Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Finding Your Nussentials Product Niche
Or, finding out who you want to "talk" to.
Customers are the lifeblood of your business, despite what you may have heard to the contrary.
Having retail customers means you don't have to "go out of pocket" for your product points. Not having to go out of pocket means you can take some time to build up your business, without pressure. If you can't get paid because you can't afford to buy your product requirements each month, how likely are you going to be out there recruiting? How long do you think you will last? Gather customers early and often. Remember, this is where your "residual" income comes from. Since customers are so important to your success, we will cover a capture system for product customers first.
Before you can build an effective "capture system", you need to know whom you are trying to reach. To help you with determining your "who", ask yourself these questions:
- What is it about Nussentials that first grabbed you?
- What was your first product?
- How did it make you feel?
- How do you feel about it now?
- How long have you used it?
- What results do you have that someone else might be interested in?
- What can you speak about with passion and credibility?
- What worked for you?
If you build your capture system based on what captivated you, you speak with more authority, more believability, and much more persuasion. People who are seeking these same results will perk up their ears and listen to what you have to say.
Let me give you an example from my personal experience:
My Mom is diabetic and has been for 35 years. Her blood sugar fluctuates wildly and all efforts to get it stabilized have met with failure, despite changing insulin types.
Blood sugar that gets too high or too low causes serious damage to her internal organs, decreasing her "longevity".
There have been several times she went into a coma in her sleep! We would be unable to wake her and had to call 911 to have her taken to the hospital to get it back under control.
Sitting in the waiting room waiting to hear if they were able to bring her out of the coma were some of the worst memories I have. She has to draw blood and take her sugar levels about 10 times a day. Her poor fingers are like a pincushion and remain sore from all the sticks to get her blood. She has to wear socks to bed because the circulation in her feet is so poor. Danger of losing toes is a real threat she had to deal with every single day.
About 4 months ago, she started taking MORE! daily. Her next trip into the doctor surprised both her doctor and us. Her sugar levels were stabilizing. The high's previous to taking MORE! were 600+ and she was experiencing that several times a month. The highs after starting MORE! didn't top 350 and weren't happening nearly as often. She has continued to take her sugar several times a day to monitor it, but the results so far are very encouraging.
The result she is happiest with?
The feeling in her feet has returned and circulation is back. She doesn't have to wear socks to bed anymore! Her doctor told her she had never in all her years treating diabetics, ever seen that before!
Now, do you think if I addressed that niche, spoke from that experience, that I could get people having a similar problem to listen? And if I was careful and didn't offer a cure, but rather an experience and the possibility that it could work the same way for them, do you think they would take the next step with me? Of course they would if they are diabetic or know someone that is.
Here is why... have you even been to an event or party, and run into someone with the same name? Isn't there a bond immediately? Do you talk with that person? In the example about MORE and my Mom, I am calling a name. All those with the same name will perk up and listen. So, who's name are you going to call?
Another example from my personal experience to help make the point:
I am single Mom, Grandmother of two toddlers (ages 3 and 1), entrepreneur and building my Nussentials business in my spare time. In other words, I am burning the candle at both ends. I work late into the night (3:00am), but the grandkids get up pretty early (5:00am some mornings).
In order to stay awake, I drink a lot of caffeine daily. Each morning, I would also have a RedBull. Sometimes again in the afternoon. Because of all the caffeine in my system, I would wake up repeatedly during the night, robbing me of the much-needed rest when I would allow myself to lay down. Without the proper rest, I needed caffeine to get through the day. See the vicious cycle?
I started drinking one ounce of Nussentials ALERT! in the morning and another at lunch time. I have energy all day long but come bed time, that's when it got really good for me. I fell asleep faster, slept deeper and got more healing and rejuvenating rest. Even though I am only sleeping about 6 hours a night (on a good night), I feel better, more mentally clear than I have since I was in my twenties. So, I call the name of everyone who is burning the candle at both ends, who has trouble sleeping because of all the caffeine they drink during the day to stay awake.
You aren't going to be able to address all the needs of all the people, don't try. Nine out of ten people you speak to won't be interested, get over it. Figure out what name you are, what name you want to call, and then research that market. Then, you are talking to the 1 of 10 that want to hear what you have to say.
Suggestion:
Make a list of the things that Nussentials products have done for you or someone close to you. Figure out what name that is. Google words that you would search for if you were looking for that product. Keep a list of those words and we will compare it to the actual research step later.
Nussentials Is Doing Their Part
Most people are good people. They want to help.
They watch with pain in their breasts when the commercials come on that show the suffering of the innocents who's only crime is being born to people unable to provide for their basic needs.
Despite wanting to help, many aren't in any position to send money or aid to someone else when putting food on the table and dealing with the rising costs of fuel are taking such a toll on their own family.
The company I represent has helped me break through both barriers. I now have extra money for my family thanks to Nussentials, and I am helping others in need, at the same time. Nussentials has taken an active role in reducing the number of kids that go to bed hungry each night.
Phil Mim's has made it his mission to feed millions of kids with direct revenues from the sale of his revolutionary stabilized rice bran products. As representatives responsible for generating those sales, this means that we get to help.
I sleep better knowing I am doing my part to help.
Found this video by a little man with a big voice and an even bigger heart. Listen to his message/song and you'll be as touched as I was.
Click Here To See More About The Nussentials Opportunity
If you don't want a home based business right now, but are interested in the products and the fabulous results our customers are getting, then click this link: Nussentials Products Are Changing Lives
Monday, May 12, 2008
Candles Of Our Future
Infiniti Team For Nussentials: Candles Of Our Future: More Info About Nussentials
Candle Cautions
Healthy Alternatives to Paraffin
By Bill Strubbe
Originally published in Massage & Bodywork magazine.
Last year, while rearranging the paintings in her living room, Cathy Crystal noticed black smudges on the walls around the frames. Baffled, she looked around and discovered similar "ghostings" surrounding the electrical outlets and air conditioning vents. "We don't allow smoking in our house, and we have a vent over the stove," recalls the herbalist and nutritionist in Santa Cruz, Calif., "so it didn't make sense." It wasn't until a week later, while lighting a constellation of votive candles on the mantle for an evening soiree, that the source of the soot suddenly dawned on her. The American Lung Association and the Environmental Illness Society of Canada both in recent years issued warnings that candles are among the most common unrecognized culprits of poor indoor air quality.
David Kraus, an air quality engineer and former employee of the Florida Department of Health, says that paraffin candle soot is similar to that released by diesel fuel, and since 1992 the rate of complaints received rose from two a year to two a week. BSD or "Black Soot Deposition" damages paint, curtains, wallpaper, upholstery, clothing, and the ventilation or H/VAC system, not to mention human skin and lungs. Microscopic soot particles, which penetrate deep into the lungs, are responsible for aggravating respiratory illnesses and pose significantly higher risks in children, who have faster respiration rates.
The State of California, under its Proposition 65 Safe Drinking Water and Toxic
Enforcement Act of 1986, identified a toxic stew of ingredients released by candles: acetone, 2-butanone, carbon disulfide, carbon tetrachloride, cresol, chlorobenzene, carbon monoxide, cyclopentene, ethylbenzene, phenol, styrene, tetrachloroethene, trichloroethene, benzene and tolene, the last two determined by the EPA to be possible carcinogens. Due to lack of regulations, candle manufacturers and retailers are not required to list or disclose toxic compounds in their products, nor do they have to supply a list of ingredients upon consumer requests.
"We do know that there are irritants in the burning of paraffin and petrochemicals," explains Chris Molinari, vice president of global communication at Aveda, which uses only beeswax and essential oils in their candle products. "And from a sustainability perspective, as a brand, we do not use any materials that are not from renewable sources."
The health hazards of paraffin fumes are exacerbated by health spas and massage therapists who often, in order to create a tranquil ambiance, burn candles in what are typically small, confined, airtight studio spaces. While a therapist imparts the benefits of their training and healing skills, the air that both client and therapist breath is seriously compromised with toxins emitted by even a single candle. "My massage room is quite small," explains Bill Murphy, a San Francisco massage therapist. "When I would burn votive candles -- sometimes as many as four or five -- I would begin to feel uncomfortable, overcome, suffocated. And that was before I heard
about the hazards of paraffin.
Now, even though they're more expensive, I only burn beeswax and soya candles." As Murphy has discovered, not all candles are toxic. The offending culprits are paraffin, colorants, synthetically scented oils, and lead wicks. The most common fuel used in the candle industry is paraffin, the final refining product extracted after asphalt. This "bottom of the barrel" grayish-black sludge is then decolorized with 100 percent strength bleach, creating toxic dioxins. It's further processed using more carcinogenic chemicals, tinted with synthetic colorants, and artificially scented with chemicals producing chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) -- the gases eroding the ozone layer and contributing to the greenhouse effect.
The Solutions
The unprecedented growth in the last decade of the candle market has motivated many companies -- Nussentials, Body Shop, Gap, and Banana Republic -- to introduce candles into their product line. With research indicating that fragrance intensity influences sales, manufacturers have exploited the trend of aromatherapy by simply dumping synthetic oils -- much of which does not completely combust -- into paraffin candles and claiming dubious benefits to health and well-being.
"Very few candle manufacturers use pure, essential oils, largely because of the expense," explains Kelly Hollandazzaro, spokesperson for the National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy (NAHA), a professional organization actively involved in educating the public and manufacturers about true aromatherapy.
"If a candle is scented of, say for example, coconut, watermelon, or cranberry, it is not natural because there is no essential oil for those scents. And massage therapists burning synthetic scented candles in their studio are more likely to cause allergic reactions. I use only unscented soy or beeswax candles."
NAHA recently developed quality standards for a "True Aromatherapy Product" seal -- look for a TAP sticker -- to help guide consumers. Other possible hazards are unsuspecting wicks. A study done by the University of Michigan School of Public Health found that a candle burning with a lead core wick for an hour raises lead poisoning inside a home to unsafe levels. Maryanne McDermott, executive vice president of the National Candle Association (NCA), says that even though U.S. candle makers voluntarily agreed 25 years ago to prohibit lead wicks, some
candles -- primarily imports -- sold in the country have lead in them. (To determine if a wick has a lead core, rub a piece of paper on the tip of the wick to see if it leaves a mark.) Fortunately for the romantics among us, safe alternatives do exist. Beeswax, derived from Mother Nature's flowers, is nontoxic, naturally aromatic, and the only fuel that emits beneficial negative ions when burned, thereby removing positively-charged particles of dust, pollen, mold, mildew, and toxic emissions from rugs, paint, and construction materials from the air. But beeswax supplies are limited, making them expensive, a beeswax votive costs about $2, a paraffin votive about 50 cents.
Another renewable, nonpolluting, and moderately priced source of candle fuel is soya wax. Fourteen years ago, when Michael Richards' client, The Body Shop, requested costcutting measures on their beeswax candles, the Iowa candle maker began experimenting with vegetable-based waxes. With the help of the Soy Bean Council of Iowa he eventually created a viable market for what had become a surplus item. Richards currently uses only about 2 million pounds of soy oil a year, but hopes the amount will increase as the health hazards of paraffin become better recognized.
In 2000, after Richards learned about and then confirmed paraffin's toxicity through a controlled experiment -- even high quality paraffin generated considerable soot, while beeswax and soya produced little measurable soot -- British Petroleum sued to stop him from publicly speaking out about the results. (The NCA similarly threatened the American Lung Association with legal action.) Though the court ruled in Richards' favor, the National Candle Association sent letters to him and some of his wax customers threatening legal action claiming he lacked scientific basis for disparaging paraffin. Richards no longer manufactures candles, but now operates the Candle College to train cottage industry chandlers. The NCA's response comes as little surprise because the oil industry holds a dominant position in the candle business. (Three companies account for about 80 percent of the candle business.) Not only do they sell their byproducts to the candle industry, but business people from the petroleum industry sit on the board of the NCA.
"Soya candles comprise only about 1 percent of the market. They're a little more expensive (a soya votive runs about 75 cents) than paraffin, but as we educate consumers and manufacturers and capture more of the market, the price will even out," Richards says, explaining that about 8 to 10 billion pounds of paraffin are used annually in the United States: 33 percent for candles, the rest in milk cartons, food packaging, wax paper, etc. "About 18 billion pounds of soy oil are produced every year, so we have the capacity to replace petroleum wax without having to plant more soy beans. We're part of a much bigger revolution.
Many, if not most, of the products we now make from petroleum will be replaced within 15 years by plant-based products."
Bill Strubbe is a freelance writer and massage therapist from Oakland, Calif
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Health, Peace of Mind and Body
It's going to happen one day.
A health problem is going to creep up on you.
A doctor from the old way of thinking will give you a pill.
If and only IF it works, either 'Doc' will keep you on the 'Meds' and/or increase the strength.
There is a good chance of some sort of side affects, (headaches, numbness in ???? any part of the body).
I am saying this because it happened to me, but..................
I found a natural way to get that once indestructible body back headed in the right path.
I am not a medical doctor but what I found is bringing me back to the road of Health that reduces the stress to get back a peace in my mind and makes the whole body feeling better than it has felt in years.
Yes, I mean YEARS.
You got to go with me on this and check it out.
The only thing you got to lose is the Pain.
I am not a salesman so I don't know how to 'Pull a Leg' or what ever they do to make you buy.
I just found out it feels a lot better to keep the ol' body headed to the healthy than not.
I have been searching, almost thinking there was nothing to fix me when I found 'Nussential'. (www.nussentials.com/g10)
Check out the site and flip thru the rest of this fabulous blog for some mind and body changing stuff.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Nussentials Is Changing Lives - Raven's Story
As many of you know by now, Nussentials product RESTORE! and MULTI! have made a real difference in lives of my family and I. Twice now, Nussentials has been a gift from God.
First, my Mom...
A 35+ year diabetic with chronic blood sugar issues. She lost the feeling in her feet more than 10 years ago. After just a few short months on MORE!, the feeling has returned to her feet and her blood sugar is stable for the first time in 35 years. I wrote about her story on my HubPages account, which you can see here: http://www.HubPages.com/hub/Nussentials-MORE
Then, Perthes Disease snuck up and attacked my 3 year old granddaughter. Perthes is a degenerative bone disease that attacks the hips. Inadequate blood flow literally "kills" the hip bone. In X-Ray's, her's looked like moth's had been eating on the ball part of her hip sockets. She was in terrible pain, unable to walk to the bathroom or up the stairs. Her cry's filled the house. Then Nussentials came out with RESTORE! and we started spiking her juice. In just a short time, she is laughing and playing again. I made a video to sorta "tell" that story. You can see this short clip above. (It's only 2 minutes, so take a little time, turn off the radio, stereo and TV and give a listen)
For those of you who are interested, you may "embed" this video anywhere you like. Your MySpace profile, comments to friends, in an email, on your personal web page, whereever. Be sure to provide a link below the video that tells people where to order the product. This video is touching and creates an emotional response. If the person viewing the video has, or knows someone who has Arthritis, Joint Pain or Perthes, they need to be able to order it while they are thinking about it.
Please let me know if I can do anything to help with these tasks. I am considering making a video that details how to "embed" such a video on a web page, comment, or MySpace profile... if there is any interest...
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Nussentials Introduces A Whole New Level Of Fun
RELAX! Candle Making Kit - RELAX with Nussentials Starter Candle Making Kit.
Create and enjoy your own candles. Use the kit to have "Candle Parties" and "Private Pours" in the homes of potential prospects. This door opener is great fun and introduces people to our product line without the normal "fuss". Everything you need to have a party of candle making fun is included in the kit.
Introduce the "business opportunity" in a non-threatening way. Everyone can themselves doing this "hobby business" since it is so much fun.
Our kit comes with everything you need to make candles from our natural soy wax. The kit includes 16 lbs of soy wax (which is of HIGH QUALITY), Deep Burgundy Red and Deep Forest Green vegetable based color dyes, 1 bottle of cinnamon and "Love Spell" (type) all natural/top quality fragrances, 20 plastic tea light cups, 10 wick clips, 20 each of #1 (3"), #14 (6"), and #16 (6") pretabbed wicks, 60 wick stickers, 3 each of the 7oz cube and 7oz status glass containers, a high quality liquid thermometer, a stainless pouring pot, an aluminum boiler pan, a stainless stir stick and caution labels. We also include a candle making instruction booklet to guide you through the process. The enjoyment can continue as you give them as gifts, sell them for a nice profit, or simply burn them yourself.
If you haven't been in your back office in a while, you need to stop what you are doing and run check out the new line of products specifically for Candle Making and see what it can do for your business.
