Amy's WAH Reasons (By Guest Blogger Amy)

(Amy is someone on my team that I really admire. She has been working with me for a couple of months, and wrote a guest blog entry. I haven't met Amy in person, but I consider her my friend. This is her guest blog entry about working from home with my team. Read all the way to the end... I've got another trade to offer)

Amy & her kids

I have been working outside of the home since I graduated high school.   I always wanted to be able to work my hours on my time,  but I never knew how I could pull it off.   After having my first child,  I started my quest to find a company that would allow me to be there for my family instead of in an office for eight hours a day.  After six years of searching,  I have finally found that business!   What makes this one different from other businesses I came across? First I had to I learn several things about what I was looking for in a business.  Once I knew those I knew this was the perfect opportunity for me.

1.  You have to LOVE the products or services  offered - wow, what an understatement.   You can't promote a company if there are only one or two things you truly like about their products and/or services.   This is the first business I have come across where I have fallen in love with ALL the products I've used.   My wish list of products to try is a mile long and it's hard to decide what to get next.  Not to mention my husband has fallen in love with the products too.

2.  I hate doing parties! - I personally hate being the center of attention in a crowd, why would I willingly put myself in that sort of situation?  I prefer to talk to people one-on-one.   This business allows me to do my job the way I feel comfortable without having to hold parties.

3.  I don't have room to stock inventory - I live in a small three bedroom house full of toys,  clothes,  and other everyday items.   I don't think I could hold an inventory if I wanted to.  Everything I have from the company is being used and not sitting on a shelf collecting dust.

4.  I despise sales quotas - I've seen companies that require you to meet monthly or quarterly sales quotas.  If you don't make them you're suspended.   Really?   I thought working from home meant you reach for your goals,  not someone else's. 

5.  Your success is directly tied to the amount of training and support you receive from your team - This is big one for me.  It doesn't matter if you work from home or outside the home.  If you've had poor training, it shows in your performance.  I've never seen a better support group than this team I joined.   Everyone is ready and willing to help at any given moment.   It's unbelievable!

I have never felt more connected to a company or a team than I do to this one.   If you're looking to work from home with a company that allows you to be yourself,  offers support day and night,  and has great products you don't need to look any further.  You've found it.   

***

Plain and simple, Amy rocks. She almost won the blog entry challenge with what she wrote. I'm thrilled that she is a part of my team.

As promised, I have a new trade for my Green Paperclip Project!  So far, we have traded:

A green paperclip

to

A black Bic pen

to

A Scentsy Wax Bar

to......

A LaLaLoopsy hairbow and necklace, made by my friend Molly. Molly has Molly2Mollie Creations, which is fantastic. This woman is so crafty, it's RIDICULOUS. She makes amazing hair bows and other crafts. She saw my Scentsy bar, and right away offered me the following as a trade:

4" Pillow Featherbed LaLaLoopsy bow clip & Jewel Sparkles necklace

Mollie values this at a mere $10. I disagree, but since she's the creator, I have to go with her MSRP.(I think it's worth a LOT more!!!)  If you want to check out other fabulous items she has, you can check out her Etsy Store and become her fan on FaceBook. Incidentally, Molly just joined my work from home team last month, but is more of a customer right now-- She's really moving & grooving with her bow business (as you can see).

Molly has a very big heart. On Mach 24, she is going to host her very first benefit auction to help a wonderful family achieve their dream of adoption. Even if you aren't interested in trading with me, please check out Molly's different pages and purchase something from the auction. Help a family become whole, and make some dreams come true.

So, the item up for trade is a LaLaLoopsy set: A 4" Pillow Featherbed hair bow on a clip and a Jewel Sparkles necklace, worth (according to Molly) $10. If you want to trade up, I ask that your trade be at least $15. If your trade is worth $20, I will promote your business or cause in my next blog entry! If you would like to trade up, either post in the comments or shoot me a message.

Another Check, Another Trade

I got paid today! Woot! Take a look:

I also withdrew about another $200 via Direct Deposit. My total earnings for January were $1933.84. That breaks down to $24.79 per hour, considering I logged 78 total hours last month. Not too shabby... And the checks are just going to get bigger from here. I'm more than happy to help anyone earn a check like this, too. Just let me know if you're interested. You can leave me a message at 631.954.1919 and I'll get back to you ASAP.

So... Remember that green paperclip I started out with? I traded up to a Bic pen with a medium tip from my friend, Sarah, in Ohio. Sarah is really involved with Virtual Ability,  and traded with me so that I would bring attention to their organization. Make sure you check them out!

Take a look at my happy new pen:

It is brand new, black ink, and worth about $0.20. So, who has something that they would like to trade with me? I'll trade anything for it, as long as it is worth more than 20 cents. And if you trade something worth $5 or over, I'll even link to your website, fan page, or blog in my next trade entry. Remember, unless you live near me, we will trade through post. Make sure you read my Green Paperclip Blog Entry so you understand my conditions.

If you want to trade, either leave a comment or send me an email.

The Power of Marketing: Car Exercises

Many people lump sales and marketing together. Without marketing, sales would be lower-- After all, who would buy soething they never heard about? Without sales, marketing still exists. It doesn't matter if something is sold or not-- Of course, sales means that marketing is effective.

 

Marketing and advertising should go hand in hand. In layman's terms, marketing is telling people about something or bringing attention to something. Successful marketing means that people participate in whatever the marketing message is: Sales, travel, protests, etc.

 

I am going to do two exercises in marketing: one WITHOUT any money and one WITH money, so you can see what I ramble about in this blog. It has nothing to do with my business, but will demonstrate to you how effective marketing works.

 

Before I even go on, let me explain to you my basis of these exercises. As you know, my husband was in a massive car accident on January 11, 2012. He was hit, head on, by a drunk driver:

 

We were leasing the Tucson, and had $5000 to go. Unfortunately, our car was totaled out and we are still waiting for the payment from the insurance company after they pay off the lien. I think it's $5000. You can't get a car for $5000, and we aren't going to go into debt to get a car. Right now, he's still tooling around in a horrible rental car, until we get that check. (And Lord only knows when we're going to get that.)

 

FIRST EXERCISE:

 

In 2005, a guy named Kyle MacDonald created something called the Red Paperclip Project. In this project, he started out with a red paperclip and traded up to a house. The cool thing is that he didn't even try to market his project. People just picked up on it and ran with it. He traded up from a red paperclip to a house in Sasketchewan, Canada.

 

So, I'm going to do something in the same vein as Kyle, but I'm going to change a couple of things up:

 

1. I am starting out with a 1" green, metallic paperclip.
2. I will trade for ANYTHING worth more what I am currently holding.
3. I will NOT travel to you to make the trade, unless you pay for my travel expenses or if you live within 3 hours of me. All other trades will be done through the mail, UPS or FedEx.
4. My final trade will be to a "new" car made in 2012 or later, and in excellent driving condition. (I don't need a house.)
5. Everyone that trades will receive a "plug" on this blog, including a link to the website of their choice. (Sorry, no porn.)
6. All trades are final.

Yep, I'm starting with a paperclip, too. And here it is:

 

 

What do you have that you will trade for this paperclip? As soon as I receive an offer of a trade, I will update the blog. When the trade is complete, I will take another picture for the next trade. You can either post in the comments section, message me on FaceBook, or email me.

 

EXERCISE #2:

 

I don't have information on this, as I am waiting for approval. I will update this blog as soon as get the approval. However, Exercise #2 will last just 90 days.