2015 Vessel Convention

Last week we held our first Annual Convention in Salt Lake City.  Our theme was "Ready, Set, Grow!"  Though intimate in size, our gathering was HUGE in terms of ideas, fun, camaraderie, networking, training, recognition and more fun!  Stylists came from as far away as southern Florida.  We may have been strangers when Convention started, but I think it's fair to say that we all formed some truly great friendships.  We started with a "get to know you" lunch on Friday.

Convention participants were greeted in Friday's meeting with a goody bag, and a pair of gardening gloves ... to help everyone get "Ready." 

The highlight of the day was definitely Tracy Ralph's mock party.  If you haven't seen this in person, you really must make a plan to attend next year's Convention (details to be announced).  Tracy demonstrated to Stylists that, done properly, a party will yield not only sales, but also future bookings and recruits.  We call this the Power of the Party.  Live parties are the fuel your Vessel business needs in order to grow and thrive.
 

We also had plenty of raffle prize drawings, and those who could answer some of Dioni Morales' Compensation Plan questions also got prizes - everything from purple notepads to Vessel jewelry sets - INCLUDING the new products. 

Excitement was in the air the following morning, for everyone had a suspicion that there MIGHT be something new under those purple cloths ...

 

 

And sure enough, there WERE a few new additions to the Vessel line. 

Because the attendees at Convention were there, they were able to purchase new products before the official launch, which will be in the couple of weeks.  So ... be sure to watch this space, or Facebook, or your email for the official announcement of new products.  The Stylists at Convention were wowed, and we think you will be as well! 

Participants found a garden spade at their places on Saturday morning, to help them get "Set."  In addition to the MANY raffle prizes, on-time drawings and Compensation Plan Questions prizes, Tracy went into detail about the facets of the home party.  She provided great information on what to say to get bookings, what to say to get new recruits, and how to properly coach your hosts to ensure great parties.   

After lunch, we had MORE prize drawings (there were lots of prizes ... did you pick up on that?).  Participants also found a garden pot with soil and seeds, a symbol of being ready to "Grow!"  She also had some very welcome information on avoiding postponements and cancellations, overcoming objections (who doesn't need help with that?), how to properly use Facebook as a tool, and inviting customers to become hosts. 

We also announced some awesome fall promotions, including our new Fast Start program that rewards new Stylists for having a strong start with their Vessel business:

Check the Facebook page for additional promotions coming up this Fall! 

We also announced a new Leadership Conference, open to everyone who reaches the Gold Stylist rank by March 2016.  Watch for additional details coming soon. 

After an information-packed couple of days, we all got together for a photo:

From L-R, back row: Founder Karen Carter, Amberlyn Prior, Jolene Abegglen, Shirley Meyers, Joyce Darr, Founder Susan Harward, Judy Morgan, Tracy Ralph, Dioni Morales
Front row: Milagros (Millie) Arroyo, Sarah Dees, Tara Gitt, Beverly Kimkowski

Later that night we had a fabulous dinner, with entertainment by Madilyn Paige.  Madilyn is a very talented and beautiful young singer who was recently on the television show "The Voice" and made it to the top 20.  If you're not familiar with Madilyn's work, check it out so you can understand just how fortunate we were to see her perform. 

After dinner, we were pleased to honor some of our Stylists:
 

Sarah Dees, Vessel's first Stylist

Shirley Meyers, winner of the "Go Getter" award.

Tara Gitt, Sapphire Director, "Most Recruits 2015"

Beverly Kimkowski, "Highest Average Monthly Sales 2015"

Milagros (Millie) Arroyo, Sapphire Director

Tara Gitt, Sapphire Director









 

 

As you can see, we stuffed a lot of information, prizes, fun and exciting announcements into this Convention.  Convention is something you absolutely DON'T want to miss!  By attending Convention, you will be the first to hear about and take advantage of new products and fabulous promotions.  The networking and team spirit you will feel are worth every bit of effort you put in to be in attendance.  We hope to see YOU there next year!

To Your Success!

Susan

 

 

Vessel Pet Week

Pets are a special part of our families and can bring such joy to our lives. Various pet holidays are celebrated throughout the year, including many during the month of August. We love our furbabies and we know that our Stylists and Customers love to pamper their pets, so Vessel is joining in with our own Vessel Pet Week.

From Monday, August 24 through Monday, August 31, for each Pet Paw Locket or Pet Bone Locket ordered, receive a FREE Bone Charm (while supplies last).

Pet Bone Locket

Bone Charm

Pet Paw Locket

Send us a photo of your pet wearing a Vessel Pet Locket, and we'll feature your favorite furry friend on our Facebook page. Email your photos to karen@vesselscentsofstyle.com 

Our hope is for all pets to be safe, happy and loved. To help with that goal, Vessel will also donate $1 for every Pet Locket sold to an animal shelter.

Lucy wearing the Pet Paw Locket with
Hot Pink ScentSpheres.

Making the First Circle Work: YOU

by: Dioni Morales, Director of Stylist Services

Randy Gage is the author of "How to Build a Multi-Level Money Machine" and has trained numerous Network Marketing millionaires.  Today I want to share part of his recent work: "Making the First Circle Work: The Foundation for Duplication in Network Marketing".

Most people look for success in all the wrong places. They believe that their sponsor or their team or their company is responsible for creating the results they want. In this book, Mr. Gage teaches how to make your own business work by modeling behaviors that should be duplicated throughout your organization.

Here are some critical points from the chapter The Power of the Mind: How Attitude Affects Your Results.

• If you believe people are skeptical, you'll approach them with that doubt in the back of your mind, and will likely manifest skepticism that may not otherwise be there. If you expect to be rejected, you probably will be. If you expect team members to be negative and drop out, they probably won't disappoint you.

VS

• If you believe your opportunity is amazing and someone would be crazy not to join it, you'll manifest more enrollments. If you expect your people to develop and build, they probably will. Expectations are a very powerful tool in your leadership development arsenal. Letting people know that you expect great things of them inspires them and helps them develop the confidence they will need to do so.

• When you have a negative mindset, every minor challenge will turn into a distraction, and distractions kill growth. Every backorder, price increase, or comp plan change will turn into a chance for a complaint session. And no one participating in complaint sessions is ever building a business.

VS

• When you have a positive mindset, distractions don't affect you. You accept them as part of the process and stay focused on your goal.

To get and keep the right attitude, he suggests that we should create a structured self-development program. The only way to keep our mindset right is through daily self-development time devoted to positive programming.  This programming comes through the audios we listen to, videos we watch, books we read, events we attend and those people we associate with.

This personal growth, combined with the tools that Vessel offers you (weekly training calls, personal coaching and training, Convention, etc.), will surely help you take care of the most important part of your business: YOU!! And trust me, people will want to copy your success; in other words, YOU!!!

Here's How - and Why - You Should Never Give Up

Direct sales.  There are probably few careers where it can be so easy to give up.  Once the initial excitement has calmed down, and once you have asked everyone you know to buy your product or have a party, the work of owning a direct sales business is staring you in the face.  Or perhaps you would be more than happy to do the work, if you just knew what to do.  Maybe you know what you need to do, but it's outside of your comfort zone, so you keep putting it off.  There is no boss handing you a project with the goals and deadlines all laid out.  No one watching what you do with your time, no one to answer to for the calls you should have made but didn't.  This is a dangerous time, for this is when a good number of independent direct sales representatives will call the whole thing off. 

Never give up!

Most "overnight success" stories do not really happen overnight.  You will never hear the whole story and what had to happen before that supposed overnight success - because the person or company involved wants you to believe that things took off like a rocket ship.  Guessing how others succeed is a waste of time.  We all want our achievements and victories to happen quickly, but the reality is that they rarely do.  Most of the time we really do have to do the work. 

So, never give up!

Perseverance is one of the most important skills you can develop, and it's just that ... a skill that CAN be developed.  Some people might be born with a higher innate degree of fortitude, but anyone can improve their perseverance. 

Here are a few strategies to help you build your per resolve and determination:

• The only situation where fortitude will not help you is if you are dead.  If you are alive, all things are still possible.
• Take the time to determine your WHY.  Create a Vision Board, or Goal Board, or whatever else you want to call it.  But keep your WHY front and center. 
• Live "as if" - act as if you are already succeeding.  Fake it 'till you make it!
• Don't compare the start of your journey with the successful completion of another person's goals.  The only comparison you should make is if you have made progress on your own goals. 
• Put a little pressure on yourself.  You don't want to be known as someone who gave up too easily, so don't!  Believe that you can and will achieve what you set out to do.
• It's been done before - literally millions of people have built successful direct sales companies.  They are not innately better or smarter than you.  Therefore, you can do the same!  All these people have shown you that it can indeed be done. 
• Let others inspire you.  Read inspirational stories.  Watch someone do something impossible.
• Share your successes with a cause that is important to you.  Be an inspiration to others. 
• You may not know how close you are to a break-through, and you will never know if you give up too soon.  Seth Godin termed this "The Dip" and wrote a book with the same title.  It refers to the lowest point of your whole journey - a hopeless-looking place that tends to come right before success.  When you are in "The Dip" - when you are really low and have had many failures and have nothing left to lose - that is when you are likely to take your biggest risks and have the best possibility of succeeding. 
• If you are feeling stuck, the most important thing is to keep moving.  Sometimes that means going back to square one, or going back to basics.  It will almost surely mean thinking outside of your particular box, and definitely going outside your comfort zone. 
• Pushing yourself physically can clear your mind.  It's almost as if pushing yourself past a physical limit allows your brain to push past a mental limit. 
• Listen to your own "get pumped" song when needed.
• Vent a little when needed ... and then get back to work.
• Find someone who can and will call you out when needed.  When others will accept our excuses and think that they're showing us a kindness, have at least one friend who won't. 
• Quit.  Quit doing the things that aren't helping you achieve your goals.  If you quit something, do it because you need to focus on something else or do something better.  Quit because you're quitting the right things. 
• Count trees.  This refers to a tactic used by long distance runners.  When they feel like stopping, they will pick out a tree about 50 yards ahead and tell themselves they have to get to that point.  Then they pick the next tree. 
• Rejection: forget it and move on. 
• Remember that there is more to your story than the difficulty you are having in this one moment.  This moment will pass, your story will go on. 
• You are stronger than you think. 

 
"Fall down seven times.  Get up eight." (Japanese proverb)

To Your Success!

Susan

How to Get People to Join Your Team*

by Tracy Ralph, National Sales Director


When you’re ready to take your direct sales business to the next level, recruiting others to join your team is the place to start. You have the potential to create a steady income stream while helping people achieve their own financial goals. In today’s post, we suggest some ways to build your downline and grow your business.

• Share great ideas that help everyone. Whether the idea is your own or someone else’s, if you think it will help others, don’t hesitate to share it with your prospects. While presenting your opportunity to a recruit, for example, share an idea for having a successful launch party that worked for you. Your method will help the recruit by giving him or her a jump start on the business, and it will help you by finding customers for your downline. By sharing great ideas that are mutually beneficial, you generate excitement and enthusiasm about your opportunity, which will in turn increase your chances of signing your prospect.
• Do both big and small things to help make your team members’ lives better.  After a team member’s initial launch and the first few months working the business, it can be easy to lose touch or at least frequent contact. One small way of making your team members’ lives better is to check in regularly with words of encouragement, a motivational quote, or even a little gift of appreciation. On a bigger scale, you might host a weekend brunch at your house or local restaurant to reward your team’s hard work and accomplishment. Take the initiative to be a positive force in their lives. You can recruit others to join your team by introducing them to people in your downline who will attest to your role in their professional lives.
• Stay optimistic and enthusiastic. Even if a prospect seems skeptical, unsure, or even confused about the opportunity, it is important to maintain a positive attitude and enthusiastic outlook about the business. If you don’t falter, he or she will notice that you are confident enough not to be shaken by a possible rejection.
• Always do the right thing. There may be times when you are faced with some sort of conflict or dilemma. One direct sales consultant was excited to sign her very first recruit, but it became clear during the presentation that this person was so eager that she didn’t think to ask a lot of important questions that might sway her decision about whether or not to sign with the company. The consultant was tempted to ignore that fact and let the recruit sign on the dotted line anyway, but she listened to her conscience and offered the important information to the recruit as well as a chance to ask more questions. The recruit wound up signing, but even if she hadn’t, doing the right thing will allow you to never have to look back at your past action and feel guilty. Direct sales is about helping people, so your actions should always reflect that.
• Listen more than you talk. A prospect wants and NEEDS to be heard. He or she may want to tell you why joining this business is even a consideration. And although, she/he may have lots of questions for you and provide you with plenty of opportunity to speak, make sure that you are doing most of the listening. By truly listening to others, we can tune into what their message is, and find effective ways to help.
• Stay humble. No matter how high you climb to the top of that proverbial ladder of success, ALWAYS stay humble. Remember that there are always improvements to be made and higher levels to reach. Continue helping those who are just starting out, take compliments with gratitude and grace, and pay it forward. Your sincere humility will increase your likeability and have a positive effect on your business.

 

Building your team requires a lot of preparation, patience, hard work, determination, and the right mindset. 
 

*Direct Selling Education Foundation

Dream Big ... and Help Your Team Dream Big Too!

by Dioni Morales, Director of Stylist Services

Yesterday as my husband and I were working in our home office, our 5-year-old twin daughters came in.  They started talking about their future - their future husbands (which gave my husband an instant headache), their future children (one wants 4, the other 5), the names of their future children, what they would feed them, how we would take care of them when they went on dates, etc.  They went on and on for at least an hour and they were very specific!  It was really quite funny and a bit emotional ... but more than anything, it was eye-opening.

I thought, it's not common to have kids so young be so detailed on what they see in their future.  It got me thinking and I might have the answer: my husband and I are ALWAYS talking about our dreams and goals, places we want to travel to, houses we want to buy, electric car we want to get, people and organizations we want to help, etc.  Obviously my daughters have been paying attention.

The same way we have an impact with our children, we can have an impact with our team. We talk about being a great example to our team all the time - showing them how to work the business and making it duplicable, so as to develop independent Stylists.  Shouldn't we be an example as well for the way we dream and we set our goals, on our positive attitudes and our motivation?  Wouldn't that have as great an impact on our team as anything else?

My suggestion to you today is to start sharing your goals and dreams with your team.  Let them know that you have no doubt that you can reach them with the help of your Vessel business.  Let them share their goals with you, and tell them that you will help them reach their goals as well.  They will see you in a different light.  They will see you as a big contributor in their lives.  And if they ever have a "not so good" day, you can remind them about their specific goals.  You can help them to not lose sight of their dreams and they remember what they are working for.

There are two quotes from Zig Ziglar that I love and reflect upon often:

"You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want."

and

"True joy comes when you inspire, encourage and guide someone else on a path that benefits him or her."

So allow yourself to dream big and help others dream big as well!  And let Vessel help you and your team get there!

Why Direct Sales? Why Vessel?

If you or someone you know has ever wondered about the validity of joining a direct sales company, keep reading!  The old notion that direct sales companies are nothing more than scams or "pyramid" schemes has been proven wrong by decades of successful results from a multitude of direct sales companies selling a vast array of services and products.  "Personal selling" is now considered mainstream, and a buying method preferred by more and more consumers. 

The DSA (Direct Selling Association) just reported that "direct selling the U.S. has risen to record highs in both estimated retail sales ($34.47 billion) and number of people involved in direct selling (18.2 million)."  This is an increase of 5.5% over 2013 retail sales, and an increase of 8.3% over 2013 number of participants who sell this way. 

Certainly, the recent "Great Recession" has been a contributing factor.  Direct sales offers the unemployed a low cost way to go into business for themselves, giving them the ability to create a perfect work/personal life balance and to control their professional destiny.  And, even though the unemployment rate has thankfully declined in recent months, the "underemployed (discouraged, marginally attached, and part-time workers) has decreased at a slower rate and is still above pre-recession levels." 

Another factor is the number of Baby Boomers beginning to close in on retirement age.  Some want to develop a supplemental income stream to ease themselves into retirement; others want the chance, however late in life, to find work that they truly enjoy.

Stay-at-home parents are looking for ways to keep their families a priority but still bring income into the home.  With direct sales, they can determine the hours that are convenient for them, instead of being constrained by a set schedule. 

People of all ages and situations sometimes need an extra income that can be generated at home and in their spare time. 

Young people want more autonomy and control in their work.  Gone are the days of working for the same company for 40 years and retiring with a gold watch.  Absolute loyalty to specific companies has declined, both on the part of employers and of employees.

And let's not forget the customer, who in today's uber-connected world appreciates the convenience and personal touch of buying products and services through this model.  Whether it's the ability to Facebook a friend to place a skin care order, or attending a fun Vessel party with family and friends, consumers are definitely gravitating toward the direct sales model. 

So, why Vessel?

First and foremost, of course, are your personal "why's" - which could range anywhere from needing a supplemental income or perhaps enough money to make a new car payment, to wanting to build your own business, to desiring recognition for your efforts.  The most important reason is YOUR reason.   

Once you have decided to join a direct sales company, here are just a few ways in which Vessel is a compelling choice:

• Vessel offers a compelling and new product concept.  You WILL be approached when you wear it!
• The market is completely unsaturated and wide open.  You have a very good chance of being the first Vessel Stylist in your area.
• Combined with the first two points, you also have the opportunity of getting in on the ground floor of a company that has a unique product and a market that is not filled with similar companies. 
• Vessel has a strong compensation plan which rewards you for each of the 5 Golden Behaviors of successful direct sellers. 
• Vessel offers the opportunity to become part of our Founders Club.
• Vessel has a Fast Start Bonus, rank advancement bonuses, and many others! 
• We provide amazing training, including regular conference calls, one-on-one coaching calls, and the opportunity to participate in our Leadership Class if qualified. 
• Vessel has a Direct Hire program that offers immediate recognition for those experienced direct sellers looking for a new home. 

This is just a partial list of Vessel's unique offering.  For a more complete list see our Compensation Plan Unique Points on the Vessel website (www.vesselscentsofstyle.com). 

If you or someone you know has been looking for a new and unique company, your search is over!  Vessel offers everything you've been looking for. 

To Your Success!

Susan