Yard Sale = Success!!

I guess this is going to be a bit of a brag post. So if you can't handle it just stop reading now. ;-) But seriously, I am possible becoming irreparably hooked on yardsaling and the such. It's no secret in our circle that soon to be DrOgg and I are always low on cash. It is definitely part of the med school experience and having a child only adds to the financial burden. Of course I worked hard at my full time furniture sales job to support our little family until our sweet girl came along. Since then I have done everything from sell Mary Kay, discover every government program possible that we could benefit from, picked up some odd jobs when available, and of course our family and friends have pitched in. They've done a lot of little things like buying us lunch or giving us hand me downs for our Ogglet. And some bigger ones like my folks buying us tires one year when we really, really needed them, or Dr Ogg's family lending us money until our student loans came. My Sis and Bro gave us their old washer and dryer! I can't tell you how helpful this was because it came soon after we had our little Ogglet and had none at our apartment. But, after moving back to PA I found out that we were going to no longer receive one government program we had in Ohio. This was going to be a huge problem. So I'm back to the drawing board on ways to make $$ that won't take me away from my Ogglet on a regular basis. Fast forward to the MOPS yard sale at our local church. I went through all of our belongings trying to find things we no longer needed but, might possibly be of value. I felt I needed more and asked my girlfriends to contribute items if they could. Only one came through but, she did it in a big way: Thanks Kristen!! She gave me some really nice stuff. On the day of the indoor yard sale I was running a bit late. But, I managed to get all of my boxes to my reserved tables before they opened the doors. I had the tables full of items to display when people started coming in but, was still putting items out for at least an hour so it would have been much better if I had taken advantage of the early set up time they had the day before (but, it was our 5 year anniversary AND the royal wedding ). The first few hours of the yard sale were very exciting with lots of people between 9 and 11 am...lots of sales, too. It really slowed down big time and I still sold items up until the last half hour but, it seemed that it should have opened earlier and closed well before the 2pm scheduled end time. DrOgg came with our SUV and loaded the unsold items super quick. I was so thankful for him since at this point I was pretty tired. I didn't count the money until we got home and hoped I had covered the $20 cost of my table space. All I know was that I had had so much fun greeting lots of people and haggling...being handed cash is always gratifying as well :-P It wasn't until we were sitting down for our late lunch that I realized we had made a profit of $117 !!! So I realize people in this world make much more than this for 10 hours of work but, for a SAHM this seemed pretty good since I was only gone for one day and DrOgg and Ogglet had a wonderful daddy/daughter day together.
On top of this small victory I already sold a bookcase on craig's list for $400 that I had originally purchased for $40! I feel so good that I have already earned the money we would have been short this month due to our move. And I'm even more excited for my streets annual neighborhood yard sale coming up on May 14th. Here's hoping and praying I can scheme my way into another $450 to hold off financial disaster in June. Wish me luck!

My Yard sale Tips I found online and thought worthy of sharing:
1. Place a box of FREE items out to create a positive energy...it also helps to attract attention to your space if you are in a group sale.
2. Use blue painters tape and a sharpie for labels instead of stickers. This way you will never damage any items. This is an especially awesome tip if you have lots books and paper items. But, I found it sticks to everything including fabric quite well, but also comes off easily...win/win.
3. Start EARLY. In my case the people couldn't come by until 9 but, it a real yard/garage sale situation on expert told me the first people show as early as 7:15-7:30 so it's best to get setting up no later that 7 even if you advertise your yard sale for 8...they will want to be the first to see your items. (After my May 14th sale I will let you know if this is true). I still wonder though, if I had set up ahead if I would have sold more because I was setting items out well into the second hour....I guess I will never know.
4. Price it to sell! Don't try to price things like they are in a retail environment or you will be stuck putting everything away at the end of the day like the table next to me. I thought my prices were good but, in retrospect some could have been lower. I did sell some higher ticket items like my old flute for $15 and some discontinued Mary Kay but, most of what I sold was priced $2 or less and the 25 cent stuff just flew. I'm going to try to have tons of 25 cent items at my next sale because it just totally breaks down any resistance people have to buying with a price that low and it all adds up!
5. Now, this might be my BEST tip and it's an original...learned by my own personal trial and error. If you are really hard up for cash like I am than do NOT donate your leftover items after your sale. I literally need every penny I can get so, do like I did and bring your items to a local flea market and sell them to a vendor there (if you don't feel like having another yard sale). I even discovered that sometimes they will trade things with you. recently I traded an extra microwave, old cell phone and a pur filter for a faucet partially used no less (ick) for a beautiful lamp, an outdoor rug for our patio and a very large mirror that is now reflecting light beautifully in our living room. These trades might be my proudest moment yet, and I'm crazy in love with the lamp. So if you're really poor it's okay not to donate...unless you need the 20% off coupon that they give you. :-) Happy hunting!

The Routine of Life Sets In (I hope!)

Why is getting out of bed so hard? Mary Kay makes it sound so great when she talks about the 5 o'clock club! And yet, it is hard. She says, "Get out of bed anyway!" My hasband says, "Just do it!" Honestly? At this point I would be happy just to join the 6 or 7 o'clock club. Annabel doesn't wake up until 8 or 8:30 and I am often tempted to stay in bed until the last possible moment. And I really hope someone reading this can relate....that I'm not the only person who has struggled with this. Even stranger to me is that I think my ability to wake early has actually declined. While staying home with Annabel has been an irreplaceable experience and I love every minute....it has made me soft in some ways. I no longer have to wake up for anything. So it comes back to self-discipline. And I just know that I do so much better at following through when I have someone to be accountable too. It's easy to change my mind when I am the only one who knows my resolution but, I hate to let others down. So the plan is to wake up two hours earlier at 6 am. This means I need to be in bed by 10. Upon waking I will accomplish the three basic things I need to do every day but, are hard to do when Annabel is up. FIrst I will clean around the house for a half hour. Then I will excercise for a half hour or so. Last, I will shower and dress for the day. This leaves me the rest of the day to work on other tasks and goals in between taking care of Annabel. What I've noticed is that if I put these things off I just spend the rest of the day trying to accomplish these three basic things often leaveing little to no time for other things like MK!!! So starting this week I am going to work on my sleep/wake routine.

The Secret

There's good news and there's not so good news. The good news is that at our weekly training the Sales Director taught us that there are two main things we need to become a sales director! So, I was thinking, Finally, the secret.... and she says it is commitment and time management. So simple; I love it! So that's the good news. Simple is good, right? We can do that. And commitment....I'm there. The not so good news is that time management is probably one of my greatest "opportunities for improvement." Now, she did share a few suggestions for time management. But, this is not enough for the barely reformed from constantly being late, often procrastinating, lose track of time all the time, and ADHD diagnosed me. Since I am so committed to this goal however, I got to work on it right away. Funny thing I discovered is that Mary Kay has a ton of tools to help us with time management! I suppose I had a vague idea of this when I was goofing off the last five years and not taking my business very seriously. So now things are going much better. I use a Weekly Plan Sheet that allows me to plan my entire week out and share it with Mr Ogg so he knows what's happening as well. Even better they have these Daily Action Sheets that include a Six Most Important Things To Do list for personal and MK for that day. Plus it has an hourly break down of your day's schedule....call tracking...list of errands....It has EVERYTHING (except your grocery list) right there at a glance. What I'm discovering is that if I do this daily--writing it out the night before and looking at it with my coffee in the morning--I can actually feel sane. Imagine that! So if you are not real time or task oriented...or even if you are and you just want to get more done....I highly recommend this. So along with my commitment, some of these newfound tools and some extra self-discipline I do hope for the seemingly impossible: that an effecient, more productive and punctual me might yet emerge!

Big Bling, 4" Stilletos and Even Bigger Dreams

Posing with my unit awards: Queen of Sharing (recruiting) and Miss Go-Give (my fave)

On my Left: Elizabeth Fitzpatrick our National Sales Director,

On my Right: Trish Goodin-Yard, my Senior Sales Director

Imagining myself in the Director Suit.

Waking up on my last day of what I know will be my first of many Mary Kay seminar experiences I am excited at the possibilities that lie ahead. I am also excited to finally hold my sweet little 10 month old, Annabel, and see my husband after 4 days away. But, I am also saddened. Sad to think of leaving this seemingly magical place. A place where I have a bond of sisterhood with almost 8,000 women. Women who I've never met before yet, I know their heart. Mary Kay women are a group of loving, hopeful, and positive women who are not afraid to take some risks to get what they need and want out of life. They're not afraid to just "throw their heart over the bar" and pursue their dreams. And I am excited that all of our little girl dreams can come true! That ordinary women can rise to the occasion in 2 million ways...all across the world. This experience gave me the big picture of how we are making a positive and often dramatic difference in the lives of Mary Kay consultants, their families' lives and of course in the lives of our wonderful customers. Oh, it's hard to leave this magical place that amazingly brings to life the dreams hidden in the heart of every woman. Those beautiful dreams that most of us have hidden so deep inside that we almost can't see or hear them anymore. And then, you join Mary Kay to make a few extra hundred a week or month. You begin to work: booking, selling, and maybe even recruiting....you decide to go to seminar... And suddenly you realize someone has heard your silent wishes and secret dreams. You are being treated like the star you always wished but, never thought you could be. You are being shown a vision bigger than you ever thought possible and you are inspired by the hope and courage and achievement of your sister consultants and directors. I know that God has given Mary Kay a beautiful purpose in this world. It's like they have special binoculars into our hearts...and do you know what's in there? There are days filled with the best girlfriends you could want, fun, education and support for becoming everything you've dreamed of, confetti, princess gowns, cirque du solei and Broadway-like performances every night, beautiful dresses, suits high heels and jewelry....I could go on. And in MK there is recognition for every effort whether small or monumental. Cool, huh? Basically, it's seminar. So, you can probably tell that I am excited and it's hard to really know what seminar is like until you go. My sales director has told me about it every year for the past five years and I didn't get it. If you've ever been to the Grand Canyon you will know what I am talking about. You can take pictures and try to describe it but, people just won't understand until they see it for themselves. So I hope you'll come next year and find your inspiration. My friend Kristen Joy said it the best, " I've learned three things at my first seminar: 1. My bling is not blingy enough, 2. My heels are not high enough, and 3. MY DREAMS ARE NOT BIG ENOUGH." So, now the real work begins, back at home. Booking, selling and recruiting to make my BIG dreams to come true. And that is what this blog is about. So follow along if you want to know what it takes to become a sales director because I intend to find out this year!