So Cal Women of Arbonne

I had an opportunity to meet with some very interesting women on Friday April 18th, Beth, Julie, Trish, Shannon, and Wendi. This meeting came about because of my relationship with Shannon Blas. Shannon and I both work in the real estate industry, she is a Realtor and I’m the in-house lender. We initially met at a blogging class that was being put on for the Realtors in the office. I was scoping out the competition for my monthly tech class and Shannon was looking for additional marketing tools. From that meeting on we have kept in touch talking about our businesses, goals, frustrations, and motivations. In our talks we discussed her Arbonne business, ways that she could take her skills as a real estate professional and apply them to her Arbonne business, and how the Internet could be utilized to supplement her other efforts.

Since Get Smart Women was created to help women in any industry create, build, and innovate their businesses. I felt that Shannon’s group created an opportunity for me to see how my ideas could come to fruition in the world of multi-level marketing. Exciting, overwhelming, and invigorating those are the emotions that went through me as I jumped on to this undertaking. I was pleasantly surprised by the group, which I often am when I meet people in direct selling. These women are intelligent, charismatic, driven, and happy. You don’t find that in your average corporate office. The experience that these women have ranges from Corporate America to owning their own businesses to just starting out. I loved the energy and most especially the underlying motivation, which seem to be balance, family, and freedom.

The first time I heard multi-level marketing my initial thought was “oh God a pyramid scheme” and then “slowly back away, keep smiling, do not spook the crazy person, and now run Forest run.” A little extreme I know but that really was my initial reaction. Then I needed a marketing tool to blow my competition away and I stumbled on to a video service that, yes you guessed it, is a direct selling company. I signed up for the video product not the multi-level marketing, but I had to join on the direct selling side because I needed the increased server space for my video distribution. The crazy thing was that as I used the videos in my mortgage business I found that others wanted to use it. In helping them get the service I helped my mortgage business and I made a little extra cash on the video side. Wow pretty cool right, two bird’s one stone in action, who knew it could really work!

When I get involved in something I like to know as much about it as possible, so I go crazy with the research stuff. What I found really surprised me, you know that Rich Dad Poor Dad guy Robert Kiyosaki? Great book and very rich guy, surprisingly he wrote about network marketing aka direct selling in his book with Trump, Why We Want You To Be Rich. Why would a guy like that write about an MLM? Well read the book he will tell you why. Did you know that almost every kind of product has been sold through DSOs, including cosmetics, art, time management systems, tires, kitchen tools and appliances, lingerie, long-distance phone services, and computers. I could go on for days. It is amazing Direct Selling, which has morphed into network marketing and multi-level marketing, started at the turn of the century. MLM’s have created incredible wealth for companies and individuals in the U.S., we are talking billions, and now around the world yet most snub their nose at it. Kinda makes you wonder who is really smarter? Is it the house wife/stay at home mom selling Arbonne at girlie parties, driving the white Mercedes that the company pays for, or the corporate woman who never sees her family, is beholden to her employer, and struggles to make her expensive car payment?

Interesting isn’t it? Well we are going see how the So Cal Women of Arbonne manage their lives and their direct selling careers…how you ask? Well we have set up a blog for them at http://www.socalarbonne.blogspot.com/ and they have agreed to actively contribute. We will meet them see where they are at in their Arbonne journey, where they want to go with it, and how they do along the way. I am going to be that annoying outside observer, occasional contributor, obnoxious accountability partner, and you will see it all happen on our blog pages. Why take this on when I am so busy with absolutely everything else in my life and for free mind you, I normally charge for this service? Well the answer is that it helps me, it helps them, and it could help others. I can’t think of a better reason to do something…so stay tuned and give plenty of feedback.

Bookmark these sites to keep up with us:
http://www.socalarbonne.blogspot.com/
http://www.thegetsmartbolg.blogspot.com/
http://www.getsmartwomen.com/