Making a Living by Giving - Send Out Cards: January 2011

Monday, January 31, 2011

Computer Health

So many things we do in life require that our computers have excellent operating efficiency, because when they do not, it makes our lives very difficult. Even in a business like SendOutCards™, we rely on technology in order to respond to our "promptings".
In 2010, I experienced many frustrating moments as I tried to consolidate several inefficient computers onto one that worked well. I was anxious about losing important documents and pictures, and I realized that I was spending a lot of time waiting for my computer to respond to my needs. Often times I use a remote laptop computer located in my kitchen which accesses the Internet through a wireless connection to the router in my office downstairs. The moment anyone turns on the microwave oven, it would kill my wireless signal.
I found myself managing five different email addresses depending on whether I was working my business, my network, or my personal life. I also had acquired several domain names which were registered through different companies and I used another source for hosting. I felt a real lack of control over my computing environment.
I felt like one of my first steps was to cleanup the information on my computers and give myself an assurance that in case of disaster, I would not lose vital information (digital photographs, business plan, accounting databases, and contacts). I had invested in an external hard drive to hold a majority of my data as I had filled up my hard drives and cleared them many times hoping to make more room for my information needs. This external hard drive began to squeal on a regular basis and anyone who knows anything about this would strongly advise to act quickly as the drive is about to crash. I had also obtained a source of external backup (on the cloud as they would say). I was not absolutely certain I could recover information from the cloud as I had not tested a recovery process. Yes, my computer environment was making me feel very vulnerable.
I hired a consultant to come in and help . . . we purchased a very large replacement external drive . . . not before the first one crashed, which was a very painful experience that I would hope other would not have to endure. We installed a new computer, a new printer, a new router, and set up the external backup procedure again. We installed software that allowed me to periodically clear my system of temporary files, and cookies. We setup the firewall, we secured our wireless connection, we installed a virus detecting software and we tested to make sure we had adequate RAM (random access memory). One of the best things we did was to install software that allowed all of our computers to talk with one another regardless of whether we were in range of our wireless network, which even allowed me to connect to our home computer while traveling to China.
I found the following article to be very insightful on how to make sure your hardware is operating efficiently making less likely that you will be frustrated by excessive computer-related issues: New Year Computer Overhaul

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Tools for SOC Team Members

There are a couple of new tools we would like everyone to know about in your marketing efforts. Tommy Wyatt & Curtis Lewsey, two top SOC Leaders and Eagles have added an 800 number that is being piloted on the East Coast. It is about 7 minutes in length and can be a great way to introduce someone to SOC. Call the number yourself before you give it out, just so you will know the content and the context. 1-800-985-1812.

I also recently attended an event by "Big Al", Tom Schneider, who is a MLM industry leader and trainer. He worked with us to create a "story" that we can use when we want to share the SOC Opportunity with someone. There is a lot of psychology in this script, so it has been crafted, based on subconscious fears and desires people have about MLM, making money, fear of failure, etc. It might not resonate with you at all, but again, it might! Feel free to try it out.

One of the things that I love about SOC is that there are so many ways to build your business. Some people go to a lot of networking meetings, and some go to none. Some hold gatherings in their home, and others build their business strictly over the phone. As a company, SOC continues to provide us with outstanding tools, such as the Opportunity DVDs, the website walk-throughs, the Treat 'Em Rights, the Daily 8 system (www.thedaily8.com) and so much more.

In addition, we have some wonderful websites available to us with recorded calls, documents and other resources we can use to grow our business. Here are a few of my favorites:

www.thecoolbuzz.com (password is "thecoolbuzz") - this is Jordan Adler's site
www.eaglestraining.info (password is "eaglestraining") - this is Kathy Paauw's newer site
www.bethoughtfulnow.com (login on the left where it says "Distributors Only" - the userid is "distributors" and the password is "only") - this is Kathy Paauw's original site
www.thepackardteam.com (password is "thepackardteam") - Jim, Jeff & Adam Packard's site

Do you need some ideas on Card Campaigns? Don't want to re-invent the wheel? There are two repositories of campaigns that others have done. You DO NOT want to edit any campaigns in these accounts, but go look at them and then "share" the ones you like into your own SOC account, where you can make your edits. Go to www.sendoutcards.com and use the following login information:
www.sendoutcards.com - log in with "allcampaigns" as the userid and "12345" as the password
(these campaigns have been created by SOC reps over the years)
www.sendoutcards.com - log in with "oprius1" as the userid and "12345" as the password
(these campaigns were created by Kathy Paauw, Cathy Hazelrigg & other's on Kathy's team)

You will need to click on (View/Edit) to view the campaign cards, but just don't make any changes to them! You will see a spot next to "View/Edit" where you can "Share" the campaign - enter your own Userid in there and hit "Share Campaign". When you log back into your account and go to Campaigns, you will see a message that says "Someone has sent you a campaign". If you click on "Accept", it will add that campaign to your bank of campaigns. I LOVE this feature in our Contact Manager! You can also do the same thing with a contact or a group of contacts. I have many times "shared" my BNI contacts with a new user/distributor in my BNI group who gets a SOC account. Another value add service we can provide!

Well, that is enough for now. Use the tools!

We will continue to add many resources for our team. Let us know when you want to add resources as well!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Do You Know What You're Passionate About?

On the jacket to the book, The Passion Test, by Janet Bray Attwood and Chris Attwood, it is written that they have inspired thousands to create the life of their dreams by discovering their passions and living according to what matters most. In this book you identify your top five passions by taking a test. After discovering your top five passions you are instructed on how to align your activities with things that matter the most.

According to Richard Paul Evans, author of The Christmas Box, "the passion test astounds us with the possibility that life can be fun, challenging, rewarding, and purposeful, all at the same time.

An exercise in this book reflects back on all that you discover about yourself in evaluating your passions and asks that you write a speech for your 100th birthday party. Using Send Out Cards, send yourself a card expressing what it is like to have achieved everything you are passionate about.

Estate Planning - Letter of Instruction

In Rick Kahler's book Conscious Finance: Uncovering Your Hidden Beliefs and Transform the Role of Money in Your Life, he shares different methods of Estate Planning.

In Chapter 13 he discusses that one of the most difficult things about Estate Planning is getting to it because we hold so many beliefs about our deaths. He talks about one method of estate planning being a Will. Many of us are familiar with the purpose of a Will and he talks about the deep introspection that occurs when you are making decisions about leaving assets behind to either a spouse, kids, charities, organizations or causes that you support.

Another aspect of Estate Planning which I had never heard of was "Letters of Instruction". Although these documents are not often legally binding, a letter of instruction is an expression of your wishes. Within this chapter he tells a story of a man who was dying of cancer who would never see his young son grow up. It was the recommendation of the estate planner to his client that he should create "Letters of Instruction" to his son in the form of birthday cards that would be given to him each year of his life to a predetermined age. In these birthday cards the client would be able to share insights, guidance, and love to his son providing him with knowledge of who his father was and what he believed to be important.

As I read this example, I couldn't help but think of Send Out Cards as a tool to be used to provide this well-thought out plan of communication. This book provides an example of how to build a relationship through cards as a preplanned initiative to make a difference in someone's life. As hard as it is to talk about death, having an opportunity to share one's life through instruction, inspiration, or emotion with a survivor might well provide comfort not only to the sender, but also to the receiver for many years to come.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Writing a Newsletter 1-17-11 Planning Document

Writing a Newsletter:

What will be the purpose of the newsletter?

To make us more accountable business builders by showing leadership

To create excitement by telling inspirational stories

To connect with our team, customers, and prospects on a predetermined schedule (every six weeks at first)

To provide education about the MLM business model

To help those building their business learn more about the tools provided to us for our business growth: SOC TV, Jordan's Calls, Fast Track Guide, Daily 8's, Great Books, etc.

To build our business so that we can become a location for a future Treat 'em Right Workshop.

Who is the target audience?

Team - Business Builders

Customers - Small Business, and Retail Customers

Prospects

Why would my target audience want to read it?

To Receive Useful Business Building Tips

To Be Inspired by Others

To Share with Others to Build their Networks

How will it benefit my audience?

Useful Tips can be applied not only to building a Send Out Cards Business, but to Small Businesses in general.

They will learn the realities of the MLM business model and how that model excels in time of economic recess. We hope to dispel myths about our industry through education.

Assisting our readers in the value of understanding their passions, writing their goals, and consistently taking steps to achieve their goals, they will learn to be more proactive in creating the life they would prefer.

What features will it contain?

Goal Setting, Time Management, Personal Development

Scenario's for Sending Cards, Gifts, and Mail Campaign

Daily 8's Implementation

Statistical Data about SOC (cards and gifts sent, business growth, MLM business comparisons)

Highlight contests available to business builders.

Share Links to Upline News – the Cool Buzz, The Eagles Nest, Etc.