thredUP Kids Clothing Swap

in , , , , , , by Linda A Kinsman, Wednesday, May 11, 2011
I was invited to join thredUp over the weekend and have just now found the time to check it out.

 thredUP is a  Kids and Moms Clothing Swap - where parents exchange gently worn, second hand & used kids clothing online.  The Average Family Saves $569/yr  swapping Kids Clothes on thredUP according to the website and it's Free to join!

Sounds Good!

 I'm very excited about this option because lately, I'm feeling just a wee bit cheated at my local brick and mortar Consignment store.

Why?

Because in March,  I brought in a large Trader Joe's grocery bag full of no-stains, really gently used, name brand,  stylish girls clothing in the much needed sizes of 7/8 and 10/12 and was given $ 4.87 store credit for the bag.
  Really? There was at least $ 100 dollars worth of Aeropostle, designer dresses, tees, blouses, etc. in that bag! This was my best bag yet, I'm thinking and I get that much?
 If I'd wanted cash it would have been even less. Hey, I know it takes alot to run a store, but still. Yeesh...

Has this ever happened to you? What are you supposed to do? Make a scene and ask for all your clothing back?

 I decided not to use those options, however appealing they seemed at the time and least see what my girls had found. There wasn't much to choose from, so it was a rather disappointing trip all around.
Always one to look for the good, I assured the girls I would find a better option.


I'm hoping thredUp will be that option. I'm going through my girls closets and will be listing items over the weekend.

I joined thredUp using a friends link. If you would like to join, I would love for you to use my affiliate link below. Thanks!

thredUP Kids Clothing Swap

Do you like consignment shopping? Have you used thredUp? I'd love to hear from you!

Four Words That Make Life Worthwhile by Jim Rohn

in , , , , , , , by Linda A Kinsman, Tuesday, May 10, 2011
I wanted to share this article by Jim Rohn today because it has such a powerful message.
 It helped validate my efforts to date and put me back on course.
 My Plan has always been to earn a part time living from home while balancing the work/family dynamic.
Over the last few months I've been trying out additional income streams along with my direct sales business.
While I won't call them failures, I will say I didn't get a good return on my investment. For the most part, I felt I wasn't working at optimum levels on any project.
 I found this saying, recently used by the Co-Founder of Willow House to be very fitting:
"You can't ride two horses at the same time".
So what's a WAHM to do? Live, learn, laugh, and pick one horse to ride! My choice?  Willow House! Afterall, I did receive a commission check from them this week!  Lesson learned.

I hope this article inspires you as much as it did me. 

Four Words That Make Life Worthwhile by Jim Rohn
Over the years, as I've sought out ideas, principles and strategies to life's challenges, I've come across four simple words that can make living worthwhile.

First, life is worthwhile if you LEARN. What you don't know will hurt you. You have to have learning to exist, let alone succeed. Life is worthwhile if you learn from your own experiences-negative or positive.
We learn to do it right by first sometimes doing it wrong. We call that a positive negative. We also learn from other people's experiences, both positive and negative. I've always said that it is too bad failures don't give seminars. Obviously, we don't want to pay them, so they aren't usually touring around giving seminars. But that information would be very valuable. We would learn how someone who had it all, messed it up. Learning from other people's experiences and mistakes is valuable information because we can learn what not to do without the pain of having tried and failed ourselves.
We learn by what we see, so pay attention. We learn by what we hear, so be a good listener. Now, I do suggest that you should be a selective listener. Don't just let anybody dump into your mental factory. We learn from what we read, so learn from every source. Learn from lectures. Learn from songs. Learn from sermons. Learn from conversations with people who care. Always keep learning.

Second, life is worthwhile if you TRY. You can't just learn. Now you have to try something to see if you can do it. Try to make a difference. Try to make some progress. Try to learn a new skill. Try to learn a new sport. It doesn't mean you can do everything, but there are a lot of things you can do if you just try. Try your best. Give it every effort. Why not go all out?

Third, life is worthwhile if you STAY. You have to stay from spring until harvest. If you have signed up for the day or for the game or for the project, see it through. Sometimes calamity comes; then it is worth wrapping it up and that's the end. But just don't end in the middle. Maybe on the next project you pass, but on this one, if you signed up, see it through.

And lastly, life is worthwhile if you CARE. If you care at all, you will get some results. If you care enough, you can get incredible results. Care enough to make a difference. Care enough to turn somebody around. Care enough to start a new enterprise. Care enough to change it all. Care enough to be the highest producer. Care enough to set some records. Care enough to win.
Four powerful little words: learn, try, stay and care. What difference can you make in your life today by putting these words to work?

Read more from Mr. Rohn here



Which of these four simple words resonated most with you?
My choice? Care.

Blogger and my Milestone

in , , , , , by Linda A Kinsman, Friday, May 06, 2011
Today is a great day! It's Friday, the sun is shining, butterflies are landing on my Peonies,  all the people I love in this world are safe and for the most part happy. The Lord is Good and has blessed us with safety and health.





Butterfly


 Sure, we could all use a little more of this and that ( money, time off, new shoes, peace of mind). BUT, this glass - is- half- full lady is counting her blessings and doing a happy dance because of my blessings and this lil' blog that could!

You see, My WAHM Plan has reached a milestone! Sometime in the last 24 hours I got a new follower that put me at 100!! I am so happy and excited and.... what?
 I can't actually see my followers on my blog? I see the magic number on my dashboard, but nothing on my front page. Can everybody else see my followers??

 Arrggh... So off to Blogger help I go, I do all they suggest:
Remove and re-install Followers, clear my cache, rub my stomach and head at the same time... okay I added that one for a bit of levity because according to Blogger help, this has been a HUGE problem for quite some time here in blogger world.

Arrggh... I love my blog, I want her to succeed, so should I move her? Probably.
Will I?
Eventually.
It makes my palms sweaty just thinking about a Move of any kind. House, blog... yuck. Then of course there is the money thing. Free is good for me right now!

Maybe I have overlooked the solution and this snafu will work it's self out. Or maybe I should just use another follower platform!
That might be the ticket because I don't like moving, period!


Do you use something other than Google Friend on your blogger blog? If so, please leave me a comment and I'll check out your link.

If you are my 100th follower, please comment with a link back so I can come say Hi and thank you.

Remember to smile, it makes the world a better place and when you feel you are at the end of your rope, tie another knot!
Happy Friday my Blogging Friends! I have been busy doing some much-needed work offline this week. Yes, you can be productive and in touch while spending the bare minimum of time online! I'll admit,  it did feel odd at first, this break from my routine but I'm am happier for it.


Speaking of productive: I came across a wonderful website a couple of weeks ago. I learned a great deal there and I just have to share Julie Anne's Direct Sales Formula for Success with you today. 


Direct Sales Formula for Success
By Julie Anne Jones

Direct Sales Formula for success percentage


I've noticed that I write quite a bit on this blog about time and organization – how to manage your time so you have a successful business while still maintaining the harmony in your life. That's because it's the single most frustrating thing about working from home. I've broken down the direct sales time commitment into a formula for you. Hopefully, this will help you see where you're not on track (and where you are).


Here's my formula for a successful direct sales business:


60% Money Making Activities


These are things that have a high probability of producing income for you. We're talking the ACTIONS that will bring your business success. This includes (but isn't limited to) sales, bookings, parties, & sponsoring.


20% Preparation and Planning


I do yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly and sometimes daily planning. It's the most important time I spend on my business (but notice its only 20% of the time I spend). You should also include team management in this piece of the pie. This allows you to solidify the foundation of your business so your long-term outlook is more profitable.


10% Administrative Tasks


By administrative, I mean anything that you do in support of your business that does not directly make you money. Pay attention to this category. My guess is you struggle to keep this from eating up less than 50% of your time, let alone 10%. I know it's the biggest issue I face. Nothing pulls me down a rabbit hole quicker than things like banking, e-mail, my website, etc. All are important to my overall business success, but none are income producing.


10% Raise-the-Bar Service


These are those extra touches that make you stand out in the crowd in your community, company, and industry. Do you send handwritten thank you notes to your hosts or make customer service calls to your party guests once they receive their products? How about sending birthday cards to your hosts and customers? What are you doing to build long-term relationships with super service to your representatives, hosts, and customers? My friend Jennifer Fitzgerald has created an amazing program called "The Client Angel" that will absolutely help you in this area. Check out her free trial membership here.
( *Julie Anne Jones is direct sales corporate consultant, coach, and trainer, and the CEO of Julie Anne Jones, Inc. She is known for her authentic and easy-to-use scripting and specializes in specific language and tools for success in direct sales. To learn more about Julie Anne and her products and services, and to read her weekly blog posts, visit her at www.julieannejones.com.*)




So there you have it. A simple, do-able formula for direct sales success!


Do you have a direct sales business? Please share your tips in comments. 


I've been slowly ( and by slowly I  mean, I'm glad my Mom doesn't live close, slowly) working my way down my Spring Cleaning To Do List.
This is over and above my regular domestic chores, which for today happens to be bathroom duty.  I usually do all the wiping, swiping and scrubbing, turn around and smile at my handy work and my finishing touch: A Spritz of Lysol to make things smell ever cleaner!
After reading this article, I've decided I'll stop all my spritzing and just open up the windows instead.

Please take a moment to read:
Air Fresheners’ Real Impact On Indoor Air Quality Healthy Child Healthy World



I enjoyed my visit at Healthychild.org. It is full of helpful, easy to use tips to help us raise healthy kids.

I especially enjoyed these tips on Cleaning with 5 Basic Tools.  I didn't know Lemon Juice could be a cleaning agent, did you? Read the list and then please come on back and let me know which tool you will use.


Have a great day and remember to Smile! It's the best gift to give and receive!

Being Big Bird

in , , , , , , , by Linda A Kinsman, Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Do you remember watching Sesame Street as a kid? How about with your kiddies? Yes and Yes x 2 for me. One of my favorite characters is Big Bird.  For my first born, it was Elmo all the way; she only gave a brief nod to the sage wisdom that is Big Bird, but for my youngest; Big Bird was THE One!

 Maybe it's because he's Yellow and that is her favorite color, or maybe it's because my youngest appreciated that Big Bird wasn’t a know it all and was often asking questions because, "Asking questions is a good way of finding things out!"

Kids are really good about this, at least mine are. They ask me and my hubby questions all the time! So you Moms out there with 3 and 4 year olds thinking there might be an end to the non-stop Q & A, I say maybe not and that is a good thing! Feed their brains with your knowledge and truth first before the world tries to take over.
 So, why am I talking Big Bird this morning? Because I wanted to share an amazing tool with you, one that we all possess but may be underutilizing: the Art Of The Question and the often forgotten art of waiting for an answer.   Ask, listen. Repeat.  Small Talk.
 I have been offered 2 jobs in the last month and I am not even looking for work outside the home! I attribute these offers to my openness and my:  ask, listen, repeat way of interacting with others.
The first offer happened just as I entered the office at my daughter's school, signed the parent visitor log and was greeting the office staff.  I've been chatting with most of these ladies for the better part of 4 years, so when the main secretary asked me how I was, I replied  " great"   and then I stopped what I was doing, looked her in the eye and asked her how she was AND I waited for a response. I was open and in the moment, not three minutes down the hall in my mind and that's when she asked, Linda, would you want to substitute for us this morning?
 Just like that. A job I'd never even thought about doing was presented to me. I was so caught off guard that I told her I'd have to think about it. All the office staff chimed in assuring me they would help, they would make sure I had a trained aid in the class, etc.  I was honored and frightened and happy by turns. I left the office to go to my daughters classroom, telling these nice ladies I would think about it and let them know ASAP.
I told my oldest daughter about it and she said " Go For It", as did her teacher, who said I would be so good as a substitute because I have such positive energy. That had me smiling!
 I happened to run into my youngest daughter on the way back to the office and she was so excited about her Mommy being a sub that I was seriously considering it!
But I had questions, several questions in fact, just like Big Bird.  As soon as I walked back into the office, the secretary asked, Linda can you do it?   All eyes were on me as I asked my most important questions: What about a background check? Don't I need to be cleared by central office before I can sub?
Aha! They hadn't thought of that! They looked at one another and the secretary said " we thought you had already done all that and were cleared to sub, You'd be perfect for it".  Well, what do you know? They think I'd be perfect sub material, cool.
 I left the school with central office contact information, but more importantly I left with a new sense of self because these nice ladies had revealed a facet I didn't know was there. Not only did they think I was qualified to be a substitute teacher, they thought I'd be a good one!

My second job offer came Saturday at Sam's Club.  Did you know the sample ladies and gents don't actually work for Sam's Club but are sub-contractors? I know this because I ask questions and chat with these nice people who give me free food.  Well, I was standing there chatting with the lady who had just given me a sample of an herbal drink ( think super sweet green tea) when I noticed her name tag looked different from the other sample ladies that day, so I asked her what company she was with.
 I was just making small talk as I waited for my hubby to come back around the aisle. The next thing I know I'm being offered a job! Just like that. I asked a question, looked this lady in the eye showing a genuine interest in her and voila!,  I was being told all about the position, the pay, the flexible hours etc. Well, who knew?  I can be a sample lady and make more money than the Sam's Club hourly employees do.  I thanked this nice lady, assuring her I would think it over but I wasn't really looking for a job.  But hey, this WAHM is thinking it sure is nice to know I am employable should my needs change!
  Interesting. Big Bird is right! Asking questions is a good way of finding things out! It may also land you a job, so if you are looking for work outside the home, get out there and start chatting and asking questions. You never know who may be hiring. Don’t discount yourself or overlook a potential position just because you hadn’t thought of it.  You never know until you ask, listen, repeat.  Good luck!
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