A Brand New Look

I received an e-mail stating that Blogger templates were now much more customizable, so I took a look and tweaked my blog a little bit, and I'm fairly happy with the result.  If you have a blog with blogger and haven't checked it out yet, take a look at draft.blogger.com.  Have fun!

First Customer

I have officially sold my first few products to someone outside my own family.  She bought a can for herself and one for her mother, to try for a month or two before deciding if this is something they want to do for a while.  If this is something they're going to continue doing, my friend may even become a distributor to take advantage of the discount - which is not too bad of an idea!  Mostly, though, I just hope that they start to see some real health benefits as a result.  The products are still en route, so we'll just have to wait and see.

A Hard Day

My grandfather passed away at noon today.

He had a good few days, recently.  He had been asking about my uncle, who lives in Riverside and has difficulty finding opporunities to visit, and my aunt, who lives in Colorado, so also has difficulty coming out.  They both were able to come out and visit with him, and he had a wonderful time seeing both of them.  My mom and my other uncle, who lives a lot closer, were around a lot as well, so my grandpa was able to see all four of his children.

He got up yesterday because he heard my aunt and my grandma laughing as they were looking at pictures of his great-grandchild, so he wanted to get up and see the pictures, too.  He got up and sat in the living room for the first time in weeks.  He laughed and smiled, also for the first time in a long time.  Then, he said he felt tired and wanted to lie down, so they took him back to bed.  About 3:30, he had a minor stroke, which he didn't wake up from.  He spent the next few hours lying in bed breathing as best as he could.  At noon, he just stopped.

It was a very emotional day, but it all seems a little more stable now.  If you could send any prayers or good thoughts toward my family, though, it would be greatly appreciated.

Heeding the Call

I just got off the phone after the weekly Thursday night conference call that my group does.  Tonight's subject was asking questions.  The key phrase of the night, which I love, is "Seek to understand before you seek to be understood."

There was a discussion about the best way to handle a conversation, and to guide it toward the Reliv products, but NOT before understanding exactly what the person is dealing with, how it's affecting them, and what else they've tried for it.  Even after that, it isn't about selling the products so much as offering them hope.  If they've tried X, Y, and Z and on down the vitamin aisle and nothing is working, it's not about selling them a product, it's about offering hope.  I have something that might benefit you.  I don't know if it will.  But what if it does?

During the course of the call, I found myself in a role-playing situation I did not know beforehand I'd be doing.  Luckily, I perform in improv shows semi-regularly, and I'm far from shy in performance situations, so I jumped in.

What I thought was interesting, though, is that I found myself getting sincerely invested in the other person.  The other person, of course, was fictional, and was being played by a man who is already taking the products and doesn't have the sort of pain he was complaining about.  Even so, though, I started to forget that after a while and started sincerely caring for this person.

And then I remembered something that I haven't thought about in years.

I used to be that guy that anyone could come to and talk to.  And I'd listen.  And I'd be there, and I'd offer hope and make the other person feel like the world wasn't coming to an end.  Things could get better.  As time went on, though, people stopped coming to me.  Maybe it was me, maybe it was them, but I just stopped being the person they could talk to.  And I missed it.  I missed being that light in people's lives.

Now I have a chance to be that person again.  The person who can listen and offer hope.  And if each person I help can offer the same help to more people, I'll get to know that an exponential amount of lives has been helped by just talking and listening and seeking to understand before I seek to be understood.

A Look at the Bigger Picture

Last Friday, I was invited to attend the first part of the Master Affiliate Training School, which happens every three months (I think).  Unfortunately, I'm not yet a Master Affiliate, so I wasn't eligible to attend the workshops the next day, but I did get to enjoy the presentation on Friday night.  The points that were covered were not much different than the presentations at the weekly meetings I attend, but it was so much larger than that, and the presenters were some of the top earners in the area.  Also, the stories that they had arranged for the evening were incredible.  I can't even remember half of them right now, but I remember leaving the conference room with so much excitement that I wanted to share the products and the company with so many people.  The only thing I was disappointed about was that it was 11:00 at night, so I probably shouldn't.

Kicking the Can

My major quest over the next few weeks is to break my addiction to soda.  I believe that currently I'm going through about 8 12-packs of soda per month.  Granted, other people are helping me consume them, but I'll drink at least three a day, depending on the day.  It's bad.  But I think I've found a way to combat it. In my last order, I ordered enough of all the products to make one shake a day, but starting on my next order, I've got to have an extra can or two or three of the Innergize, specifically the Orange flavor.  That and either ice-cold water or club soda (an excellent idea given to me by a friend) makes for a wonderful refreshing drink that isn't bad for me!  So my goal is to completely eliminate my need for soda by replacing it with Innergize.  I'll report my results in a few weeks.

Well it's been...

One month since I joined Reliv as an independent distributor.  That means I've been taking the products for almost a month now, and my family is just a day or two behind me.  So a quick check-in on the effects, as I've been able to tell.

My grandma is taking Reliv Classic, Innergize, and FibRestore, plus Arthaffect for her arthritis.  When asked point-blanc if she thinks the shakes are helping, she'll say that she's not sure, and she needs to wait a little longer and see.  But I do know this: she hasn't been complaining about her hands hurting her as much as she used to.  In fact, I haven't heard her complain at all since she's been using the products.  And she's not one to suffer in silence, bless her heart.

My mom is taking Reliv Now, Innergize, and FibRestore, plus Slimplicity as a weight maintenance supplement.  In this past month she's lost 10 pounds.  Granted, she's been doing other things as well - exercising and cutting out bad foods, but she's said that the shakes have made it a lot easier.  They fill her up, so she's not as tempted to get the unhealthy foods, and it's something she can stick to as a daily routine.

My grandpa is taking Reliv Now, Innergize, and FibRestore, plus Kids Now, which has a lot of good stuff for the brain.  He has Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, so that's what he needs most right now.  Unfortunately, his health has been declining a bit, which it already was, and I don't know how much anything can stop it.  He's taking 10 pills a day, and the dosages keep changing, in an attempt to find something that works optimally.  As a result, I simply have no way of telling how well the products are working for him, or what he'd be like without them.

As for myself, I'm taking Reliv Now, Innergize, and FibRestore, plus ProVantage for my muscles.  Lifting my grandpa several times in a day and helping him walk to and from the bathroom has given me a little bit of pain in my lower back.  There have been a few times when I've added a second shake, just of Innergize and ProVantage, to keep up my energy and try to keep my muscles in tact.  I still have a little bit of pain, but it's not debilitating.  But, I have to say, I am feeling a lot more nourished.  As a college student, actor, producer, marketer, graphic designer, and any other of a number of hats that I wear, I don't always find time to eat.  I've been making myself a shake every morning, when I typically wouldn't even have time to eat breakfast before running out the door.  And I can feel it.  I've never missed a day, but when I don't drink it as early as usual, I can feel that I'm lacking something.  After a month, I'm liking the results I've been having.


As a commemoration of my first month in Reliv, I talked a friend of mine into coming to the weekly meeting, so she can check out the company, the products, and the business opportunity.  If I can make a distributor out of her, she'd be fantastic.  She's a natural born seller, but only when she truly believes in the product.  And these are products to believe in, so we'll see if they're a match.  I'm very excited, though, and I'll, of course, be reporting more as time goes on.

My second order

I realized that one order for one month for myself and the rest of the family was $710, before all the discounts and shipping and taxes and such were calculated.  In order for me to move up to the next discount level, I had to order $1500, total, within one month.  So, before the month ended, I went ahead and ordered the same shipment again, with some slight amendments to boost up the extra $80 I needed.  Chose a few different flavors, double the quantity of some of the products we've been using up more rapidly, etc.

The order ended up being $815, but it was now 30% off for me.  After taxes and shipping, I only ended up paying $707.83, a total savings of over $100 (based on how much it would be, originally, without any additional fees.)  Not too shabby.  Now, no matter how much I buy, I can get everything for 30% off for myself and my family.  And that's only my second sale, and I haven't even been in the business for a full month yet!

The second shipment arrived 6 days after I put in the order, and we're still plenty stocked from the first shipment, that we're set through almost the end of March.

My first shipment

The products arrived 4 days after I ordered them, which was incredibly faster than expected.  That day, I tried a shake comprised only of Reliv Now and Innergize! Orange, mixed with 12 oz. of water, since each can said to mix with 6 oz.  It was too watery, but it didn't taste too bad.  I was personally terrified of it, because I am somewhat of a picky eater.  I don't eat meat.  Or vegetables.  Or many fruits.  Or cheese pizza.  Very bizarre eating habits for a 23-year-old college student.  And all of it comes down to the fact that there are very few textures my stomach can handle.  So, yes, I was terrified that after all of this, and quite a substantial investment, it would turn out that I would not like the products.  But they were enjoyable.

From the next day forward, I drank shakes comprised of Reliv Now, Innergize! Orange, and FibRestore (what's known as the Big 3 nutritional supplements), plus ProVantage, which is more for building muscles and aiding in workouts.  Now, I don't work out on a regular basis, but I do help my grandfather walk, and it's been taking a toll on my back, so I thought it would be a good addition for me.  I've alternated between using water and using milk, and have figured out that 4 products work well in about 8 oz. of either, and adds about 3 oz. in the making.  It is a little chalky, a little gritty, but knot any more than the crushed ice in most smoothies I've had.  Plus, the combination of Orange, Pineapple, and two kind of neutral tastes, plus milk makes for a really interesting flavor that I'm really enjoying.  Not bad for a guy who barely likes anything.

My first order

I was incredibly nervous to make my first order.  I was given several documents, and had access to download and print several more through the distributor website.  I wasn't sure if I was to fill out a customer order or a distributor order or what.  So I got on the phone with my friend and a few other people in my "upline," or people who have sponsored people who have sponsored people on down to the people who sponsored me.  They talked me through the whole process and I sat down to order the products.  I ordered for myself, my mom, my grandma, and my grandpa.  The products came out to be $710 total for the month.  But, because I signed up to be a distributor, I got 20% off right off the bat, for this and every order afterward.  Lo and behold, because I my order was over $700, I even bumped up to the next discount level immediately, so I got it all at 25% off.  I ordered online, so all the numbers were taken care of for me, including tax (8.25%) and shipping (8%), bringing the total to $648.70, a grand savings of $61.30, nothing to sneeze at.  I paid out of my financial aid, and my family would pay me back when they were able to.

Now I may not know much about which forms to fill out, quite yet, but the one thing I do know is spreadsheets.  And I've taken a few accounting classes.  So I sat down and spent a solid chunk of time creating a transaction journal, balance sheet, plus various inventory sorting tools that are useful to me to see how many products are in transit, how many I have on hand, etc.  I built it in iWork Numbers, but I'll be working on an Excel version soon, if anyone is interested in using it.  Or, if you are interested in creating a similar tool for yourself, but don't know how to get started, feel free to contact me and I'll be glad to offer as much help as I can.

Becoming a part of something

Last month, I a friend of mine invited me to attend a Wednesday night gathering at her house to discuss a possible business opportunity.  Let me rephrase.  She invited my mom and left me a message inviting me as well.  I wasn't really feeling up to doing anything that night, but my mom talked me into it because she wanted me to be there as her "voice of reason" to make sure she doesn't start doing something that would turn out to be a bad idea.  So I went along to the meeting.

At 7:30, we sat down and watched a slide show, presented by my friend's father-in-law, who happened to be visiting from Colorado, where he is a pastor.  He is also sponsoring my friend and her husband, meaning they became distributors through him.

As the night went on, I learned a lot about the company (that I regrettably didn't remember very well, though I took copious notes).  I heard many personal stories from everyone in my friend's husband's family, as well as a few people who shared their stories via speakerphone.  And the more I heard, the more I personally wanted to become a distributor, while my mom wanted to wait.  I filled out an application online and became a distributor before I left their house.