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Scentsy Discontinued Scents Are Back!
Okay I admit, the subject line is a bit of a tease. Scentsy is not currently offering any discontinued scents, nor do I have any available for purchase … but we will soon. And you can have a say in which retired or discontinued scents will be brought back for a limited time. Voting is now open through April 27 for our Bring Back My Bar promotion. If you really, really, really miss your favorite scent and would love an opportunity to get some more, click here to vote for your favorites. The top twenty scents will be available only during July 2011.
Don’t Let the Turkeys Get You Down
Direct Sales is a fabulous business with so many excellent benefits, features and reasons to be involved. Meeting some super people is another positive aspect of having your own direct selling business. Though as the cliché says – you can’t have a rainbow without a little rain.
Like any other business, direct sales is not exempt from attracting a few humdingers. We’ve all encountered team members, prospects, corporate staffers, customers and consultants from other teams who we would not invite to our Christmas party. For suggestions on dealing with challenging people who come into your path, see this article about how you don’t have to like your co-workers.
People never cease to amaze me. Yesterday I received a notice that someone left a comment on one of my business YouTubes. Great, comments are generally a good thing. To my surprise, it was a fellow consultant, not someone within my team, who decided to spam my video with a link to her own website. What? Who does that? Of course I had the ‘delete comment’ button at my control, but I just can’t even imagine what would possess someone to do that; nonetheless these folks do exist. Continue reading
What Kind of Wax is used in Scentsy Candles?
In answer to the frequently asked question, “What Kind of Wax does Scentsy use?” the following was provided by Scentsy CEO, Orville Thompson. It first appeared in February 2006.
Many customers have asked about the wax we use and why. Here is the scoop. We use a food-grade petroleum [proprietary paraffin blend] based wax. We chose this wax because of its superior scent loading ability, melt point and firmness. We looked into vegetable based waxes, and we just couldn’t get a quality candle bar.
The issue of vegetable vs. petroleum [paraffin] waxes is raised primarily by vegetable wax candle makers because of the health risks associated with burning petroleum waxes. Most of the scientific research I have read (as opposed to sales literature) suggests that there are plenty of health issues with burning candles of any type of wax. Switching to vegetable based waxes does not seem to reduce the health risks as much as the veggie wax people would like us to believe. The Scentsy solution is simply not to burn the wax. The wax is not burned, and therefore, not released into the air to pollute our lungs, walls and furniture.
The issue of the type of wax we use is a non-issue, with regard to the chemicals released while burning, because we only warm the scent out of the wax – the wax remains in the warmer. If customers have a question about what kind of wax we use, I always ask them why they ask. This is because any answer other than ‘soy’ or ‘vegetable’ will put off anyone who is predisposed to using to using only vegetable wax, even if the logic explained later is sound. If they respond by saying they only use vegetable wax candles, or are asking out of simple curiosity, you can explain the Scentsy solution and how it is better than burning any kind of wax which put our products in the proper and positive light.
To put it simply, I would rather have petroleum wax in a warmer than a soy wax dispersed into the air of my home. Let wicked candle makers fight over relative safety. With Scentsy we practice “safer scents” – we abstain from wicks.
The Golden Email
Today’s post on e-mail etiquette is an important one as it relates to professionalism. This is an area in which many home based consultants could use some pointers. I am pleased to welcome the author of this article, guest blogger, William Eve, who has joined us previously to discuss Network Strategies.
Email has become as ubiquitous as a phone call- no matter where you are, you almost always have access to e-mail. With that ease of access, so too has come the slack in writing etiquette. In business, any correspondence should carry with it a certain amount of propriety and style, e-mail included. Here are some tips to make sure every e-mail you send, sends with it a clear message of professionalism.
Before Writing
Before a single word is written in an e-mail, consider two things: What are you trying to say or ask, remember this will first exist as just a subject in the recipient’s inbox.
What are you trying to say? Ask yourself this question. Are you looking for an answer to a question? Is it urgent? Can it wait? Are there other people involved? Ensure that whatever you write is pertinent to what you are writing and why. Consider also that most people access their e-mails on mobile devices and have limited screen space. Having to read a multi-page e-mail can be difficult on such devices. Make it short, get to the point.
It starts as a subject. Remember- before an e-mail is opened, it exists only as a subject in the recipient’s inbox. Do not add multiple exclamation points if you feel the e-mail is important. Simple makes a better subject. If possible, sum up the entire purpose for the e-mail in the subject. Use the body of the e-mail as support information for your subject.
When Writing
When writing an e-mail, remember that this is not an instant messenger client reserved for you and your friends. This, most often, is a monitored for of communication for the business. This means that very likely, most of your e-mails are logged. Never write an e-mail you wouldn’t feel comfortable sending everybody.
Don’t send it to everybody. Too often, e-mails are blindly sent to a large group without considering who this message is really intended for. Consider who really needs this information and who doesn’t. Know the difference between CC and BCC. When it comes to e-mail, CC is usually someone that needs to be in the loop but not necessarily contribute. CC recipients are visible to everyone. BCC is reserved for people that you need to apprise of a situation- BCC recipients are invisible to everyone else.
Don’t send a wall of text. This is especially a problem when composing e-mail on a mobile device. Use line breaks, separate ideas and help the reader understand content. Don’t send 30 lines of text with no breaks in them. It’s hard to read and hard to follow.
Before Hitting Send
Too often, people finish their thought and hit send. This is not only unprofessional and irresponsible, you also then unload the burden of spelling and grammar errors onto the reader. Make sure, before you hit send, that you review these simple steps:
- Did you ask what you needed to ask?
- Does your subject match your body e-mail?
- Re-read the e-mail, check for spelling errors, use spell-check if you have it.
- If you require an answer by a certain time, did you include that?
- Did you include important information the recipient does not already have?
- Have you included attachments?
- Have you included contact information?
Simply put, e-mail is best thought of as a faster business letter. Most of these rules when writing a business letter have been lost on the e-mail generation. Take your time, write something clear, concise, professional and you will be well on your way to better corporate communique.
This article was written by William from homeloanfinder.com.au. Visit HomeLoanFinder to compare home loan interest rates and find the right mortgage broker.
How to Keep Your Home Business Profitable
“When are you going to get a real job?” “What are you up to now?” “Oh is it one of those pyramid things?”
Many home based entrepreneurs will tell you that they have heard at least one or more of the above phrases from so-called family and friends. Part of the reason home businesses have a reputation that they aren’t real businesses is because some home business owners treat their venture more like a hobby than like a business.
Longevity rates of home businesses are low because so many of them don’t make a profit. Eventually the owners will come to the realization, or a spouse will be painfully aware, that they are spending more than they are earning. Many home business owners are more concerned with being home than they are with actually running a business.
How do you keep your home business profitable?
The best way to keep your business profitable is to RYBLAB – Run Your Business Like a Business. Whether you’re home based or you go into an office, success is contingent upon you viewing your business as a business – a real business. If you treat it lightly and don’t take profits seriously, then is it realistic to expect to be profitable? Continue reading
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