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  1. Welcome to Boot Camp! We are going to spend five weeks together and we will get to know each other VERY WELL! This blog is the place to post your observations, realizations, comments and questions. It is only for our group of Campers, so be honest! I promise to “give it to you straight” and I want you to do the same with me! Hugs, Lyn

  2. I really enjoyed the first session of Boot Camp today. It was nice to hear about everyone, including their past jobs and what motivates them to be successful in their business! After we hung up, I got to work doing daily things with my business. I am 2/3’s the way to my goal of filling my calendar with parties for March… and here’s the honest part: I got in touch with some hostesses who haven’t done much inviting!! I have to remember that just because it’s a booking on my calendar, my work isn’t done there. I have to keep in touch with these hostesses regularly or it could say “party” on that date with NO ONE showing up! Any tips on how to “ensure” a booking stays where it is on my calendar? Like you said Lyn, it’s about how we think so I will stay positive and keep working to fill my dates!! Hope to hear from everyone soon. Glad to keep in check and stay motivated, everyone.

    1. Good morning Lisa! I’m so glad you’ve had that realization. You’re right – getting the date is just the START of ensuring a successful Party. Getting the guest list is the next vital step. Coaching your Hostess to the realities means that neither of you will be disappointed in the results. Statistics are clear: a personal, voice invitation from your Hostess to her potential guests DRAMATICALLY increases attendance. Email alone does not work. Texting in addition to a voice invitation seems to be improving attendance. (It’s new enough that there aren’t any statistics yet, but the evidence is pretty clear.)
      If you have my Language of Success CDs, listen to Bookings Mean Business. If you don’t have the set, you can download just that CD on my website. It’s excellent for learning the foundation of booking and coaching (if I do say so myself ;=))

  3. Hi Lyn and good morning! I have your cd set so I will re-listen in my car. Some people are hesitant to give out friends’ personal information… Do you feel it can be just as beneficial for my hostesses to give me just the names? That way, I know they have brainstormed or at least I know how many people they have invited?

  4. I am so excited to be in this course with you Lyn and also the other ladies as I know that I will learn and grow with the exposure to new ideas from other direct sales pros! I have only been in this business for about 19 mos but my experience has been that the more I communicate with and build a relationship/friendship with my hostesses, the more successful her party will be. From the time we book her party I begin educating her on the importance of her getting her guest list to me so I can get the invitations out, but more importantly how vital it is that she personally invite each of her guests via telephone, text, or in person. This has made the biggest difference in my business so far- party attendence has greatly increased for my hostesses and also my own parties!

    1. WOW! What you typed is PERFECT, Robbie! I want to emphasize that many Hostesses tell you they will do the inviting…don’t worry about it. And they mean it when they say it. The problem is, most just won’t do it well. They’ll relay on email or Facebook. They will believe that will do the job, until very few guests show up and they think they made a mistake having the Party. EVERYONE is disappointed. Take control of this aspect and you take control of your own security. Who’s business is it anyway???

  5. Hi Boot Camp gals;
    Ok here’s my intro….I am a wife and mother, I work full time in the restaurant industry. I started in my company two years ago. I love all the opportunities it has brought to my life, new friends,$, travel, confidence etc. I am struggling to find a balance to keep me consistent. Finding that something….that thing…that goal is also sometimes tricky. My action is to KMF keep moving forward! Business goals are to keep empower other women that they can to….have more! And more specifically I am going GREEN!
    I really enjoyed the call and thanks Lyn….I look forward to 5 minutes.

  6. Hey Ladies/Lyn
    I am free bird, free spirit! I am so so very bad at scheduling my time! I love to fly by the seat of my pants. I drop my girls off at school at 8:05 drive to town to get Tim Hortons (for you Americans it is nectar of the gods coffee) then I get home at 8:45 and “Work” until 2:15 when I have to leave to get the girls again! That is unless I have appt’s and other errands. Mostly I am home. My assistant comes in every 2nd Tuesday and on Fridays! Narrowing it down from there hurts my head and I honestly don’t stick to it anyway! I also know in the same breath that there are definitely parts of my business I pleasantly ignore! Procrastination…my worst enemy and best friend. K that’s all for now ladies… xoxo

    1. Ah, my sweet bird! We don’t want to clip your wings. We just want to be sure the “pleasantly ignoring” part doesn’t sabotage your success. For you, the Weekly Planner with clearly identified blocks for RSVP will be perfect to get you flexibility with structure. We will talk more about RSVP on our next Camp Call.

  7. What is the difference between/how do you use the Daily Planner sheet and weekly planner sheet?

    Here I am today filling out my weekly planner sheet… and quickly running out of room – ha! Then I’m thinking.. the details go in the daily planner… so what is the difference in the weekly planner and why do we have two?

    1. I got the above question from Lisa McEwen yesterday. It a great question, Lisa! (I hit enter above after I cut and pasted Lisa’s question but before I answered. So here goes!) I’m actually going to describe how to use all three of the calendars I asked you to print off.
      Monthly Calendar – your most global view of how you will be spending your time. Hardly any detail is included. Rather, make sure you have a sense of how you will be spending your time and if you have a balance of personal and business activities.
      Weekly Calendar – an overview of how you will be spending your time in the week ahead. Typically, you would do your weekly calendar on the weekend for the following week. Schedule in your personal activities, i.e. exercise, appointments, church, lunch dates, your other job (if you have one), children’s activities, etc. Then schedule in your blocks of time for business activities, i.e. sales activities such as Parties and Hostess Coaching, recruiting activities such as Prospect follow-up and interviews and team activities, i.e. new Rep training and coaching activities.
      Daily Planner – a triple-pronged tool to free your mind from worry and wasted time. The far right side is a list of the hours of the day. Fill in any scheduled appointments. The far left is your “to-do” list. List the top 10 things you need to do. Prioritize them so you’re doing the two most important ones first (applying 80/20 to your task list). The bottom is to list the business-building contacts you’ve made during the day. The bottom is filled out AFTER you make the contacts. It’s not for who you plan to talk to. It’s for who you did talk to.
      The Activity Log is a great tool for determining EXACTLY HOW you are spending your time. We all fool ourselves about how and how much time we spend. The Activity Log keeps you “honest.” After a few days, you’ll have a great idea of your “time savers and time steelers.” You don’t have to do an Activity Log every day for life. (UGGG – what a thought!) It’s simply a tool to help you diagnose your use of time.
      Okay, Campers…I hope this helps!

    1. Good question, Robbie. Think of it this way: the strategies are the broad stroke of the plan while the action steps are the details of you will achieve the broad strokes. Take a simple example – you want to lose 10 pounds. The strategies might be to exercise for 45 minutes five times a week and change your eating habits. The action steps for “exercise 45 minutes five times a week” might be:
      Walk at 7 am Monday through Friday
      Plan an indoor and an outdoor route
      Get comfortable walking shoes
      Arrange for my husband to get the kids ready for school
      The action steps for change my eating habits might be:
      Plan menus for the week so I know what we’ll be eating
      Get rid of the “white” stuff in my pantry and refrigerator
      Buy healthy fruits and vegetables, whole grain bread and protein
      Hope this is clear. If not, let me know and I’ll try again.

  8. Hi-I’m so excited to be participating in this Boot Camp and loved listening to all of you on the replay! My intro…..I have been with my company for 5 years. I am married to the most amazing man who is my biggest supporter of my business. I have a daughter who is almost 25 and 2 stepchildren (22 & 26). We are emptynesters!! A year ago I took a huge leap of faith and quit my job to work my business full time. My ACTION MOTIVATOR is to not go back to work and I have signs all over the house stating that! My hope from this class is to consistently have enough parties on my calendar to meet the financial goals we have set for retirement, etc. Also, as my team continues to grow I want to be be able to balance my personal business and team development! Looking forward to working with all of you. mp

    1. Thanks for introducing yourself, Mary Pat. Good goals! We look forward to hearing about your progress on the call on Friday.

  9. I am still working on my goal sheet… can anyone give guidance on how to set the completion date for a goal that involves others? I can’t control what current or new reps do each month, so how can I be sure that I am working smart and have enough people in place to be sure everything aligns properly? I think I need to know some numbers (i.e.; how many calls do I need to make each week/month to recruit 1-2 new reps/mo personally?)

      1. Lyn,
        I know that my funnel is the list of contacts I make booking& biz opp calls from, but not sure about the funnel concept. Thx Lyn, I can’t wait for Fri! 🙂

  10. Wow, class yesterday was powerful! I love the wisdom on goal setting as I have not heard it explained this way and in this detail before. Aubrey, your approach to goal setting was great, thanks! I realized yesterday during the discussion that although i have been consistantly working my business, I have not done everything I can to reach my goals. I made a decision that starting NOW I will do everything within my control each day. One thing I have not been doing is asking every prospect about the business opportunity first, then trying to get the booking. i have heard this many times before, but yesterday it was like a light came on and I realized that this is an area where I am in complete control of my biz and i will start to work like I’m in control.

    1. 😀 That’s exactly what the Action Steps are about! It’s about finding things that you CAN control and often things that you have known you should do and have avoided for one reason or another. Often we avoid them because they are just uncomfortable. 😀 Good luck! 😀

      1. Well said, both of you! We all crave control – yet we often avoid doing the things that are in our control. Is it because we’re afraid we won’t get the results we want? I don’t know. I DO KNOW that if we relinquish the control, we inevitable determine the results. (I’m feeling very philosophical this morning!)

    2. Thanks for sharing this, Robbie. Isn’t it amazing what can happen when you open your eyes (and your heart) to a new paradigm. I’m excited to be on this journey with you!

  11. I feel so blessed to have been placed in a group of such amazing business women! I LOVED our call yesterday and plan to listen to it again on replay to retain every bit of it! Although I feel like I am just coming out of the gate in my business, I feel as if this time I am using tools that I have never used before and truly thinking of my business as a business and not just a tool for “Fun Money.” You ladies inspire me and I look forward to strengthening my personal business over the next few weeks…or sooner ;D Thank you Lyn for making things seem a little more clear.

  12. Ok I just want to say that the first call I made (sat am) after determining to ask every prospect about biz opp first was totally AWESOME! i was making a follow up all to a company lead and she was telling me how she wanted everything in the catalog, so instead of going for the hostess angle, i jumped right to “Wow that is a great reason to become a rep, have you considered that?” and she said, “actually i was thinking of hosting a party but would love to learn more about this biz, I think i might like to do what you do!” i am mailing her a biz opp pkt today and we have a f/u phonecall scheduled for tues evening. I am wondering if i had only approached her about hosting if we would be talking about her getting started as a rep tomorrow??? Anyway, i am so proud of myself for stepping out of my comfort zone and taking control of my biz. Thanks so much Lyn, Aubri, and fellow campers for the wisdom and insight. I already feel that this class is making a difference for me! 🙂

      1. Good for you, Robbie! I believe if you had just approached her about hosting, you’d be Hostess Coaching right now rather than talking about the business. A Party is always an option if she’s not ready to start right now. Please blog after your interview and share what happened with the group!

        1. I called my lead last night for our biz opp interview but she had worked late and was on her way to pick up her daughter, so we rescheduled our call for Thurs eve. She did however book a party with me for the end of March and is very excited about everything we have chatted about so far. 🙂 I did my own power hour last night and didn’t get ahold of anyone, so left messages and then sent some f/u emails to girls i had left mesages for over the wknd. This morning I had an email reply from one of them and she booked a party with me for Apr 7!!! 🙂
          I also received an email via my wbsite from a past customer who wanted to place an order. i called her but no answer so left her a voice mail saying I would love to place an order for her, but wondered if she would be interested in learning more about what i do. I will follow up with her later this week.

          So many exciting things happening right now, my goal sheet is to book 4 parties for mar and 4 for april and i have booked 2 of them this week! 🙂

  13. So great to hear of everyone’s progress! I have almost reached my monthly goal of parties so I am working on bookings full-force. I met up with some of my reps last night at a company event and got some green flags about them
    Wanting to take their business to the next level. Now my goal is to reach out to my first downline and see if I can work with her and in turn help her team. I have a prospect very interested in the bus. Op. that I met at a party last week and she leaves for a 3 week vacation on Friday… My goal is to connect with her before she goes and while her excitement is still big!

  14. Just had to share that we are up to 9 out of 31 of my new Consultants Qualified! That’s 29%! We are on our way to my goal of 75% Qualified! 😀

      1. 11 out of 31! 😀 35%! We are off to an incredible start! Already over 11k for March, so nearly a third of the way towards our goal for the whole month and it’s only the 5th! 😀

        1. You are a terrific leader, Aubri! Thank you for sharing your great news! 1/3 of the way there in 1/6 of the month!! Congratulations!

  15. Hi there,
    Had my first power call with Lyn this morning. Can I admit I had a couple tears in my eyes when I hung up…thank you for taking the time to call me, it really meant a lot. I am so glad to tell you I made 7 calls in 15 minutes. Spoke live to one, have 2 to call back tonight and the rest I L/M. I did it! Thanks Lyn.

  16. Hi Ladies,
    Great to read your updates and be in this Boot Camp with you!
    One of my goals is growing my team so I need to make it more of a focus and “pay attention” to opportunities sitting right in front of me.
    I am heading to drop off a Business Opportunity Package to a Photographer I met yesterday who is only here in ON for a short time. After her taking our family pictures I asked her a few Questions about herself and then asked if she had ever heard of “our company” where she lives. She had not so I gave her a brochure to let her know about our product & asked if she was interested in learning about the Business Opportunity…she said “sure”. Let you know where it goes from here:)

    1. Thank you for sharing this, Lisa! You’re so right…it’s simply a matter of focus. What you focus on increases!

  17. Class was really good today! I feel so blessed to be in this group of ladies and gleaning from your experience. After class I called a lead to schedule her interview and she is super excited about the biz opp and also her party scheduled for the first wknd in Apr. She already has an outside order! I asked her if she had looked thru the biz opp packet I sent her and she said she had, so I asked her what appealed to her most about the business (so glad you talked about that today Lyn because i would have asked her if she had any questions before class today…) She loves the product and the quality of the product and is very interested in signing up but wants to see how her party goes. I know her party will be great because she is really enthusiastic about the product and the opportunity, and that makes all the difference!

    1. Yeah Robbie! I’m so glad we talked about it too! Please keep in mind that you will earn the income on her party and she will get the Hostess Reward and the bookings when she joins. When you talk to her between now and then, use “When you’re a Rep” kind of words. Keep planting positive seeds.

  18. i wanted to say thanks again Lyn for saying the words i needed to hear today. Sometimes I can hear something but not really “hear” it until someone says it in the right way. Lyn you helped me to see that i am an equal opportunity recruiter and that since i am committed to sharing my opportunity with everyone I meet, i do n ot need to worry about whether or notI think they need, want, or are right for this, but to just share it and let them figure that part out. 🙂 I love that because it immediately takes the pressure off of me and allows me to just offer people the best I have to give.

    thanks so much!

  19. Well, as we heard Lyn tell me in Week 2 of Boot Camp, working on my personal business is my #1 priority right now but it seems that all I have accomplished so far is a new recruit and a fantastic team meeting this week that got a few of the girls on my team rejuvinated and re-engaged! Poor me I know ;D but I am falling short of my personal party goal for parties in March. I am thinking of hosting a New Product Open House but don’t want to inundate customers with invitations. Is it time better spent on the phone or hosting my own open house? And Lyn, if you could please tell me now to work on my team so that my personal business would pick up that would be great! How do you do that? 🙂

    1. Last question first – if I understand correctly, you’re asking how to apply time effectiveness principles to team building AND personal business. The answer to that is “Never walk alone.” What I mean by that is make every personal party and interview a shadowing experience for someone. This does four things:
      1. You’re very conscious of having ENOUGH personal business to be shadowed.
      2. It’s a great example for your Reps who are willing to shadow.
      3. It tells you who WANTS to work by indicating their interest in growing.
      4. It tells the Hostess or recruit Prospect that you train, so they are much more likely to want to join your team.

      As to the first part of your post, the ONLY way to have ENOUGH personal business is to talk to ENOUGH people so the law of averages works for you. I wish I had a magic bullet, but there it is!

  20. Hello Everyone!
    I am enjoying reading the comments from everyone. Thanks for sharing. This has been a busy week but it does help to keep my business consistent. Recruiting is really fun for me because its the part of the business that is the most natural for me. I had an interview on Tuesday and she called and left a message that she wants to give me her credit card to sign up! I have one other coming on board and a third package that I mailed out. This was a hostess who had a successful book show and is considering the business. The RSVP is very important, especially with many new reps coming onboard and needing training. Lyn’s comment about setting expectations and telling them what they need to be successful has really been at the forefront of my mind.

    1. Thank you for sharing about your activities and attitude, Andrea. You are a successful leader with a large organization, so I especially appreciate the humility it takes to go back to basics!

  21. Andrea I agree with you about setting expectations for new recruits otherwise we are just setting them up for failure because positive results come only with consistant activity and by being teachable and duplicating our growing upline. If we aren’t willing to tell them that we are doing them a disservice. Times when my funnel is full it is easier to do this because when my funnel is full I am too busy working with the ones who are ready to get started by duplicating me that I don’t have time to talk the ones who aren’t into it. It goes back to the scarcity mentality again. The weekly planner is helping me to consistantly make calls, book parties, and keep my list of names
    growing so I feel more confident and don’t worry about the nos as much.

    .

  22. Ladies,
    I’m really enjoying this process. I feel like I’m learning new things as well as being reminded of timeless ideas that slip from my mind… Love the idea of incentives for my team and a little extra incentive for hostesses who book at parties. I’m not going to re-invent the wheel, just do what works now that it’s at the front of my mind! My goal from the beginning has been to increase my monthly bookings and yes, I am getting there which is great. But I’m also being reminded of the bigger picture…. Developing my team and recruiting. I admit I definitely wasn’t putting RSVP on my calendar so am trying my best to implement all elements on a weekly basis. I’ve reached out to potential recruits I’ve met in the past while still asking everyone at every party (which I usually always do)… I’ve also realized it’s a great idea to share with my team what my goals are, when/where my parties are for shadowing opportunities and it’s shown me who’s serious about taking their business to the next level! I will be asking my team for their bookings at the beginning of each month (a first for me) which I think will help with my goals and theirs. I still need 3 more bookings for march and am working on changing my thoughts from “well, I guess it’s too late to get anymore bookings for march”
    To “who am I going to meet today who would LoVE to book for march?!”!!!!

  23. Me again! Ok.. 2 questions I was going to email you to ask and figured I might as well “blog” it so we can all share in the answers!
    1) you mentioned on the call today about how incentives work for getting bookings at parties. You did 3 parties a week for 15 years – amazing! What kind of incentives did you use and what were your methods? I’m assuming the open date sheet?
    2) as I re-read some of your book the other day I saw the “referral” page where it says the person’s name and 3 lines where someone can write referral names. Would you recommend having copies of this at parties, perhaps at the check out for those who say “no as in never!” To a party and they can then sit with their cell and pull out some names on the spot?

    Thanks!

    1. I’m just now getting to the blog after two days of nonstop birthday celebrations. My grandson Leif was 2 on Friday and we celebrated my daughter-in-love’s birthday yesterday. March is a BIG birthday month for the Conway family!
      So, to some comments and answers:
      I love what you said in your first post about your mindset shift, Lisa. Everything looks different when you decide to see things in a new way. (Wow – that sounds like a Fresh Idea quote.) I’ll actually be shocked if you DON’T have your eight Parties in March.
      1) Little incentive to book at Parties – I used little things valued at no more than $1 with perceived value of more. Remember I was in housewares, so things like spatulas and cake testers worked great. I put them in a basket and the person booking could choose what she wanted. I also made a game of it. As a for instance, at this time of year, I’d have an Easter basket with 10 plastic eggs. 5 of the eggs would have the word “Gift” written on a piece of paper in the egg. The other 5 would say “Party.” I told the guests that if they were a bit of a gambler, they could pick an egg. Half said “gift” and half said “party.” 50/50 chance. The only rule was if they picked, I’d give them the gift if they got a “gift” egg” and they had to book the Party if they got a “party” egg. I rarely had anyone back out if they picked…and even if they picked a “gift” egg, I knew they were open to booking. I almost never walked away with less than two bookings.
      2) Referrals. I suggest getting the names and numbers right there. After all, the guests are having fun and are in the mood to thinking of who else they know who would enjoy the party experience. The verbiage is important…”The greatest compliment you could pay me is to refer me to others who would enjoy an evening like this. You probably have the names and numbers in your cell phone. Why not look right now while we’re both here?” You could give the same sort of little gift mentioned above for three names and numbers.
      THE DOLLAR STORE IS YOUR FRIEND!
      Hope this helps!

  24. Lisa I love what you said about not giving up on march bookings but instead thinking of new ways to meet new people and get those bookings. Nice! I too am not giving up on my March goals either and figure even if by trying to book my march i “accidentally” book april i still win, right? Also, Lyn I LOVED your egg pick game idea! I am definitely going to implement that at my next party. I have not been good at getting bookings at parties and amgoing to work harder at it now that i have some ideas about how to do it more comfortably. Thanks so much foe sharing your ideas ladies!

  25. I agree Robbie, I think the egg game idea is great and it’s so key (for me) to get bookings at parties. Let us know what happens if you try it and I will too! I will be honest about dollar store gifts Lyn, I haven’t had good luck with response to it. I guess most of the women know they are from the dollar store and don’t care to “earn” that gift somehow. I’m going to keep brainstorming ideas for prizes… Maybe stock up on bath & body works soaps when they go on sale? (Even though that’s not related to my line of product).. Hmmm will keep thinking. But I DO think it’s all about booking that night to get something that is immediate!

    1. Good thought processes, Lisa and Robbie. You’re right, Lisa, about “cheap stuff.” It doesn’t fool anyone. I’m really talking about inexpensive things that look like MORE. We have Big Lots and Job Lots where I live. They often have beautiful candles and seasonal items that would cost significantly more elsewhere. Stock up! The best thing is, you have to be out and you’re likely to meet more prospects for your services while you shop. Let’s give it a try. See what works and keep the blog going with feedback. Hey Girls, if we can whip this one, we’ll be heroes out there!

      1. I thought of a another one for us Canadians – $2 Tim Horton’s gift cards! You could use any coffee shop but the fact that it’s a small amount won’t matter (I don’t think) because who wouldn’t like to be treated to their coffee in the morning? I got some for my party tonight- will let you know how it goes!

  26. I’ve really enjoyed boot camp.. It’s been a great connection with everyone. Lyn, I wanted to share this with you since we talked about mindset- I did a power 30 last night (as I do very often these days!) and had just been listening to your CD’s on my drive that day… I really felt like my attitude was different on the phone, even leaving messages. My voice and words were genuine and I was looking to connect with people and not just book my calendar. I think this had a LOT to do with the fact that I already had 6 bookings on my calendar for April and needed 2 more to reach my goal and it’s only March 27. lwas more relaxed because I knew I could get those 2 and meet my goal. I got one more booking! So I now need one more. It’s easy to say “just have a relaxed attitude!” But for me, this seems to only come when I’m booked up and feeling great about my calendar. So I’m learning that when my calendar isn’t where I want it, I have to “pretend” that it is to get in the right mind-set to get those bookings. And my new goal is to continue with these calls until I have 8… And then 9… And then move into may! That way I won’t feel that desperate feeling which apparently exudes itself over the phone (which I didn’t think it did but I guess I was wrong). Hope everyone is having a good week.

    1. Thanks for sharing this important observation, Lisa! You’re right…people hear what our heart is saying even when we think we’re good actresses. So, my recommendation is to do or listen to whatever gets you to your happy place BEFORE you get on the phone or go to a party. I’m glad my CD helped. For some people it’s music. Different strokes for different folks, bur each person has to find what works for themselves. Let us know when you are so booked up that you’re turning them away. It will happen!

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