THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX AND RAISE THE BAR
by Linda Sikut

Are you settled in with your business? Do you do the same things every day, every week, every month? Are you getting the same results over and over, but you dream of more? Maybe it's time to Think Outside the BoX and Raise the Bar. Do you set your sales goals each month at $500, $1000, $1,500? Think back to when you first started your business. You probably were thrilled with let's say $500 in sales. The next month you may have inched up a little and maybe over time you've inched up a bit more. As you repeated your activities each month you continued with the same sales and the same income. What if you decided to RAISE THE BAR?

Let's illustrate this with a story.

The first year we went to LaCrosse, WI from Buffalo, NY, we thought it was a 2 day trip. We drove ½ way then stopped for the night. That was our expectation ... that's what we did. The next year we decided to drive a little further. By the time we stopped we were only 3 hours from our destination. The next year we decided to RAISE THE BAR. We were going to drive it in one day. We wanted to arrive by dinner time with a bit of time to relax before picking up friends at the airport so we had to make our plan. We also had to THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX. We didn't leave early in the morning like we did before, we left in the middle of the night. We didn't stop for a leisurely lunch at one of the busy, crowded restaurants along the route, we took food and ate as we drove. We didn't try to drive for long periods of time each, we took measured turns so that neither of us would get tired. We thought outside the box and we had our plan.

We started out, blew right past the place we had stayed overnight the first year and when we reached the place we stayed the second year we knew we only had 3 hours to go. We were right on schedule. Our plan had worked. So to it is with your business. If you've always planned to have sales of 500 or 1000 that's what you'll have. But what if you planned to reach 1500 or 2000? You'd have to plan how you're going to do that. You'd have to talk to more people. You might have selling events, classes, or workshops. You'd have to think your normal activities. Get creative and have fun!

If you're not wearing a recruiting button of some type, get one!
If you're not leaving flyers around town, do it!
If you're not advertising, get started!
If your friends don't know what you do, tell them!
Can you give away samples? Do it!
Do you follow-up in a timely manner? If not, start now!
Do you have magnetic signs on your car? If not get them!
Do you have business cards on your car? If not get them! Do you leave your car parked where your signs can be seen? If not change how you park!
What about those you recruit? If you plan to recruit 1 or2 per month, that's how many you'll recruit. But what if you planned to recruit 10 per month. Wow! Your business would explode! You'll need to reach more people, you'll need to set more appointments, but the rewards are great. The Direct Sales Industry is an awesome industry! Where else can we succeed with so little cash up front? Franchises cost thousands of dollars and up. You can start a business in this industry for less that $500 in almost any company. Find your passion, think outside your box, raise the bar and make your plan! Those are the steps to success.