. You tend to surround yourself with those associated with achieving the goal.When you get close, the adrenaline that is present is palpable. The sense of excitement is running high. Then, when you've finally accomplished what you've been working towards, it feels great! You breathe a sigh of relief and smile at your achievement. Then what? Sure, you're supposed to start thinking about the next goal. But, when something consumes you for so long and you're on that adrenaline rush of being so close, how do you calm down and focus on another long-term goal and be so far away yet again?
Today is one of these bittersweet days. I finally promoted into leadership with Pink Zebra. I've been working on becoming a Manager for a few months now. The sense of accomplishment when I open my back office and see that little M next to my name is amazing, but I also know that my next promotion will be even more difficult to achieve, and it's a long way off. I've set a realistic yet challenging timeline to achieve that goal and know exactly what it will take to get me there. And I'm very excited about helping my team to achieve their goals along the way! But I can't help but miss the adrenaline of being so close!

Disclaimer: If you are unaware of what Pink Zebra is, you must be living under a rock. I will take no fault at all if, even after reading all of my blog posts and bazillion posts on facebook, you still have not chosen to join my Pink Zebra team. We are accomplishing some amazing things. You really should just go join right now     ( www.sprinkleaddicts.com ) so you don't regret it several years from now. Unless, of course, you don't like money, or free vacations, or if you like your house to smell bad. :)

Friday, January 24, 2014

The case of the missing ice scraper

Yay! 2 hour delay which means I got to sleep in this morning right?? wrong. My brain decided to wake up at 6:45 and wonder why my alarm wasn't going off. I managed to doze in and out for the next two hours before it was time to get up. Had the kids dressed in warm clothes when Ally started whining that her outfit was "hot" so I told her she could change. I refuse to complain about what she decided to wear..... So off to the bus stop where we stood in the cold for 15 minutes while ice fell from the sky. No bus. Of course this doesn't mean that they can stay home because Allyson has perfect attendance and she won't let that happen. So I'm driving them. We walk home, get Haylie dressed and in shoes and head out to the car which is frozen shut. Yes, this has motivated me to organize the garage so my car fits in there again. Later. Now I can't find my ice scraper. I look everywhere! I live in Houston, so it's not like I use it every year, but it should still be in my car where it belongs. Whatever. It's gone. I blame my husband. So I get the heat pumping and the wipers on and we play the waiting game. A lovely rendition of "What does the fox say" blasts through the speakers. Eventually, the ice melts enough to where I can use my Larry the Cable guy Christmas CD cover to scrape the ice out of my way! If nothing else goes wrong, we'll make it to school without a tardy and her perfect attendance will be saved! I forgot to factor in the fact that there are like 70 other kids on their bus who also need to be driven to school today. So we waited as the drop off line inched up while the minutes ticked by. As soon as I got close enough i opened the door and shoved them out. 10:15 on the dot! run! There were at least 40 cars behind me so unless the office staff wants to get carpal tunnel writing out tardy slips, I think they're all getting a free pass for the day. I pull out of the line to find cars pulled up on the side of the school letting their kids out in the "walker" line. For real? Are you that lazy you can't wait in line for a few minutes and instead, you're letting your 6 year old out of the car in the middle of the street where he needs to cross without a crossing guard because you're late and the guard has already left? UGH. Some people. Man! I need a coffee. So Haylie and I head to Starbucks. I can'e even make a left turn into the place, the drive-thru is so packed. But I've already promised the kid a hot chocolate and I hadn't brushed my hair so we're sticking it out. 30 minutes later, coffee in hand, we head. home! I pull into the driveway, open the garage and there, on top of the single piece of furniture that is blocking me from being able to park in the garage.... is my ice scraper. ::sigh::

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

The direct sales debate

Several months ago I was sitting around debating whether to join a direct sales company. I knew I loved a particular product and thought about how much money the permanent discount would save me. But as a military family, money is a factor. I didn't want to spend over $100 on a kit to join a business and not succeed. We were pretty new to the area. We don't have a huge group of family and friends because we move around a lot. I didn't think I would have anyone to sell the stuff to. Plus, I didn't know people who would book a party. I figured there was no way I was going to get beyond the point where I made enough money to pay back my kit. But I decided I was fine with that.
I had a launch party and invited everyone I know in the area (which is not many but they're all pretty great). Everyone was really supportive and genuinely excited about the product. Everyone placed an order! Plus, I had gotten a few online orders from family members. I had gained enough sales to hit my first sales goal and made back the money that I spent on my kit! One of my awesome friends agreed to have a party! I was on my way!
My friends' party went well and I received another party booking, but it wasn't for a few months. But after that, it was dry. I thought I was done. I just missed my second month's goal. The third month, we went away several times and were busy basically every weekend so I didn't market my business at all. I did buy some of the new catalogs and scent samples and I had a few people from my launch party ask for more products but sales were slow. I thought maybe I was done with the business end and just gonna hang around for the discount.
Then I got a phone call. One of the girls from my launch party saw the hostess exclusive I posted on my facebook page and wanted to have a party. That same week I had a party for the friend of my friend that had a party. I had so much fun! These parties were exciting! I booked one party from the two parties. I needed to figure out how to book more.
I started looking for events in my area and booked several. I met some awesome vendors that I today call friends. Plus, I was generating interest in the product. I was getting party bookings from these events and had found my groove. Who needs a bunch of friends and family when you have an awesome product that everyone wants???
At this point, I was all-in. I wanted to succeed in this business. I saw a post on facebook about a girl thinking about joining the competing company and I told her my story. Just like that I had my first recruit! The very next day, another girl who had ordered off an online event a few weeks back, asked me about joining. In two days I now had a small team of three.
This encouraged me to start sharing the opportunity with EVERYONE. I may have been indecisive in the beginning, but Pink Zebra showed me that I CAN do it and it's EASY!
Since the I have learned so much about this business, about being a leader and about being successful. I've learned that succeeding in direct sales doesn't require you to have a ton of friends and family who will be buying off of you all of the time. No. You book parties from parties and end up expanding your customer base to complete strangers!
If you're considering direct sales here are a few tips: 1- Find a product you love. Your passion and excitement will help you tremendously! 2- don't join a company that has been around forever. Join one that's pretty new (those in their first 2 years are still at risk of failure) The main growth stage occurs between 2-4 years old and this is the fastest way to quickly build a strong team. 3- Don't join a company who has a competitor with superior products. For example: There are a bunch of those locket companies out there but South Hill Designs and Origami Owl are the clear leaders depending on what you're looking for. 4- Don't pick a business based  on the start-up cost. If it's free, it's probably free for a reason. 5- This might be the most important....make sure your product is consumable. This means if someone buys your  product, they have to come back to you to get more. Makeup is one of those products. I didn't know this when I got involved (I got lucky). Pink Zebra offers consumable products because once you own one of our awesome warmers, you'll need to give me a call to get more sprinkles! Which means my customers are always repeat customers :) If you sell one-time products, you're likely going to have one-time customers.
I have to say, it's been a fun couple of months. I look back at that launch party and, from the attendees, I have had 4 hostesses, 2 team members (and hoping to add a third soon, when she's ready) and several repeat customers! I've been able to meet some great new friends and now have an amazing vendor family. I now have a thriving team of 20! I promoted for the first time, and just 2 months later, I'm close to my second promotion. I'd love to be one of the first 200 to hit this level in the entire country! So, if you're considering Direct Sales, consider Pink Zebra. It's changing my life. Be sure to visit my website at www.sprinkleaddicts to sign up with ID# 73843 OR visit my facebook page and send me a message with any questions. Even if you don't choose Pink Zebra, I'd love to give you some tips to find the company that's right for you! www.facebook.com/sandiessprinkles