We Have Jobs!

Every week I’m either seeing or hearing about a news report about the number of people who are turning to direct sales as they either lose their jobs or fear that they may lose their jobs. Finally people are becoming aware that they must take control of their finances more than just continuing to cut costs. This is a time to SEIZE THE OPPORTUNITY and get the word out that WE HAVE JOBS!

Make it your mission to reach out to people who need money! Wherever you are…at your Shows…when you’re shopping…when you’re at ball games…when you’re at appointments…EVERYWHERE YOU GO! At your Shows talk about our debt-free values and our mission to help people make ends meet, pare down debt, save money and pursue a special dream. Have a sign in a Wall Wizard that says, “We Have Jobs!”

How about a sign in your car window? Put the sign in your Signature HomeStyles bag with the clear plastic pocket and carry it with you everywhere you go. How about printing business cards that say, “We Have Jobs” big and bold to get your message out?

And what about your local media? Whether it’s a radio station, television network or newspaper, they are looking for ways to help the community. Give them your “good news” story to share! Most local communities have organizations that help people who have lost their jobs. Reach out to them! What about the local churches? Many of them are holding classes to help members of the congregations. Find out from the local Chamber of Commerce if there are job fairs coming up. And with the warmer weather come the local fairs and festivals. What better place to put your “We Have Jobs!” sign?

Who do you know that can be on your mission with you? It’s the friends and relatives who often refer people because they know the circumstances and want to help. Ask family and friends to help you find people who are out of work. And encourage Guests at your Shows to refer people to you. You can never have too many “talent scouts” on your Team! Everywhere you go use your business cards to tell people, “We Have Jobs!”

We are on a MISSION POSSIBLE! It’s possible to overcome obstacles families are facing! It’s possible to get rid of credit card debt and still have money to spend! It’s possible to be able to make ends meet and still put money into savings! It’s possible to have new dreams and make new plans!

The DREAM is alive and well at SIGNATURE HOMESTYLES!

We are on a MISSION POSSIBLE!

WE HAVE JOBS!

SHOPPORTUNITY

I saw an ad on television last night from a retailer who showed how they get their products from overstocks to give value to their customers and they called it ‘SHOPPORTUNITY.’ Wow! I love that word! It’s theirs and we can’t use it, but it sure does describe what we do! We bring our store to their door for our customers and Hosts to SHOP through our wonderful line of products or the OPPORTUNITY to be a Host and get them FREE. And we also show them our fantastic OPPORTUNITY to earn money while prioritizing their work schedule. Put them both together and WE have SHOPPORTUNITIES too!

In today’s economy customers are clearly spending money when they have a need and see the value. Selling to them has to be value-based. What better SHOPPORTUNITY than our organizational products that clearly meet a need. The Classic Collection is a great price point and the Signature Collection is perfect for those places that need to be handy…and it’s pretty too.

When I go into people’s homes, I see so many beautiful tables; dining tables, end tables, coffee tables…all that can be enhanced with just a touch of color and decor from one of our table groupings. Just a runner across a dining table can give it new spark. Combined with a Trunner® and some candle decor, it becomes absolutely stunning!

End tables can look barren with just a lamp on them. Add candlesticks, photo frames or mosaic pieces and they become much more interesting. Coffee tables can become cluttered spots for dumping magazines or newspapers. Spice them up with a beautiful runner, a tray, and/or candles. What do you put on a sofa table that’s in the entrance or behind a couch? Once again, one of our beautiful runners with glass jars or candleholders really makes a statement.

Refresh & Renew
And people are spending a lot more time at home…looking at the bare walls or walls decorated with old pictures and decor. At Signature HomeStyles they can treat themselves to new, beautiful walls and put all the old stuff in a garage sale! Our SHOPPORTUNITY makes it easy to freshen up tired walls.

The home you have can be the home you’ve always dreamed of…just take advantage of our SHOPPORTUNITY!

The Pursuit of Happiness

You may have seen the movie titled The Pursuit of Happyness, or have read the book of the same title. You may have seen Chris Gardner whom the movie is about on the Oprah show or interviewed on other television shows. I was privileged to be able to meet him and hear him speak at a Direct Selling Association’s annual meeting. He used the word PASSION a lot in his speech and I have heard him use it consistently in interviews. “Find something you are passionate about and pursue it” is his message.

Think of all the people we say, “I love you” to…our mate, kids, grandkids, parents, siblings and even our close friends. The words PASSION and LOVE are so interconnected. We’re passionate about all the people we love! Most of what we do in our lives is to take care of those we love.

And how often do I hear all of our Signature HomeStyles Representatives saying things like “I love this company” and “I love our products?” Chris Gardner would tell you that you can take your dreams as far as you want to when you allow that PASSION to drive you! If you’ve watched the movie, read the book or listened to him, you’re aware of the challenges that he faced and his triumph over those challenges. How did he keep his PASSION alive?

He was persistent in pursuing his passion and he kept hope alive…he stayed positive! Every success story has dozens of challenges beneath the surface. Pursuing what you are passionate about makes the hurdles more scalable and the successes more joyful. Success comes to those who combine PASSION with PERSISTENCE and POSITIVE THINKING. Their journey truly is The Pursuit of Happiness!

Need Jumper Cables?

Last February on our Vacation of a Lifetime to the Bahamas one of the trip earners shared with me that her family and friends were all pressing her to get a full-time job which she didn’t want to do. She had been through some very difficult personal challenges and her Signature HomeStyles business was in a slump. I asked her if a full-time job would require her to be gone from home five days a week for eight hours each day and she thought it would. So I asked her why she wouldn’t do five Shows a week in half the time for more money. She replied that she didn’t know how she could get that going. I suggested that she pick one week in the coming month and book five Shows in that week and to send me an e-mail when she got that week booked.

Jump starting a business is no different than starting a car that has been sitting idle for quite a while. It’s no different than trying to draw water from a well that has not been used in some time. To get the water flowing you have to prime the pump and work the lever really hard and fast to draw the water upwards and get it flowing again. To start an idle car, you often have to use jumper cables to get the extra charge it needs to get started again.

Jump Start Your Business
So to jump start a business you have to do more than you would normally do…you have to prime the pump to get it flowing. Choosing a one-week period in which you do five Shows is a way to put the extra charge into jump starting your business. When you do Show after Show in that week, you become energized and your Hosts and Guests can sense your energy. The sales are happening, you’re making great money, the bookings start flowing and your enthusiasm draws people to join your Team.

There’s an old saying, “If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’re going to get what you’ve always gotten.” The first time I heard it, I had to really think about the message. For something in our life to become different than what it is today, we have to do something different to make that change occur. We have to prime the pump. We have to find our own jumper cables!

And what about the Representative who was in a slump just over a year ago? She e-mailed me when she had five Shows booked in a one-week period. She did those five Shows, made great money and jump started her business. She’s on track to walk across the stage this year achieving the Circle of Dreams award and her sales are projected to be 50% over the previous year!

Which week will you pick? Send me an e-mail and let me know which week you have chosen so I can plan on celebrating your success with you!

What It Feels Like to be 38-Years-Old!

WOW! On April 1, 38 years ago I signed the papers to incorporate my small little company. I always had big dreams, but little did I know that my company would become one of the largest woman-owned companies in the country and a leader in the direct sales industry. When I look back, I realize that it took a lot of HARD WORK, a lot of PASSION and DRIVE, and a lot of DEDICATED PEOPLE to build this great company.

As we celebrate our anniversary and begin our 38th year in business, I am so grateful for the VALUES I learned as I grew up. Those values led me to understand that there is no substitute for HARD WORK and that helping others always will come back to you abundantly. Those values instilled in me a YEARNING for LEARNING that gave me confidence to step out of my comfort zone…to go under, over, around or through to take the next step forward. With each hurdle I knew I was growing and so was my business… all of which reinforced my PASSION and DRIVE to keep on building.

Ten years into the business after Cathi was stabilized from her lung disease, it was time to respond to all the inquiries outside the Chicagoland area. I had built a million-dollar organization there and constantly received inquiries about being a Representative from other states. OPPORTUNITY was knocking on my door! I had a DEDICATED staff to support me so I hit the road and soon found others who had the PASSION, DRIVE and VISION to WORK HARD and pursue their DREAMS. It was exhilarating to see those people grow! My DREAM became their DREAM.

We hear so much bad news about the level of unemployment and yet in 1971 it was at 5.9% and it didn’t bother me! When Sharon Morgan started as a Representative, unemployment was at 7.4% and the last time we had double-digit unemployment is the year that Sharon added 100 people to her Team and began her climb to a Million-Dollar Team! Carol Romkema built her Team during one of the most difficult economic times for the farming community around her. It became her mission to help other people save their family’s farms!

So on this day when I think of celebrating our 38th anniversary, I am ever so thankful for the VALUES I grew up with and the DREAM that continues to grow because of the DEDICATED PEOPLE who WORK HARD to pursue their DREAMS and continue to reach out to other people as I did in those beginning years.

Happy Anniversary to everyone in the Signature HomeStyles family!

Memories for a Lifetime!

WOW! What a great trip we had to Puerto Vallarta! Seventeen years ago we had a company trip there and it was great to be back to see all the changes and all the wonderful quaintness that had not changed. The hotel was fabulous, the food delicious, the pool and beach spectacular, and all the fun activities together FANTASTIC! But of course the togetherness would be FANTASTIC because the Signature HomeStyles people are just the BEST! It was great to share meals together, chat by the pool, shop and tour together, spend time with seasoned Representatives and get to know new ones.

One of my favorite questions along the way was to ask Representatives which trip that they earned was their favorite. Over and over again I had Representatives tell me that this trip to Puerto Vallarta was one of the best ever whether they have been on many trips or just a few. For family trips, anything Disney always ranks high on the list with many Representatives sharing what great memories their children have of those trips. I had Representatives tell me that their first company trip, regardless of the location, stands out in their memory as a favorite. Most seasoned Representatives who have been on many trips couldn’t choose just one but had two or three on the top of their lists. All-inclusive resorts ranked high with cruises ‘to anywhere’ being a favorite. And, of course, I had Representatives tell me that Hawaii is a DREAM trip for just about everybody.

For many, a couples trip or family vacation is just that…a DREAM. When you’re raising a family, there are just too many other needs. Yet vacations can be some of the best bonding times for families whether it’s a couple taking time to be together or the whole family. When I was growing up, we didn’t have the money to fly to fancy destinations, but my parents loaded us all up in the car and we drove to destinations in the United States and Canada. Memories of those times together still give me a warm fuzzy feeling and I love to look back at pictures of those trips. We shared day after day of pure FUN together!

So one of my greatest joys at Signature HomeStyles is to be able to provide a program where families can take time out of their busy routines and share pure FUN together! I know so many Representatives share in this joy as it is the reward for working their businesses consistently, and they are overjoyed with pride that they can thank their families for supporting them all year long with such fantastic vacations. We set lots of goals for ourselves, but we rarely think that we could achieve a goal that would create memories that are a positive imprint on our families for a lifetime! The money we earn is ever so meaningful to enhance the lives of our families, but you can’t put a price tag on the value of the memories from a VACATION OF A LIFETIME!

Invest your time into figuring out what you need to do to earn one of these trips and take action on your plan. Once you earn your first Signature HomeStyles trip, you and your family will never want to miss one! Every trip will be your BEST memories ever because you are traveling to the BEST destinations with the BEST travel companions…your own family and your Signature HomeStyles family!

Let’s watch the sun set over the ocean together in Maui and/or sail the seas together on a cruise to Key West and Cozumel!

A Special Day for Special People

Have you received any valentines yet? Have you mailed or e-mailed any yet? If you have school-aged children, I bet they’ve been busy putting names on the valentines for their classmates. Have you made any special plans for Valentine’s Day?

I love Valentine’s Day…it’s just one more day in the year to send a special note to friends and show appreciation for those we love. And there are special memories attached to Valentine’s Day. I remember decorating a shoebox with red hearts and doilies, putting a slit in the top, carefully printing my name on it, and taking it to school. All week long classmates dropped valentines through the slits in the boxes. The day of our class Valentine’s Day party, we ate cupcakes, played a few games and proudly took home our shoebox full of valentines.

Later, the excitement centered around the card I would give to ‘that special someone’ and the hope that flowers might arrive at my house! And as the circle of life turns, Valentine’s Day became exciting as I helped my own children get their valentines ready for the party at school. At home I made heart-shaped cakes or cookies. One year I tried to make the whole Valentine’s dinner red. It worked for the jello, but not the mashed potatoes!

Special days for special people create special memories.

May the love of special people abound in your life this Valentine’s Day!