Game Plan for the 2nd Half of 2017

I am always looking for new systems to implement, new ways to organize, new ideas to keep me on track... This month, I've decided to make use of a set of three dry erase calendars that have been hanging, no longer used, in my office. Introducing....my new CONTENT CALENDAR

Okay, so it's not DONE or anything, but here's what I am thinking...I needed a new plan, some structure into when and where I am posting, both for my Thirty-One business, and for Successfully Social. Otherwise it's way too easy to let the days get away from me, and before I realize it, I see I've been slacking in one area or another. Trust me, it happens to the best of us. So, after doing some research, I decided that this might be just the thing I needed in my life to organize my thoughts and execute a plan.

If you're looking to get a handle on your own social media content schedule, you can certainly do something super visual like this (each color represents a different facet of my social media world) or check out some of the sites that inspired me to create this. Here are a couple: HubSpot, CoSchedule.

I would love to see what YOU are doing to manage your content...do you have an amazing solution? Share a link in the comments.

Team Recognition Plan - 2017

For the last several years I have been recognizing my team through a monthly incentive program, where they can earn different buttons or pins for different accomplishments each month. Then, whenever they are ready to redeem, every pin they've collected is worth $5 in product credit that they can redeem through me. My girls have loved it, and it's been a great way for them to get additional product in hand when the catalog changes over and new items come out. Today I made a quick video to explain the system:

Have questions? Feel free to leave them in the comments!

Hostess Packet Walk Thru

I get a ton of questions about what I personally do for my business, so I'm going to be addressing many of these questions through quick videos over the coming weeks. Today, I did a short video on what exactly I put in my Thirty-One hostess packets. EVERYONE needs a hostess packet, why not make them cute?!

If you have questions, comment below. Have fun putting together your new cute packets!

Why I'm Pampering Myself Like Crazy This Year

I have a confession...I'm a direct sales shopping junkie. There are just too many companies out there with products I adore. So I buy. A lot. And until recently I was a total hoarder of all things skin/beauty/pampering. Like truly, the amount of scrubs alone I have is ridiculous. And what's even more ridiculous is that I was not using them frequently because I didn't want to run out. Ahhh! Silly girl, I think I'm good, right?

And that is just a few of them...BUT, I have seen the error in my ways! I vow that this year I will (try) to stop hoarding and will actually use and love all these products that I just had to have!

Including more bath bars and body bars than any one person needs in a lifetime.

And okay, those that know me, know that in general I'm crazy organized...and I tried, really I did, with all the cute Zipper Pouches from Thirty-One, but this is officially out of control under my sink. So I vow that not only will I be using up these amazing products from Posh, Jordan Essentials, Acti Labs, Lemongrass Spa, etc. but that I will get a handle on this whole under the sink thing, and get rid of those products that I have failed...you know, the ones that have dried up, expired, etc. That WILL happen, and I'll take pics when it does. Cause no self-respecting Thirty-One chick should have a bathroom cabinet that looks like this.

Hold me accountable blog-land, I'm on it!

Theme Parties Work!

If there is one thing I love it's a great blog or pinterest board with lots of ideas to share with YOU.  I recently came across this AMAZING blog by Lynn Bardowski, Millions Party Girl.  Her blog and website are packed full of great ideas and very valuable insight.  Lynn is a multi-million dollar revenue generating direct sales entrepreneur.  I knew when I came across the great post below I had to share.  Enjoy. 

Get In The Game With Direct Sales

Are you struggling with creative marketing ideas after the rush of the Holiday Season and feeling a little burnt out? With SB 50 right around the corner and the entire country thinking about The Big Game why not bring your business to the bleachers and take advantage of the excitement with some really Fun Football Themed Ideas?  Here are a few of my favorites that are sure to score a touchdown with your audience...

This will change your direct sales business

If you're like me, you sometimes fall behind on life. It happens. I'm there right now. Through a series of events that were some completely within my control and some that were not, I've completely fallen out of my routines and systems that I worked so hard to create.

This is not a tragedy.

All you can do, honestly, it start back up again. So I am. Step one is going to be my email inbox. I am typically very structured when it comes to cleaning out my inbox. I prefer to have less than 25 emails in my inbox at any given time. Everything else is either deleted or sorted into the appropriate folder/sub-folder to file away in case I need it. Currently there are over 600 emails in my inbox. This drives me insane so it's time to fix it!!!

I spent a lot of time developing this system, and it works wonders for me (when I work it). If you're in direct sales, this might be helpful to you.

First off, under your inbox, create a folder for your home office emails. So mine is 31 Corporate. Underneath that folder, create subfolders for anything you get a lot of emails on...for example, my subfolders are Shipping Notices, Leads, Leadership, Commissions and Incentives, and Meetings. Any email that comes in from my home office will generally fit into one of those sub-categories, and if not it goes into the main 31 Corporate folder.

Next, and these are the most exciting, I want you to create monthly folders...so my main folder is called 31 Monthly Folders. Underneath that I have the following:

• a. January 2015
• b. February 2015
• c. March 2015

And so on. Then, under each of those monthly folders is where the magic happens. For every party, event, open house, vendor fair, etc. that you are participating in, you will create that event folder underneath the appropriate month. If you have 7 parties and 2 vendor events in March, then March is going to have 9 sub-folders, each named with the name of the host or the event. EVERY SINGLE PIECE of correspondence regarding that party or event is going to go into that folder. Every email from the hostess, every RSVP from the guests, every order notification from online orders. Everything. This is a GAME CHANGER. You will never again have to search through hundreds of emails to find info on a specific party again. Trust me, try it.

The other big one is you HAVE to have a place to file all those great ideas that show up in  your inbox that you MIGHT some day want to try out for your business. You know, those great post from company groups on Facebook that you're in a million of and will never ever find the post again if you don't save it? I know I have a ton of those mysefl!!! I call this folder 31 Ideas and have sub-folders like Party Ideas, Hostess Gifts, Fundraisers, Vendor Events. etc. Now every great idea that you honestly might really implement or try out has a place to go that isn't just your inbox, and if you find yourself looking for new Vendor Event ideas you know right where to look!

Okay, so mind blown? The rest of the folders are fairly easy, such as 31 Team, where I put all my team correspondence (sub-folders for Newsletter, Assistant, Weekly News).

Because I use just one email address for both my personal email and my business email, I also have a folder called Personal, and that has sub-folders for the kids, their sports (one for each sport), their school, a spot for emails from friends, etc. The whole point of all of this is to have a place for everything that you need to save.

I'm not going to lie, setting up this system and sorting through potentially thousands of neglected emails in your inbox is not going to be fun or easy. But I promise you it's totally worth it. And once you have it done, maintaining it is as simple as 30 minutes a week (scheduled into your calendar, which I will address in a future post on time management).

Now, time for me to go clean up a few weeks worth of neglect in my inbox. Good luck, all!