Jamberry University

Over the past month, I've been going through the newest consultant training - Jamberry University. I used the information in conjunction with an event that gave me a whole lot of leads, and I have to say it's incredibly beneficial. I told Deanna that I wanted to explain the reasons you should be going through Jamberry University, and we agreed on how I should do it.
I'm going to explain to those of you who haven't gone through the "coursework" what is involved and why you should be going through it. However, I won't be giving enough specifics that, if you don't have access to the University, you'll be able to skip the courses and benefit. If you're currently a hobbyist, the courses involved will more than make up for the $12 you spend for one month of a website, if you follow through with them.
However, that last phrase is really the key. The University is only what you make of it. If you go through the coursework as quickly as possible then never actually follow what it says, you're not going to get anything. Just like a "real" university, you're actually going to have to do the coursework like a student would. I took about 2 pages of notes for each section and really thought about the questions that were asked and the answers that I gave. That's the only way you're going to have success through the University.
There are currently 10 classes in Jamberry University. Each one of them is a little more difficult than the previous. You should expect each lesson to take an average of an hour. A couple took me half an hour, the last one took me 2 hours. That means, if you took one course every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of April, you'd be done before May. It also means you'd only have to find 3 hours a week, and you can work on it in small bits at a time. There were days I'd watch the video then go do some chores then come back and do one of the sections and repeat. Breaking the courses into the 15 minute intervals I talked about in Time Pockets really helped.
Each course is broken into 4 sections and they are as follows:

• A pre-test that asks questions you may not have ever thought of. Answer honestly, and you'll see where you need to improve. Jamberry doesn't care if you don't already know the things they're about to teach you.
• A video that is broken down into the subheadings of the lesson. In this video, Jamberry leaders explain their understanding of the mini-concept. I took tons of notes in these videos as their advice is not generally repeated in the actual lessons.
• The actual lesson. This is the reading portion of the course, and it is generally broken into 3-4 subheadings. You have the ability to highlight important phrases within these sections; however, I took tons of notes so I can reference them outside the internet. That's how I learn best.
• Each of the sub-sections will have an open answer section that will ask you to really think about what you've just learned and make a plan accordingly.
• A post-test that asks exactly the same questions the pre-test did. If you took the lesson seriously, and answered all of the open ended questions, you should score perfectly on this. If you still didn't understand something, go back and re-read.

Finally, I wanted to give you the run down of what you'll learn in the University. I realize some people might not want to sign up for their website because they don't know what's in the University. The concept of taking an online course for something when you don't know the content is a little scary. I will say, most of these concepts will be able to be found on outside websites, but I can't find a single site that will provide all these topics without a cost. Even if I could, they wouldn't be tailored specifically to the products that you sell. From what I've seen on other training websites, $10/$12 per month is incredibly inexpensive, especially for what you get from the University. Here is the current list of courses available through Jamberry University.

• Lesson 1: Cultivating an attitude of success
• Learn about persistence, passion, values, and taking time off from your business.
• Lesson 2: Earning Income with Jamberry
• Learn about the Jamberry Compensation plan, Retail commissions, level overrides, Fast Start rewards, and advancement bonuses.
• Lesson 3: Planning and managing your time
• Learn about clarifying your "Why", understanding your business expectations, setting attainable goals, and how to break down those goals into daily tasks & activities. 
• Lesson 4: Telling your story effectively
• Learn about promoting by wearing product, creating elevator speeches for products and business opportunities, and how to have make a presentation "short & sweet" when you need.
• Lesson 5: Business is Everywhere
• Learn about expanding your network, developing social media marketing strategy, creatin g a daily contact schedule, and following up and closing after vendor events.
• Lesson 6: Coaching your Host for Success
• The title is pretty self-explanatory, but this also includes how to turn a hostess into a recruit and follow-up time lines.
• Lesson 7: Successful Parties and follow-up
• Again, self explanatory. Learn about how to hold a party, full-service checkout, and following up.
• Lesson 8: Positive scripts and self talk
• Learn about anticipating objection, overcoming fear, and creating a positive mind-set and attitude for yourself.
• Lesson 9: Come from a place of service
• Learn about exceeding expectations, maintaining excellent service, and giving back to your community.
• Lesson 10: Developing and building your team
• Learn about leading by example, personal development, training new consultants, and building and effective team.

Email Ettiquette

A couple weeks ago, I attended a wedding expo and literally entered every drawing I could. I did this for two reasons - a) I wanted to win and b) I wanted to see how the sales people drafted their email to maximize their after-expo business.
I noticed something very concerning that could have been altogether avoided - almost half of the direct saleswomen who emailed me let me see every other email address they used. That means, if I were someone who wanted to phish information, I now have hundreds of people's email addresses - and they have mine.
This is such an easy thing to avoid that I wanted to take a second and explain how to do it, as well as some other finer points of email usage that are easy to miss when we're in a hurry.

BCC

When you compose an email, there are three potential fields in which you can put your email addresses they are as follows:

• To (or C)
• CC
• BCC

These are remnants of the old way we used to send mail. C stands for Copy - or the original addressee. CC stands for Carbon Copy. Back in the old days (can you imagine that in an old lady's voice?) we used to make a copy of the original with carbon paper to send to those whom the letter was not addressed to. Each person knew who the original addressee was and everyone else to whom a copy had been sent. BCC stands for Blank Carbon Copy. These were carbon copies sent to third parties as well, but these parties did not know who the original addressee was or who else had gotten a copy.
Email works in a similar way. When you use the C or CC fields, every single person you include in said field will see every other person you include. Alternatively, when you use the BCC field, every person only gets an email addressed to her and no one else. This serves 2 purposes:

• You eliminate the possibility of people stealing others email addresses.
• Each person feels like you took the time to email her specifically.

On a side note, if you use a mailing list service, it automatically does it for you.

Reply All

FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD AND HOLY, DO NOT USE THE REPLY ALL FUNCTION ON EMAILS!!!!
I'm really sorry about that, but I had to get it out of my system.  Please forgive my fervour on this one. I am going to try to remain calm, but you should know that I am currently fighting this battle with my daughter's gymnastics parent association.
Let's say, for example, that you get an email from someone (we'll call him Bob) who doesn't know how to use the BCC field  on his email and they sent that email to 100 people. Let's again say you need to tell Bob how to use the BCC field (or anything else equally important) so you hit the reply button.
Did you check to see if you hit Reply or Reply All?
Here's what's about to happen if you hit Reply All. Every single other person that Bob sent the original email to will now receive a copy of your email and your information, if you have an auto-completing signature. This continues until people lose interest in the email. I get emails constantly like this and it sets off my "new email" buzzer constantly.
Of course, if Bob had known how to use the BCC field, none of this would have happened in the first place.

Hope this helps!

Creating a Google Form

I was on the Jamberry Consultants page the other day when someone mentioned using Google Docs to ease the sample request process on "Try it Tuesday"s. This peaked my interest, so I followed the thread until someone mentioned that they were using Google Forms to achieve this goal, and another linked her form. I used this example as a springboard for my own, and made a tutorial on the way.
First, if you don't have a Gmail account, you're going to have to have a Google Drive account. Sign up for that first.
1. Log into your Google Drive account and click the "Create" button.

2. Select "Form" from the drop-down list.

3. You will be taken to another page where you can choose the theme of your form (to make it pretty). Choose whichever suits you most and name your form. Mine is "Forbes' Fabulous Fingers - Sample Request."

4. The next screen will ask you to title your first question. Mine is "First Name."

5. After you name your question, you're going to want to change it. Because we're asking for someone's name, you'll need to change the question type to "Text."

6. You can make a field required by checking the box at the bottom. All address sections are required on mine.

7. Add a new field with the "Add Item" menu.

8. Continue this process until you have all the fields that you need. Mine has "First Name," "Last Name," "Address," "City," "State/Province," and "Zip/Postal Code."
9. Click the "Image" option in the Add Item menu.

10. Add an item of the samples you have to offer. Here's a suggestion.

11. Give your guests the option to choose one or two samples. I require them to pick one and give the option of a second. I used "Choose from list," but you could use "Multiple choice" or "Checkboxes," whatever you want.

Here's a link to my completed form. Once someone submits your form to you, you should get an email with the request and all of the requests should go into a spreadsheet for easy access.

Neutralizing Naysayers

We've all had them - the women at the party who seem to have come simply for the purpose of making you feel like you might have chosen the wrong career.  Whether they ask questions, make statements, or simply give you looks that make your other guests doubt the product, they make you feel like the party, and by extension you, is a failure.  How do you stop their negativity while remaining professional, polite, and above all, successful?  Well, you start by being a bit ahead of the game by knowing your product forward and backward so that when you have a Negative Nellie at your next party, you already know how to neutralize her before any harm is done.
The next thing you have to remember is to keep a cool head.  Remain calm, no matter what someone says to you.  I've found they won't be outwardly rude around their friends, but they may make snarky comments aimed to get your ire up.  Remember that, if you lose your patience or are rude to them, their friends will not want to buy your product.
Here are some of the most common negative comments that I hear consultants trying to overcome:

It's too expensive!

As odd as I find it, I hear about consultants being told our product is too expensive all the time.  I've never personally had someone say this to me, but that's because I try to nip it in the bud when I talk about the price.  For example:  "Each sheet is only $17 plus tax and can do up to two manicures and two pedicures.  I challenge you to find one manicurist that will give you two manicures for less than $20!"
If you have a client who argues that painting their nails is cheaper, you can always ask how long painting their nails lasts.  You can also suggest our nail lacquers which give a lower cost per manicure.  You may also run into the argument that store-bought wraps can be purchased for as low as a dollar. In that case, you might want to skip to the next argument.

__________ product or service is better.

There are tons of nail wraps out there.  You can get them almost anywhere from the Dollar Tree to Wal-Mart to Sally's to other direct sales organizations to high-end nail salons.  They range in cost from a dollar to almost $100.  They also vary in material and quality.  When I have a client ask me about other nail wraps, I have found the best option is to know my product and its competitors.  I've found that the following two images help me.  The first can't be shared as-is (logo issues) and the second is not social media approved, but it keeps popping up.  They're both incredibly useful.

So, one of my stock answers when people ask me about store-bought nail wraps, I usually say something like, "Most of the wraps in stores are made out of dried nail polish printed out.  That means that they have the same toxins as nail polish, and the same dangers.  They also dry out once you open them, and that means you only get one application out of them."
You can also point out that, though the less expensive wraps (Dollar Tree in particular) are not made of nail polish, they don't list ingredients, don't claim to be cruelty-free, and don't form to your nail shapes as well as Jamberry do.
As far as the salon-applied nail wraps there.  I haven't had someone who claimed they'd rather spend over $50 to have nail wraps applied, but I'm sure they're out there.  I have no argument for that.
As far as "I love getting manicures," which I do hear all the time, I would suggest to those people that they can still get their mani/pedis without polish and put on the wraps afterward.

I can't wear things on my nails because of my job.

If you get this challenge, I encourage you to clarify what your guest means by this.  This is because there are
four very different prongs to the argument:

• Some jobs, such as food preparation, do not allow any kind of nail decoration.  This is what we all assume the guest means when she says, "I'm not allowed to wear these at my job."  If you run into this, you should mention that our nail wraps can be used on toes.  Even people who can't wear nail polish on their fingernails like to get pedicures.  Megs LeGray also suggested that this is an excellent time to bring up our nail lacquers.  The lacquers offer a lower cost-per-manicure and gives your client the option to paint her nails with the same non-toxic alternatives on a night out and take it off before work.
• Some jobs don't allow eye-catching patterns on the nails.  However, they do tend to allow solid colours, basic ombres, and french tips.  For these situations, you might indicate the Sparkling Solids and French Tip sections of the catalogue.  My line is, "We carry everything from clear to crazy."
• Some jobs don't allow nail wraps.  This is a new one I heard the other day.  Health-care fields are starting to crack down on nail wraps because of a concern that they may trap pathogens under them.  You can't argue with this one, but you can suggest our non-toxic lacquer and, again, with the wraps on toes.
• There are people that think they can't wear wraps because of their jobs.  Their jobs don't actually have rules that say they can't wear nail polish or nail wraps, they just think that an aspect of their job will make the wraps not work. I've heard everything from acetone to hand sanitizer. For this instance...

I can't wear nail polish because of my hobby.

I swear that every time I have a party there is one person that can't wear nail polish because of something she does in her spare time.  I've heard everything from gardening to rock climbing and every person has tried and loved the product.  I've started to nip this in the bud a little by talking about clients I have had that can use our nail wraps.  I talk about my vet tech friend who does surgery in her Jamberrys (we learned that clear-based wraps weren't her friend) or a friend who works in labs.  However, that doesn't always work. Sometimes they are adamant that their hobby is somehow different from the extremes that I discuss.  In those cases, I point out that
a.  They have samples on their nails right now. I suggest they go do what it is that they go do what it is they're telling me about and report back to me about how their samples played out.  If they don't do that within the next 2 weeks:
b. We have a 30-day money-back guarantee. If their hobby is in fact to hard on their nail wraps, I will refund their money, no questions asked. If they aren't planning to do said hobby in the next 30 days, they're probably just giving you a reason to not buy.

I don't wear nail polish.

Okay, so I hear this all the time, and it's one of the hardest to overcome because it's much more complex that "I can't". "I don't" indicates a willful choice to not wear nail polish. Usually, I ask her why she doesn't wear nail polish. If it comes down to one of the many reasons why Jamberry is so much better than nail polish (chipping, cracking, repainting), I go back to "I can't because of my hobby," responses. On the other hand, I've had people who don't wear nail polish because of the toxins. They're my favourites because it's the easiest thing in the world to overcome.
Then there are people who just don't like nail polish. They don't want to wear nail polish, and you're not going to make them. Try to focus on our nail care tools, because they're of professional quality, or the hand care system. Even people who don't wear nail polish like their hands to feel nice.

I don't have any nails.

I swear that I pray for this argument to come up at every party. It is my favourite objection. You know why? Because when I started using Jamberry, I had less than no nails. I had nails that were bitten down to stubs, and were weak and brittle. Every time I tried to stop biting my nails, they would break and I would start evening them out with my teeth and then I'd be biting them again. Then came Jamberry! Jamberry protected my nails from the elements and prevented me from biting my nails (I always tell people "You can't bite through them!"). I have nails because Jamberry exists. There is no such thing as nails too short to wear them.

This is too difficult.

I have never gotten this complaint after someone tried applying the shields, but I have heard it plenty before the actual demonstration part. There are some people who will swear up and down that their non-dominant hand is incapable of doing anything. For this situation, I assure them of the ease of application. If they're very insistent, I give them examples of people I have had successfully apply samples. I've had a woman with Multiple Sclerosis apply them with ease!
If all else fails, just get them to try a sample.

I hope all of this helps; I put a lot of thought into it. If you have any complaints or arguments that I haven't touched on, let me know and I'll add it to the next one.

Having a Successful Party

Hello fellow Jamladies!! I feel so honoured and privileged to be invited to blog about my parties that I have had! I have been a Jamberry consultant since December 1, 2013 when it opened in Saskatchewan, Canada. Since then I have had 5 in-house parties, and 3 online/book parties. I have been asked to write about how and why my parties have been fairly successful. The parties have ranged between $300-950 insales prior to the hostess rewards. Here are some of the things that I have done prior and during in-house parties!
1. When the party is booked, I meet with the hostess and give her a few samples and have her apply a wrap, and match the wrap with a coordinating polish (of her choice). This is a way for her to see the product for herself, but also she can show everyone around her what the product is, and how it compares to polish. I also give her catalogues, and order forms to carry around.
2. At the same time as step 1 - I give the hostess a handful of business cards with a sample stapled to it, with the instructions also included. I ask her to hand these out to everyone who is interested! Ideally I want them to try it ahead of time so they know how great the product is. Once they try it and see how great it really is, they are definitely more interested in coming out to buy! The product really does sell itself.
3. I encourage the hostess to set up a FB event and invite EVERYONE on her friends list. Even if she doesn't think they would be interested. Its always surprising to see who comes out of the woodworks and places orders online! I will post on the event page videos, pictures, my website and my FB page, information, etc. And really encourage them to ask questions!
4. A few days prior to the party, I contact the hostess and see if there is anything she needs -more catalogues, order forms, samples etc.
5. Once the party has arrived, I try to be at her place about 30 minutes prior to the start time. I try and set it up so that where we actually try the samples on is separate from where the guests are while I do my little speech. Otherwise I find that they are so busy playing with the samples, they don't really hear what I have said! Here I hand them each a pen, catalogue and order form, and a little kit that I have prepared for each guest. This includes a nail file (not Jamberry, but I have found packages of 32 for $1.25 at Dollarama, and they are purple!), business card, with 1 sample stapled to it, basic instructions, a sheet with my FB page on it, and an alcohol pad). I encourage them to take this sample kit home and either keep for themselves, or share with a friend, family member or someone they know who would enjoy it! Then I touch base on a few key things:
     a)I talk about why I got into selling Jamberry Nails - as someone who almost always has her nails done, and owns 45+ bottles of polish, and stickers, gems, stamps etc - this was right up my alley!
     b)I talk about what the product is, how long it can last, the ease of application and removal.
     c)I will talk about the benefits of hosting, thank the hostess and provide her with a gift - usually a half sheet of wraps (her choice), a buffer pad, rubber tipped cuticle pusher and an orange stick. I will also talk about the fun I am having being a consultant
     d) Then once I have done my piece, and answer any questions that they may have, I let them loose on the samples, after all - that is what everyone is there for!! I also lay out any lacquers I have, the nail oil and the Indulgence line to let them try it all. I own 2 heaters, and lay out 30-40 single cut samples, show them either on myself or the hostess the basic application techniques, and then let them have their fun!! This is where the product is sold in my opinion!! Once they see truly how easy it is to apply - its hard to dispute the product!
6. During this time I hand out a draw form for them to fill out in 2 ways:
     a) name only if they only want to enter to win a half sheet.
     b) name and contact information if they want more info on holding a party or becoming a consultant. Once everyone is done doing their samples, I will make the draw.
7. Once they have all tried the product, they usually have a few questions, but also start filling out their order forms. I remind them that if the combined order comes to more than $200 there is free shipping, otherwise the shipping will be split between the orders that get sent to the hostess.
8. After the party is done, I keep in touch with the hostess to see if she has received any follow-up orders. Usually this is where I see orders start trickling in, as her friends who couldn't come - see her nails, and other peoples nails who were at the party. I usually encourage the party to be left open for about a week after the actual party date. During this time, I also advertise on my FB page that I have an order going in and that it is free shipping (if the party is in or near where I live for deliveries). I usually get an additional 1-2 orders this way. I have to admit that I actually haven't done any games at the parties so far - it may be something that I incorporate in the future. So there it is - these are my steps, and what I do for each of my parties. My in-house parties have typically been more successful than the book or online, as they have the ability to see, feel and try the wraps, but I think as people hear about it up here, and see it all over the place - the online and book parties will be just as successful! Please feel free to ask me any questions, in case maybe I didn't explain very clearly! Thanks!!

Prep for the month

This will be my final post classified in  the New Year 2014.  Originally, I planned to only go 31 days, but it ran over a little. I hope it was helpful
Today is the day you should prepare for your February parties, interviews, and anything else you might not expect.  On the last couple of days of the month, I make a list of what needs to be done before my first party of the month.  I never want to run out of sample packets, hostess packets, or recruiting packets.
So, I started by setting a goal for how many of these things I want to have on hand at all times.  I made those numbers high enough that, if I run out, I've had a freaking amazing month!

• 50 Sample packets
• 20 Hostess Packets
• 20 Recruitment packets

Today is also the day that I prepare the binders for my next month.  Because so much changes each month, I start making my new documents for them.  I can't send out for printing until the first of the month because I always include the Sister Style for the month in it.

So, today, count how many of each of these you have and figure out how many more you need to meet your goals this month.  Either send out for printing (I often find sending everything to Staples is easier than printing it myself) or print it yourself.

Homework:  How many of what do you need to make?  Post it today and we'll encourage you through it!  Due today!

Keep learning!

Einstein once said that if a person spends 15 minutes a day studying a subject, he or she would become an expert in that subject matter.  Well, this month you've spent a minimum of 15 minutes a day getting your business organized and learning new party, booking, and recruiting techniques.  So, my message today is to keep it up!
After a month of pouring information into this blog, I can only hope that it inspires you to keep learning more about your business.  Take 15 minutes every day and learn something that will help you with your business.  The best thing about owning your own business is that you get to choose what you think is going to help you the most instead of anyone else.

If you feel like you know everything there is to know about Jamberry, spend your time researching other at-home businesses.  What works for their consultants will often also work for us.  You can adapt the games they play at their parties to your own; you can look at their layouts or their flyers and find new ideas for your own.

The thing is, you don't need to just be a Jamberry expert, you need to become a marketing and business expert.  Learn how to best market your product while you're walking around or at a party or even when you're not there!  Learn how to build your business and meet your goals.
Where do you learn these things?  Well, Google is an amazing thing.  I've found tons just googling something like, "at home business party games" and the like.  Just think of what you want to learn and Google it.  You'll find something.  There are sites that are set up just for this, one of which (Party Plan Divas) I am thoroughly entranced in, but they often require a financial commitment to continue to use them.  The other place you'll find Jamberry and at home business tips is on YouTube.  There are dozens of videos on these kinds of things there.
Go, find something to learn and tell us all about it!

Homework:  Spend 15 minutes learning something and write us an article!  Due February 28.