Opportunity + Preparation = Success

by: Dioni Marie Morales, National Sales Manager

Many years ago I heard a saying, "Success always comes when preparation meets opportunity."  This concept instantly made sense to me. Many have the perception that successful people are just lucky. It's not luck!  Luck is winning the lottery (and even then you have to go out and buy a ticket).   Success is a whole lot more, especially in this business.  If you are successful, you are not lucky ... you are the one who makes it happen.

So how can we make it happen for our Vessel business?  Here are some suggestions:

• Take the time to read all the useful information on the website, the FAQ's, the Unique Points (of our Compensation Plan), the Blog Posts, etc.
• Take the time to get acquainted with the layout of the Vessel website so that you can not only send those interested to it, but also help them navigate it.
• Always carry with you your Vessel Catalog, the new Road Map brochure, the Compensation Plan brochure, the ScentSpheres samples, etc.
• If you haven't yet had the opportunity to do so, schedule a Compensation Plan training with me (call me or email me to schedule the training at your convenience). This will help you feel comfortable talking about it and answering questions.

We all know that opportunity can come at any moment, usually when we least expect it.  However, we can also look for opportunities:

• Use your jewelry often.  People WILL notice!  We have all experienced it.  Understand that YOU are a walking billboard.
• Show the excitement that you have about your business and what you are doing.  People have a tendency to ask "How are you doing?"  So include Vessel in your answer!  If you show passion and enthusiasm, they will want to know more.
• Always be on the lookout for potential Customers and Stylists.  When you talk to your family, friends or even strangers, you can find out enough about their lives to know if Vessel might be what they have been searching for to achieve their dreams.

One thing is as important as the other.  If you have an opportunity but are not prepared, then it will be a wasted opportunity that will very possibly never come again.  If you are prepared to act but do not search for those opportunities, then it's like a well-written book that no one gets to read because it has not been published.  If you work on both aspects equally, then success will be 100% guaranteed!

Vessel is going to the Oscars!!

We're so excited!!! Vessel has been invited to participate in an exclusive gifting suite for the Academy Awards. This premiere pre-Oscars party will take place at the glamorous W Hotel Hollywood in Los Angeles, CA on Saturday, March 1, a day ahead of the star-studded award show broadcast.

Susan and I will join a select few companies and will have the opportunity during this private, red-carpet event to interact and mingle with celebrities, and showcase our one-of-a-kind products. 

Companies are chosen to participate based on extraordinary, original products, so we are definitely proud to be part of this event. Make sure to come back and read the blog post we'll have after the Academy Awards with the full scoop.

With love,
Karen

The Power of Routines

by: Dioni Morales, National Sales Manager


I had a great holiday season!  Many family members visited from all over, there were quite a few parties and a lot of good food.  It was the best time I've had in a long time. So why, as it was coming to an end, was I actually happy that it was almost over?  Because there is only so much time I can live without my routines. I absolutely LOVE routines!  I think I have accomplished what I have accomplished because of setting and following routines.

I wanted to get back to my diet, to my exercise regimen, to work, to my kids going back to school, to an organized house, etc.  It sounds kind of crazy, I know, but that's what has always worked for me.  That's what has always given me the results I work for, the results I want.  Canadian Author Carol Shields wrote: "Routine is liberating, it makes you feel in control."  I couldn't have said it better myself.

Routines are your daily habits, the things that you do the same way at the same time.  I was reading a "mommy blog" which discussed how routines will simplify your life.  Some people may find routines to be boring, or too much work to implement.  But when you're raising a family, juggling work, running a household, and trying like crazy to find time for yourself and your partner, establishing daily routines is essential.

As you work your Vessel business, here are some ideas that you can incorporate into your routine that will help you grow your business and become financially independent sooner:

1. Schedule a specific time in the day to work on your Vessel business.  If you actually write it into your schedule, you can find 30 to 60 minutes, every single day, even if every day is a different time. You can make phone calls, plan Home Parties, present the business to a potential Stylist, etc.

2. There's usually at least one night in the week, sometimes two,  in which you don't have a soccer game, a PTA meeting, etc.  If that day is every Tuesday, then make sure you are in someones' home doing a Home Party, every single Tuesday.

English poet W.H. Auden wrote "Routine, in an intelligent man (woman), is a sign of ambition"  With Vessel we have shown you that you can be in control of your goals and dreams, but of course you have to work to make it work.  Incorporate Vessel into your daily and weekly routine.  At first it may seem overwhelming to have yet one more thing, but in time it will just be part of your life.  Soon enough it will bring you the freedom you have only dreamed of.

Party Strategies

If you are a Vessel Stylist, you hopefully have seen Dioni's training materials on the importance of making a comprehensive list of your contacts as a first step in building your Vessel business.  This list is further categorized as to whether the person is potentially a Customer, a Host, would be interested in the Business, or could provide a Referral ... or any combination of these categories. 

In our experience, what usually happens when a Stylist first joins Vessel is that she herself hosts a Vessel party.  This is certainly a comfortable thing to do, but here's another approach to consider. 

 

Think of the people you would have invited to your party.  Divide them into the various social circles in which you know them.  For example, there could be a group from your neighborhood, another group of church members, another group that consists of your family members, etc.  Obviously there will be some cross-over, especially in small towns.  But the point is to identify as many distinct groups as you can. 

Once you have identified those groups, select the person in that group who would be most receptive to doing a party for you.  Encourage that person to invite all the other members of your mutual social group (neighbors, church, work, etc.), BUT also to invite as diverse a group as they can come up with.  What you want them to do is to include people from all different areas of their lives.

The advantages of this system are two-fold.

First, by segregating your own social groups, you can hopefully avoid this situation: You're having a wonderful party, everyone is laughing and having a good time ... but when it comes time to ask people to host a party, your guests look around the room and see all the same people they would invite to a party.  And they think: why bother?  By trying the approach above, when conversation turns to hosting a party, your contacts can automatically think of the other members of the mutual social group as potential guests at their own party. 

And by working with them to also invite people from a wide array of their own social circles, there will be additional fresh groups to mine for Hostesses, and for potential Stylists. 

Another way to accomplish the same goal would be to go ahead and host your own party, but make a point of only inviting one or two people from each of your various social circles.

What you want to cultivate is a diversity of party guests in order to maximize party bookings.

What great ideas do you have for booking parties?  Write to us at info@vesselscentsofstyle.com and let us know!  We'd love to create a sharing forum for all things Vessel. 

To your success!

Love,

Susan 

Success Within Reach with Vessel's Road Map!

by: Dioni Marie Morales, National Sales Manager

Since this is my first official communication to you in this new year, I want to express my wish that you all have the opportunity to make all your dreams come true in 2014. Only YOU can make this your year!  It's never luck (unless you win the lottery ... and even then you have to go out and buy a ticket).  Your success is what you make of it.  It's what you make of all the opportunities that come your way.

Vessel would like to offer something that we know will help you with your business. We have been working on the creation of this marketing piece for the last couple of months, and we are now ready to announce that you will soon have it in your hands.

We call it the Vessel Road Map. The Road Map is a concise summary of the critical steps that need to be taken in order to create a successful Vessel business. It includes:

• Guidance to develop and document your "Whys" and your "Goals."  It is critical that you actually write these down.  You need to keep in mind what has motivated you to embark on this venture. And when you sign up a new Stylist, you should sit down with that person and do this together.  If you know what their goals are, you can work together to achieve them.  It brings to mind a quote I heard - "If you help the people on your team make their dreams come true, you don't have to worry about your own dreams.  They will come true in the process." 

• Contact List: it has the space for you and your Stylists to write the top 25 people that come to mind, with a space to write if each would be interested as a Customer, a Host, in the Business opportunity, or for Referrals

• A summary of the 90 Day Action Plan.

• The three critical steps to accomplish in the first days/weeks of your business.

• Tips on how to have a successful home party.

• How to present the business opportunity.

This brochure will be available at the end of January for purchase, and will be added to the Stylist Kits.  We will send some to all current Stylists free of charge.  We will also place the document on the Vessel website in the very near future so that you can download it for free. 

We hope that you will all find this Road Map to be a useful tool in building your Vessel business. 

  

 

Circles

As a new year begins, let's think about circles.

We all have circles of influence. Our various circles 
might include family, friends, school, work, church, neighborhood, clubs, sports, mom's groups…the list goes on and on. Some circles may overlap, but it's really amazing to think about all the people we know when we break it down this way.

As you move forward with your Vessel business this year, think about the people in your different circles: those who would love scented jewelry and could become great customers; those who perhaps would be willing to host a party and receive awesome Hostess Rewards; those who might be looking for a new opportunity. There are so many people we can share Vessel with. 

Make a goal to host your own Vessel party and invite several people from each of your circles. Remember that each person from your circles has their own circles of influence that they can share Vessel with as well. Just as one circle leads to another, then another, one party will lead to another, and another, and another...

Let's make a resolution to share Vessel with people from all our circles, and all grow together.

By the way… I love the Circle Locket!! I want to share it with my circles.

With love,
Karen

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The New Year's Eve holiday is actually one of my favorites.  I just love the feeling of anticipation for what is to come, the feeling that anything could be possible in the coming year.  As Edith Lovejoy Pierce said, "We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day."

I love Vessel for the same reason.  Anything is possible!

We are all given the same amount of time in any given hour, day or year.  If we are smart, we will choose to use that time to hope, plan and create the kind of life we want.  We won't wait for things to happen TO us, but will instead understand that "If it's to be, it's up to me."  Some people find that thought scary.  I find it exhilarating. 

I really appreciate these thoughts on time, by Stephen B. Cloud:

"Though even thinking on the subject of time may prove discomforting, it is not a bad idea—especially at the beginning of a new year.

 

   As we look into the meaning of the word "year," we look at a block of time. We see 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes, 31,536,000 seconds. And all is a gift from God. We have done nothing to deserve it, earn it, or purchase it. Like the air we breathe, time comes to us as a part of life.

 

    The gift of time is not ours alone. It is given equally to each person. Rich and poor, educated and ignorant, strong and weak—every man, woman and child has the same twenty-four hours every day.

 

    Another important thing about time is that you cannot stop it. There is no way to slow it down, turn it off, or adjust it. Time marches on.

 

    And you cannot bring back time. Once it is gone, it is gone. Yesterday is lost forever. If yesterday is lost, tomorrow is uncertain. We may look ahead at a full year’s block of time, but we really have no guarantee that we will experience any of it.

    

    The new year is full of time. As the seconds tick away, will you be tossing time out the window, or will you make every minute count?"

Or how about this recipe for a good year (by Anonymous):

    "Take twelve fine, full-grown months; see that these are thoroughly free from old memories of bitterness, rancor and hate, cleanse them completely from every clinging spite; pick off all specks of pettiness and littleness; in short, see that these months are freed from all the past—have them fresh and clean as when they first came from the great storehouse of Time. Cut these months into thirty or thirty-one equal parts. Do not attempt to make up the whole batch at one time (so many persons spoil the entire lot this way) but prepare one day at a time.

    Into each day put equal parts of faith, patience, courage, work (some people omit this ingredient and so spoil the flavor of the rest), hope, fidelity, liberality, kindness, rest (leaving this out is like leaving the oil out of the salad dressing— don’t do it), prayer, meditation, and one well-selected resolution. Put in about one teaspoonful of good spirits, a dash of fun, a pinch of folly, a sprinkling of play, and a heaping cupful of good humor."

Sounds like great advice! 

Any way you slice it, a new year is another chance to become our best self.  We will not reach perfection, but perfection is an illusion anyway.  I like the often-quoted maxim: "My wish for the new year is a fat bank account and a thin body - and hopefully these won't be mixed up like they were last year."

As Oprah Winfrey said ... Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right!  

Happy New Year to you all! 

Love,

Susan