6 months with Forever (or from fear to eternity)

6 months with Forever....

A sort of review / reflection on my journey with Forever Living Products and Aloe Darling so far.

It really is a journey with this company; a journey of learning, personal developement, self discovery, perseverance, fun and celebration.

Why all the above? Well, what Forever does is give you an opportunity to start a business that could change your life......but that "could" is down to you (me) as a person. I made a small initial investment to start with; a box of products and literature for €368, allowing me to set up as a Forever Living distributor.  This is where the opportunity begins; I could have used all those products myself, or given them away as presents, or I could seriously connsider building this business, with all the support and resources available to me with Forever, which is what I did.

Now bear in mind that when I started in September, I desperately wanted to bring in just a few extra euro per week so my family would not have to miss out on the little important things like days out together, dancing classes, football, swimming lessons etc. After all the recession is not our children's fault, and I believe they deserve the best of everything. This is what has kept me going through any times of self doubt I have had in the past few months; my husband and children are my world.

So it was not too very difficult to build up a nice little customer base of 20-30 people. The products are excellent, once people start to use them they reccomend them and on it goes. I use them myself as do my family, I counted up only yesterday that we use 11 Forever products in our house daily, so I guess I am my own best customer, and how good it is to get all these lovely products at cost price!

I've been earning from between €50 and €150 per week since I started with FLP. So whilst this is by no means a fortune, it has been a huge help, and I am still only building up momentum. Let's not forget that I made back my investment after the first launch party, so now this business is costing me nothing, and everything I make is pure profit. I wonder how many other new businesses can say that in their first year?

At this point many distributors give up, say that they are not making enough money, which is just a shame. We are told from day one in this company that "this is not a get rich scheme, but an opportunity to build a successful business". I have opened my ears and my mind, and talked to people from right here in Mayo and other parts of Ireland, who have been with Forever for 3 years or more, and are making a substantial full time income, and are qualifying for company incentives such as international travel and chairmans bonus. (I've seen the flight tickets and the cheques, it's real!).

So I now have real goals and a real business plan, and it's incredible the support that is available once you get determined to succeed with something.

I have a fantastic business coach, who also works for Forever, helping me to become a Network Marketing Professional. She is kicking my butt out of it's comfort zone, and making me challenge myself daily, and I am loving it! I'd forgotten how much fun it is just talking to people about something you are passionate about. 11 years ago I worked for Thomson Holidays as a Sales Advisor in Cyprus, where I travelled around the island meeting companies like cruiselines, tour operators hoteliers etc, presenting the company to them and organising promotional events. I loved it so much and this is the closest I've got to doing anything similar since I returned to Ireland.

So what exactly am I doing? I'm networking, I'm adding to my list of connections through attending events, talking to people daily, both friends and strangers. I'm learning to use Social Media more effectively. I'm standing up and presenting to groups, my self confidence has shot up!

What am I talking to people about? Well that depends on their needs, I might show them the fantastic products produced by Forever Living, reccommend a treatment for a certain condition or complaint, or I may ask them to look at the business opportunity and tell them my experiences with Aloe Darling thus far.

I have many goals and plans for the future, I won't share all of them right now, maybe I'll spill a few more in the coming weeks! But my big goal for now is to build a strong team of 5 -10 people this Summer, train them to sell the products and the business opportunity, so that we can grow together as a team and achieve the amazing incentives and earning opportunities that Forever has to offer.

I only started to talk to people 2 weeks ago, and already have my first team member; Lisa Lawless. Lisa is a former colleague and a great friend of mine. She was looking at this business before I had even heard of it! She and her family use the products so she knows they are superior quality, but I think it was my enthusiasm about the business that halped her to make the decision to join Forever. Armed with all this knowledge Lisa has hit the ground running and is happily selling away to her own rapidly growing customer base. I'm so excited to be working with such a fun positive person, and for what the future has in store for us.

I have spoken to some more lovely people, and they are considering their options. This business is not for everyone, it takes dedication and drive. I simply show folk what it's about, then they decide for themselves, no pressure.

So that's where I'm at right now, more determined than ever to be successful in my Aloe Darling business, nobody else is knocking on my door to offer me a better opportunity.  If you are looking for an opportunity to enrich your life and your pocket, you'd be well advised to come and talk to me.

As my favourite modern poet says:

.....success is my only mother f**king option, failure's not.....

Lose yourself, Eminem.


Until next time darlings. XX