Having a yard sale

Howdy folks,

Here's Steve's tip of the day for those of you who are shy about approaching people with your business.

Have a yard sale...

This is a great way to meet people. They come to your house, (so now they know where you live). You get to impress them with your general enthusiasm for life ( get some from your upline if you don't have any ). And it gives you a nice relaxing atmosphere in which to pre-qualify people.

Advertise it in the paper. Make it original. We happen to have a large plywood cow that folds in the middle and is painted black and white. We put that in the ad along with some armor and handmade jewelry we make.

Here's the best part: Tell people about it. Everyone. Walk up to complete strangers and ask if they like garage sales. Describe yours in elaborate detail really, really, fast. Make it light and humorous. Get used to making eye contact and establishing rapport with total strangers. By the end of today, I had talked to more people than I have in the past week. I got very comfortable with it and they were comfortable with me. Even if they don't come, we both got something out of it; they got entertained by an enthusiastic pitchman and I expanded my comfort zone by another mile or two.

I'll let ya'll know how it goes. In the meantime I remain,

-Steve

In my last Tip of the Day, I suggested holding a yard sale. We did just that on Saturday with the following results:

• One prospecting tape given out.
• Many people prequalified.
• Lots of new friends made.
• Lots of room created in our house.
• $300 of stuff sold.

We had a great time. The weather cooperated with an uncharacteristic display of sunshine. The Air Force Thunderbirds were having an airshow at the airbase next door to us, and we got a free thrill (one went around our neighboring church, hit the afterburners, went mach 2, and straight up for a couple of miles...Way Cool). With the airshow traffic, and our street being a detour for some construction going on, we had plenty of customers. (The only downside to the airshow was that the testosterone level was high afterward, causing the male drivers to attempt mach 2 in front of our house)

Every car that drove by was treated (?) to the sight of me bouncing on our mini-trampoline and pointing to the plywood cow. I waved and hollered and attracted lots of attention (and not a few looks of puzzlement and fear). When a car stopped, my wife, Rhea, or I would walk up to the people getting out and smile, stick out our hands and say,"Hi, my name's Steve and welcome to my yard sale!". People aren't used to this. Most yard sales are manned by zombies who ignore their customers. We took people around and described our goods in glowing detail. We got people to open up and talk to us. If they didn't respond favorably, we were automatically able to mark them down as, "Not Open", and move on. We met a couple of small business owners who are potential customers of commercial cleaning products (or distributors!), and quite a number of people who we can show the plan to. The one tape I passed out was to a young man who had just moved up here to pursue his dream of being an aircraft mechanic. We talked for quite a while, and I thought he might be interested in his own business. We'll see what happens.

Even if nothing comes of all the contacts we made, the sale was worth the time investment. Besides the much needed capital we raised, we improved our people skills and made new friends. I highly recommend this as a prospecting tool.

New Tip of the Day: Look for a company called America's Best in your area. They market eye exams and two pairs of glasses for $59.00. This has a deleterious impact on optometrists who are in business for themselves and are unable to cut their prices to meet this challenge. So far, I've handed out one tape to my optometrist, and plan to meet with others in the Anchorage area. Again, we'll see what happens and I'll keep ya'll posted.

Thanks to all of you who have sent positive responses to my first Tip of the Day. I agree with those who have stated that this is what we ought to be doing here; disseminating information to the widest audience possible, so that all can profit from the collective wisdom of the group. I've come to believe very strongly in the power and beauty of network marketing. The potential for improving lives is amazing. When people help other people help themselves, all of us profit in unexpected ways.