BellaOnline Forums Career Small Office/Home Office Free Business Ideas for YOU

Oh, and i took a photo of my business cards. Of all the free ones, this was really the only thing that made any sense at all. So I figure, mountains, sky, up in the clouds:

They look great. I've never tried their free ones, but those are nice.

Thanks. my next step was finding custom clings - jeanne sent me back to vista print. so that is now set. I just have to get my logo done. that might not be until next week, when my designer has time.

I'm going to email you with a vendor I use here in Memphis--I'm sure they ship anywhere, though. I actually bought clings from her last year for a client of mine. And, everything I buy from her is great and pricing is too. She's pretty quick on giving you quotes, too!

Hello Deb

I've been reading the post in this forum to get a feel for what the conversation is about.

I have a few ideas that I have created.

Here's a little about what I do and love:

1: I love writing. This is my passion. I have a myspace for my writing but I have not done much with it lately. I have a couple of projects like writing a printed book title: My Name Is Grace. It is a spiritual book and with that a devotional book. My husband and I are writing songs and music for a CD to accompany the devotional book also. I belong to a couple of writing communties which is how I got here.

2: Becoming debt free. I have educated myself and have a major financial plan I am working towards to getting out of debt. I even have a website title Becomingdebtfree.org. The site is partly for me but I invite others who are having the same problems I am with economy to vent and rant. Some times things don't always work out the way you want them to and you can get really frustrated when you look online and see every one talking make money get wealthy ya da ya da. My site comes from a perspective of one still in debt. I am also drafting an ebook for this.

3: I need to increase our household income by at least 500 a month in order to have enough money to implement my plan. So I picked up Avon. It is a company I strongly believe in and just as bellaonline is for women Avon is also a company for women to help them gain financial freedom and become self sustaining. Plus I love the skin care, body care line as well. I also love the beauty products they have that work very well on ethnic skin. So now I need to find a customer base that will be consistent and ever expanding.

4: I love meeting people and I have been told I would make a good counselor. I am now for my compassion and passion to help others who are hurting i.e. abused, self-esteem and self confidence. I understand a lot about people and I always wanted to become a psychologist. I love getting into peoples minds and finding out how they think and what motivates them or moves them no matter the direction good or bad. When my children were young all their freinds who were having problems with their parents or family came to me for advice and guidance. I just have a real love for seeing people live free from the opinions of others and believe in themselves most of all.

5: I love planning events that bring people together in joy and fun. I love to see people have a good time and enjoy life, especially those who are not fortunate. If I can make some one smile or laugh for a moment in time and forget about their problems for that length of time then I have done my job well. I find great joy and satisfaction in the hospitality field of event planning. I do know event planning is a hard field though. But I still like pulling things off for people to get together for a good time.

Now these are my likes favorties and passions. Hobbies for me are on hold. I don't have the money for it which is why I want to get out of debt and increase my household income.

I am not able right now to work out side the home. A couple of months ago I went into the hospital and had emergency surgery and still recouperating. On top of that while there they found numerous things wrong so I have been back and forth, test after test, appointment after appointment.

But none the less all the above is what I have right now. I would really like to hear your take on what I have written above.

Thank you

Grace, you have a lot to offer and I believe you can use those talents and passions to create a plan to help you reach your goals!

You actually have the bones of a plan in your above posting. First things first: Focus on selling Avon to help you get out of debt. Use your passions for writing, meeting people and planning events to help you sell Avon.

Take advantage of all the sales/marketing info Avon provides that you can. Let everyone know, drop off books to your neighbors, etc. Do you get bonuses for recruiting other dealers? If so, it could be a vehicle for helping others get out of debt and help you make more money.

I sold Avon like 20 years ago, but I believe you get a website so that your customers can order online now, right? If so, take advantage of it!

Use Avon to talk to people--mention it when you're in waiting rooms with other patients. Most are bored to tears and might welcome both conversation and a book to look through.

Take them along everywhere--keep some in your purse to hand out whenever you have opportunity. If you attend any networking events, luncheons, church, club meetings, take them with you.

You can even plan some events if you wanted to, but I'd save that until you make some money and build up a clientele, simply because they cost money to host and you'd want to be sure to get a good return for the investment. But, in the future, a "get out of debt" event with some info on how Avon helped you pay off your debt could recruit some more dealers and/or sell product. (Of course, you could have other stuff there--your get out of debt ebook, tips you learn along the way, avoiding scams, etc.)

Of course your ethnic beauty site here is a good place for educating potential consumers on products. You can write reviews galore! And, in addition to posting your reviews online, print some out and stick in with the catalogs you drop off! Or, use them to create mini-fliers that you can use instead of catalogs to get people interested.

Also, get involved with social media--Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc. where you can post reviews as well as direct people to your Avon sales page.

I love Skin-so-Soft as a bug repellent, by the way. Been using it for 20 years. My mom buys me a big bottle every summer. I used it on my kids when they were little--much preferable to commercial bug sprays!

I would suggest focusing on Avon to get that customer base built up first. When you need cash, it's really better to get that monkey off your back. So, set some goals for that--how many people will you give books to this week, what reviews will you write, how many social media postings will you make, and so on.

The only other thing I would suggest is that since you do like talking to people and parties is a home-party business might be worth looking into once you get your Avon base established.

Often, you can make several hundred dollars a month with just a few parties. And, there are zillions of companies out there--research carefully, of course, but you could partner with your Avon sales by doing something else beauty-related, like jewelry or fashions, or go into another interest altogether.

You know what Deb. Thanks! You've helped me a lot. I will have to put a little thought into it so I will post again when I do come up with an action plan. Like you said do my research.

I love it!!!! Thank you so much. You have brought perspective of how to be creative with all that I do have going for me.

I will post later, but thanks again since I am just starting out, I'm at the beginning of the game.

Thanks

Wow, Deb, you are really good at this! I love how you took Grace's situation and turned it into a workable, fun plan that is based on her likes and passions, with the outlets she already has. I am impressed!

You know, you guys have inspired me. I live in St Lucia and I don't really have any girlfriends. I just kind of stay on our vegetable farm and write. I too have had some financial difficulties and am only debt free due to a bankruptcy a number of years ago after a significant job lay off. And I like it down here with my Lucian husband. I've notice my favorite Avon deodorant for sale in the local grocery store. I think I will look into Avon as a means to supplement our income, make new friends, and hopefully inspire a few of these single mothers that are struggling down here.
Grace can I sign up under you to help you as well?

One Love

Yes you can. Are you really interested? If so give me a couple of days to see what we need to get you started.

I will contact my district manager.

Thanks for asking. I would love to do this together with you. And I know about single mothers struggling. My son has a five year old daughter who lost her mother to a car accident so he's been living with me and his father for the past year. But now it is time to part ways. He will be getting a place for him and his daughter and my husband and I will have our own place as well.

So yes I will be in touch. Let me know though if you are serious about this.

Thanks a lot for asking too