Thoughts of Success #1 - Doesn't It Feel Good to Pay Less?

I'm thinking about March 06 when I went to a convention with the company I was previously with. (still trying to figure out if I can legally use the name here) It WAS pretty awesome, and magical and big... Me with my badge that said "Executive Manager". Feeling all proud!

Let me tell you something!! On awards night, my gown was borrowed and my shoes were from Payless. I believe I paid 14.99, which is quite high for a pair of shoes from payless. They were black velvet wedge sandals with rhinestones along the toe strap. Pretty fancy I must say! While waiting backstage in the cattle line to say my name and state for achieving Executive Manager, I noticed 2 others wearing the same shoes!! I wasn't embarrassed nor uncomfortable. I was with the company for a year and a half at that point and was thinking about how hard I worked my ass off to be able to be on a line with a hundred or so other consultants (2 with the same exact shoes on as me) to say my name and state in front of 1500 other consultants. As an Executive Manager..and here is where my vent begins...I had, at the time of convention, 9 on my first level and 2 and my second level. All but maybe 2 or 3 were really active, as in attempting to take on my duplication efforts. My bonus checks were not what I wanted or dreamed of, which was well over the $1000 mark. I had enough in my bonus check to cover a bill that month..maybe.

So here I am on a Saturday night, about 18 months later, ready to go out, wearing my black Payless sandals. They are really comfortable!! The difference is, I am 9 days after my 1 year anniversary with For Your Pleasure. My team has hit 100 consultants this month. I had 2 parties this weekend, 2 parties last weekend. 3 parties next weekend. Like they say!! If the shoes fit...wear 'em!! There IS a company for everyone. Next year's For Your Pleasure convention, they will be awarding winners for 2007 and I will be wearing a gown, probably second hand or from TJ Maxx and shoes, probably from payless... getting my awards and cash :) . And I'll feel like a million bucks because of all the money I have saved (we need a house!!) from spending less, from not paying for hostess credits, not having a merchant account, not shipping myself, being able to be my own hostess and get hostess credits, taking advantage of hostess exclusives and specials (75% off!), winning simple incentives, being able to handle my money better by having more of it, selling more due to a broader product line, never having website issues, never dealing with advertising restrictions...

Doesn't it feel good to Pay Less?

Fun with Games at Parties

I have become totally accustomed to playing these two games at my parties:

Who is the Sex Goddess tonight? and Pleasure BINGO!

Never do I dread the games. Presentation...sometimes. You just want to get to ordering sometimes!! $ But once I get through the intro and into the products, it just flows and is fun. But GAMES?!?!? Always fun times! :)

Who is the Sex Goddess Tonight is a game where I read off a bunch of sexual (and some romantic, depending on the crowd) experiences. If anyone has done the experience before, they fill one of their 12 squares with a heart. An experience could be "If you have ever bought your lover a sex toy as a gift" or "If you have ever joined your lovers shower unannounced". The first person who has all 12 squares filled, has to yell "I AM THE SEX GODDESS TONIGHT!!" Then she would get a prize. I also give the person with the lowest amount of hearts a prize, because, well...they obviously need some spicin' up in their sex life. So once, I read off the winning experience for a certain guest at a party in Central NJ. It was "If you had ever dressed up as a sexy pair for Halloween with your lover, like pimp and ho" She jumps up and raises her hand. Due to a mental glitch, she yells "I'm the Ho!!!!" She turns beat red amongst roars of laughter from everyone else and sits back down and quietly says "I mean, I'm a sex goddess." I'll never forget it.

Pleasure Bingo is like regular Bingo, except instead of numbers/letters, the board is made up of sexy words. Massage, Penis, Bullet, Whips & Chains, etc. So when someone gets a Bingo (5 in a row up and down, across or diagonal) they won't yell "BINGO!" or "I Love Sex!" or anything of the sort. They must FAKE AN ORGASM!!! (a la When Harry Met Sally) Yeah, and the average orgasm for women lasts 8 seconds. So if they do it for 4, they get a prize. If they do it for 8, they get double the prize. Every party is different with this game. Sometimes it will take a lot of guts for the first winner to start her fake moans. It's fun to hear guests start to get close and you can tell they are nervous, saying "Oh no!" or "I'm getting close..." Just like a real orgasm!! I say, "Are we getting close to our orgasms?" After the first winner, we go for more! Multiple orgasms, I call it. One of my parties' all time record was a certain young lady at a party in Manhattan who beat Meg Ryan by a landslide. Open windows in a high-rise apartment, I'm sure the whole city heard her. And the couch got quite a beating. She goes "Oh Daddy, yeah! That's it. That's the ticket Papi. Ooooh. Yeah, Baby Ooohh. Ahhhh. *gets on hands and knees* OOOHH. Right there! RIGHT THERE!!!! OHHHHHH MYYYYYY GOOOOODDDDDD! *humping the couch* YEEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!!! SHHHHIIIITTTTTT OHHHHHH". By the time she was finished, everyone was on the floor holding their sides they were laughing so hard.

XO Pascale
www.loveloveparties.com

Don't get side tracked! STAY FOCUSED.

If you are going to do this business full-time and have a large team, I suggest practicing self-discipline. Checking downline reports and website stats 20X a day, is a waste of time. If something needs to be done immediately, do it. I am a task-oriented, people person...for FYP reps who went to convention and listened to Dr. Rohm's presentation, know exactly what I'm talking about. I'm a D. However, I go way off my To-Do list sometimes and hours go by before I get a couple things crossed off.

Getting side-tracked and not taking care of something immediately in this business can cause you a lost party, a lost recruit or a downline member's excitement. Keep an eye on the final vision!!

A true quote:

"Do not hold off for tomorrow what you can do TODAY!" Well, let me change that...

DO NOT HOLD OFF FOR LATER, WHAT YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW.

Don't fall into the vicious cycle of: I can't do it immediately because I'm not organized. I am not organized because I don't have the space. I don't have the space, because I'm not organized. I'm not organized because I got side tracked. I got side tracked because I didn't prioritize. I didn't prioritize because I procrastinated. I procrastinated because I'm not organized.

Prioritize what's important, because what's important is obvious and it shouldn't be so hard.

Myspace...So Over It

I only have a few real life friends, I can probably count them on one hand.
Otherwise, I have hundreds of 'other' friends. Mostly friends from being in this business and friends who are moms that have children born the same month as my oldest daughter. but they are 98% Internet-based. Myspace enhances those friendships, but certainly aren't the cause of them. I hear about reps talking about how they get tons of party and rep leads through myspace all the time. I never did. Maybe I didn't take the time to add enough friends. Was 800 enough? Or maybe I didn't get to wish everyone Happy Birthday when their Birthday came around, or I didn't post Happy Humpday comments.

So, when my myspace page was deleted last week, I didn't sweat it. I put some work into glamming it up and making it look pretty. Had my team members as my top 28. So, I went through 3 email circles with myspace to help get my page back up. Nothing. Luckily, I was able to register again and choose my same URL. www.myspace.com/tristatepleasure
As to why I was deleted, I guess I'll never know because for one, I never got a warning if I did something wrong. And two, Myspace won't answer me. So, I've come to the conclusion that I was either deleted because a certain company that I used to be with whose name I will refrain from using in fear that they will get this blog deleted had myspace remove me, because I had their name in my Past Companies. October 2004-October 2006. OR it was a glitch. Usually myspace glitches are fixed quickly, my page was gone for a week. I never mass spammed on myspace or anything. I did well with reporting the real spammers, I hate spam. (see other post)

I have the codes from my old myspace page. But because myspace warps the links and image urls, I basically have to re-enter those all over again. Which takes concentration and time. Something I'm not going to stress about. After all, it's just myspace, right? As long as I have a page, I'm fine. Ryze or linkedin is the real deal for professionals, so I may be better off putting time into that. I'll just have my handful of friends on myspace, including the ones from elementary school and college who found me again!! Ahhh, the vicious cycle that is myspace.

Ahhh, Sweet Freedom

My two girls are both in school right now. The oldest in Pre-K and the youngest, in a day care. (we call it school) Gabbie will be going to day care 2 days a week to start, Mondays and Thursdays. It's 9am and I have till 5pm to have a real 8-hour work day. Gosh, I feel so lucky to be able to love working, and from home at that! My to-do list is getting complete as we speak! Write Blog: CHECK!

Other To-Do's today include: organize leads (recruits and parties), make about 10 calls, get training schedule going for my first level, clean and organize office area, eat right (yeah, I'm on a diet), work on Prince's biz website www.nochepromotions.com, organize and file personal paperwork.

Off to "work"...LOL!! I LOVE IT!

Expensive Sex Toys #1

Wow Wow Wow. Take a look at the Sunset Crown. With a price tag of $25,000, there are only 10 of these in the world. Exquisitely detailed, hand-crafted and made with 18K gold, this is an extreme luxury for those who truly treasure their vaginas.

Check out the rocks on this puppy:

Diamonds: 69 total (what a number!) 3.85 ct
Rubies: 32 total 4.86 ct
Sapphires: 2 total .83 ct
Pearls: 45 total

Hygiene and Durability VS Confidentiality

Some romance home party plans require the reps to bag and ship their own party orders. Many reps say they love the "confidentiality" of this method. In other words, they don't trust their company to have the shipping info of their guests, right? Or do they believe that the customer really cares that much about a romance home party plan company having their name? To make it worse, these companies also repackage their toys for the "image" or the "classy" factor, if you will. Well, to put it bluntly, the toys were tampered with. A company will take a toy out of it's protective packaging (plastic casing, cardboard box) and workers in a warehouse transfer the items by hand (are they using gloves?) to a clear plastic bag type packaging. Why deprive the toy of it's armor? It's womb? Its manufacturer's warranty? (Yes, most toys over $30 retail have a direct manufacturer's warranty) That's the thing I love about For Your Pleasure. I do a party, place the order as a party and sit back while the company ships to the hostess and the guests who preferred it be shipped to them. The company will even put labels with my contact information on the products. Any back orders and returns are taken care of by FYP, at their expense. No extra shipping for me. Many reps with other company's will argue that I can not personalize the order. Well, the company does put my labels on the items. And if I want to give them anything additional, like educational material or a sample, I can give it to them at the party, via email or for .41 through the mail. But I love that the toy is untouched, untampered with and in it's molded hard-plastic casing. OK, so here is a basic scenario of how it works with repackaged items that are shipped to the consultant.

* The item arrives at the warehouse from the manufacturer or wholesale distributor from where the company orders their product line.

* Workers in the warehouse remove the toy from the package and usually remove any fillers, including manufacturer's warranties and lube or toy cleanser samples. Again, are they using gloves? They then put the item in their own packaging, usually a bag with company logo. The toy is then stocked in the warehouse.

* When the rep places an order, she may be ordering for a party or to refill her inventory. So she places her order and usually pays a percentage for shipping, rather than a flat, because the orders are usually too large to charge a flat rate. (They set their own shipping fees for customers, which should hopefully cover the cost to ship from the company to them, from them to the customer and then any back orders or defectives)

* When she receives the items, she is trained to check that the toy is working properly. So, she now removes the toy from the company's bag WITHOUT GLOVES (ewww), puts batteries in, checks it, then puts the toy back and reseals the bag.

* Now, the toy will usually either be shipped (once again) to the customer or she will add it to her inventory, where it will be carried through a bunch of parties if she doesn't sell it right away.

* The customer finally gets the toy after a bunch of shipments manufacturer to company to consultant to customer.

That's a lot of lugging around for a brand new item. Is it worth decreasing the hygiene and durability of the toy to maintain the so-called "confidentiality" of the customer or to upkeep a conservative image? No, I trust my company to USE (not "have") my customer's information to ship packages. And by the way, at For Your Pleasure, if the guest is having their order shipped to the hostess, all the company needs is a name so the hostess knows who to give the brown bags to. If I was a customer, I'd rather my consultant's company have my name and address so they can ship the never-opened product to me straight from the warehouse via reliable UPS. (Ever see how a postal worker handles a package? HA!) I'd rather have all my customers listed in my back office where I can search by name, number, zip code.

As for the "tastefulness" of the repackaging, well...some manufacturers do have couples on their package or a woman in lingerie. Or *gasp* breasts!! Pretty appropriate picture for the concept of the toys, no? The box the toy came in IS disposable! *surprise!!!*

I'm sorry to be so sarcastic, I just am so passionate about working in a Work Smarter, Not Harder environment. Having every customer I ever had databased and exportable in my back office is smarter. Keeping the toys in their protective original packaging with manufacturer's warranty is smarter. Entering a party order, seeing the package shipped the next day and alerting the hostess of the UPS Tracking status is SMARTER! Keeping products, aside from my kit, out of my house for my kid's sake is SMARTER! Speaking of kids, I'd rather spend time reading or playing with my kids rather than packing and shipping sex toys, wouldn't you?

Living Amongst Scam and Spam in a Sea of Phishers and Domain Name Snatchers.

Brace yourself, it's a long one. I know this isn't exactly sex toy party related, but I have to vent. Don't you just love the Internet sometimes? I've been on here since I was 15. That's 1994. Brainwashed by AOL, I thought that was all there was from then till about 1998 when I learned about "hotmail". Imagine if you had known the value of domain names back in the mid 90's?? Anyhoo...that's a whole nuther post...

I found a new phone on eBay, a Palm Treo!! (fingers crossed I actually receive it!!). Someone with 0 feedback bids and bids and beats me. I get a Second Chance Offer. Alright cool, I never got one before...except the fact that it came to my email in the form of what looks like spoof material, bad grammar and all. No eBay letterhead or anything. I reply "aren't you supposed to send me this through eBay?" I get a reply saying "I can't send 2nd Chance offers". Just like that. Soon after, I get a Second Chance Offer through eBay. OK...it looks legit. It's in my messages. It IS legit. So I "Buy it Now". A day later I get what looks like an eBay email asking if I want a Second Chance Offer on the item. This time from a whole different eBay member. 100% feedback too. Imagine that?!?! But, never sold a single thing...hmmm. So I bought the phone on the Second Chance Offer from the original seller who has good feedback and seems like a real person. *still nervous!!!* These scams just keep getting smarter and smarter. NEVER pay for an item outside of eBay. And be sure to read your Second Chance Offer messages closely to make sure they have the right Subject!

Here is a better explanation of the eBay Second Chance Offer scam:
http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2004/10/15/fraudsters_go_phishing_on_ebay.html

Phishing: Emails that encourage you to log into a fake website designed to look exactly like ebay, paypal, myspace, etc. Even your own online banking page!

The worst email I received of this nature was when I got an obviously fake "Your account is in danger of closing!" email from my own bank. It asked me to log in and update my account information by following the link. Would you imagine that there were thousands of email addresses in to "To:" form?? I had to scroll down for a good 10 solid seconds before getting to the actual message. Usually you don't see the thousands of other email addresses these criminals send their fraudulent emails to. These were emails that belonged to other account holders at my bank! I even joked with Prince that I should send them all "Host a Free Sex Toy Party!" emails since they are actually legit email addresses. Or "Hey! Money-conscious people! Come Join My Team!" Please, I'm not THAT ballsy! And that's where we come to the lovely subject of spam...

We all know how that goes!! How in the world do they get our email addresses? That bank email is a perfect example. But I know it's more intricate than stumbling across a few thousand legit email addresses in your inbox. I am however VERY thankful for Bulk/Junk Mail Folders! My inbox is clean for the most part. I just want to know what kind of operations go on where people sit at a computer and spam for a living. It's mind boggling. And even MORE mind boggling at how people create the vicious programs (bots) designed to carry out the spam. A program that actually registers accounts for message boards then plasters the boards with useless spam. Lord have mercy.

And those stupid website/search pages on deleted GOOD domain names? What are their names? You know, like my old URL www.passionade.com?? (Thank you Yahoo for taking my domain and selling it the SECOND I chose the wrong service to cancel...) Greeeeeeeed are the scammers, the spammers, the phishers and the bullshit (can we curse on here?) search websites that become expired websites!

Anyone actually get scammed? stupidly spammed? Want to vent too? Share!

Consultants who Suck (Pun definitely not intended)

It's unbelievable how many requests I get from potential hostesses for a "fun" and "alive" consultant. It's amazing how many talk about the boring consultant who did their last party. No games, no jokes, just BLAH. Many times they say she was an older woman. Now, to me that might mean in the senior citizen category. I know, I know...sex never gets old. But a boring, non-interactive, "educational" presentation is a BIG no-no in this biz. Make it fun and FUNNY no matter who you are. These things CAN be learned!

I recently had a hostess out of California tell me that there was one consultant who didn't even have her toys out of the package! Guests had to feel or just look at the toy through it's packaging. Come on now! Common sense. It's a SEX TOY PARTY! These women want to touch the toys, play with the buttons, feel the material, pose for pictures with them! Makes NO sense to me! And as for speaking...if you're going to do a toy presentation, you have to spare a few jokes here and there. A little raunchiness never hurt nobody! ;)

Thoughts?

Soooooooo Sick

So my 2 year-old gets a bug bite and it puffed up her eye. Not knowing what it was, I brought her to the pediatrician. It was a bug bite that only required some Benedryl. Since I was freaking out that it could be Pink Eye, we sat in the sick kids area of the waiting room and now I have a VERY annoying cold. It's Friday night, I have 2 parties this weekend. At tonights, I have a trainee with me. Wish me luck! :)

Not Your Momma's Plastic, Baby! I'm Talking High-Grade Quality Soft Silicone From Germany Here, Ladies...

Watch me rave and rant about the sex toy party life! I do these parties for fun, I do them for money and I do them for more than the parties. See, being in the sex toy party business, parties are the life blood of what we do...but there is so much more to it than parties.

As a sex toy rep, we are taught by our upline and company to prioritize 3 key elements at a party:

1. Book Parties
2. Recruit Women into the Business
3. Sales

And we want to maximize these elements in this exact order. If you never book parties at your parties, how will you fill your calendar?? If you don't recruit, how will you "live the dream" of unlimited income? If you don't sell anything, well then why are you there, for the food? C'mon now!

So, this blog is from the viewpoint of a work at home mom who is intensely into her sex toy business. I mean, obsessed with watching numbers grow and visualizing $1000 parties. I'll tell you about my parties, this business and more. I do lots of random talk too, so be prepared for that.

Yeah, this is going to be a blast. This is NOT going to be a "Book a Pleasure Party!!" or "Join My Team!!" (plus stuff a million keywords for search engine purposes) type blog. No way. I'm just going to tell it like it is and have fun with it. I do hope you check in often for new posts and give me some feedback and comments. Now on to learn Blogger...