Avon/Arbonne/Mark Success and Failure Stories?

Hi. I don't sell makeup, but my parties are much more fun! I am a consultant for Passion Parties. We make 40% commission plus bonuses. Feel free to email me if you want more info- ____@____.com

D.
Passion Parties
Where Everyday is Valentine's Day

Hi E.,

I am a Sales Director with Mary Kay Cosmetics. I started this business 10 years ago when my 2 oldest children were 3 years old and 18 months old. I have stayed with it while I was pregnant with my third child and as they have grown and now are VERY active in sports and lots of other things!

Some of the benefits of Mary Kay are that there are no quotas so you can ramp your business up or down as your life and schedule dictate. You mentioned in your note that you are interested in doing business online. In Mary Kay you can do all your business online if you want to. The company designs and maintains your website for you. They also sponsor Sweepstakes (give aways) and special events through out the year to help drive your online business. They design and email out a Beauty News monthly to all your customers you want to receive it that has the latest skin care and glamour scoop! Check out my website and see what you think. www.marykay.com/S. You can also click on the link “Start a Business.” Mary Kay also provides you with great online tools to manage your business and your customers. You can organize all your customers contact information, personal preferences, purchase history, birthday, anniversary all online. Professionally designed e-cards are available for you to send at anytime. A snail mail hard copy brochure is also mailed out to your customers by the company on your behalf that is personalized to your customer from you with your personal website and contact information on a quarterly or monthly basis. (So you don’t have to hand deliver ads to your customer base.)

If you are willing to consistently give time to your business on a weekly basis whether it is 2 hours or 10 hours or whatever you can make decent money. If that weren’t true I wouldn’t still be in business 10 years later. And if you are wondering, in my life before Mary Kay I worked in a corporate job as an Electrical Engineer, so I voted myself the least likely person to succeed in Mary Kay! Consistency really is the key to being successful and retaining a loyal customer base. When I started I committed to consistently giving my business 6 hours a week around my husband’s work schedule. Within my 1st six months of just being consistent, I earned a new car and great commissions.

In any case, there really is little to no downside to giving a home based business a try. I am so glad I did. It allowed me to stay home with my babies and now it affords me the luxury of being the room mom and at all the games and events. I hope this gave you an insight into Mary Kay. I would be happy to share more. You can contact me at ____@____.com Luck in what ever endeavor you choose! It will be the best gift you could ever give your children. The gift of your time!

I have a friend who earned her free Mercedes and then asked me to pay an entry fee to get into her car presentation party. I purchased several hundred dollars worth of product and so did my mom and sister. I was insulted that I would have to pay to watch her get the keys to her new car. What is that all about????

I have lost friends over Arbonne. One friend mad because she talked to me first...one friend called crying because that friend called her mad for trying to sign me up. Ugh! I am sorry...but I am so tired of hearing the word Arbonne.

Sorry if I sound bitter....I am just very sad over the strain this has caused on my once healthy friendships.

I've been selling Avon since 2001...I had it really up and hopping at one point and I was making a bit of good money (nothing to replace my full time income though) now I just kind of do it as a hobby because I enjoy it. I don't think I had enough time to really WORK the business. You really have to WORK HARD at Avon to make good money at it. It is easy, very easy to sell, but the work comes in getting it out there into the public. Now, Arbonne....my friend talked me into trying to sell Arbonne (this was during an Avon downtime)...i signed up for the $30 and then she told me about all this money that could be made. Then she "suggested" that I buy the skin care sets for people to "try". I bought 3 sets, spent $600 and never saw a penny of money back from it. I still have one kit sitting in my closet. I like to makeup and Arbonne is a really good company, but it just wasn't for me.
Now I work a home travel agency which is MY own company and NOT direct sales. I'm already making comissions and I don't have to recruit anyone. I enjoy it too.
I might start doing Cookie Lee Jewelry as a consultant purely because I LOVE the jewelry and want to get it 50% off, but we'll see. I will try any opportunity to make some extra money. I figure that I will find my niche sooner or later and be successful. So far I have found that with my agency.

Good luck in your quest, just remember to be successful it will take HARD WORK at any home business.

J.
www.ewtravel.joystar.com

I got into Arbonne last year after trying the product. I loved the way it made my face feel. After 3 weeks I HATED the breakouts I was having. MAJOR breakouts. I quit using and got my skin cleared up using Clearasil. Tried Arbonne again, in 3 days had the same problem. Did this 3 times and then learned my lesson. Needless to say, I don't use it anymore. I did try to sell it, with no success. It's an expensive product and most of the people I know just don't have that kind of money to spend on skin care. I have a friend that has done great with Arbonne, but it also takes quite a bit of effort. Also, keep in mind, you only get your bonus if you spend $100 that month. That's a $1200 minimum investment every year, just to make whatever commission you earned. They do have a cool training program that you work at your own pace and it doesn't cost anything. It may work great for you, I know some are doing wonderful with it. Just make sure you realize that it does take being outgoing and "working" it to make any money. I've worked sales for years and was good at it, but this just didn't work for me. I have friends that are fairly scared to talk to me now because of it. Not because they were screwed, just because they don't want to hear a sales pitch from a friend. My friends are too important to me for a product to run them off.

Hi E.. I have worked a business with Arbonne International for a year now and am an Executive Area Manager (that's one step away from Regional VP where you earn your free white Mercedes Benz of your choice!) If you're interested in learning more, please feel free to visit my website at: www.mandyolsen.myarbonne.com. If you'd like to sample some of our products, please let me know. I'd love to talk to you more! Good luck finding the right business for you!
Take care, M. O.

Hi E.,

I am not a consultant for the companies you mentioned, but I am a consultant for Premier Designs Jewelry. We have a great marketing plan, the best around! There is an investment involved, as there is with any business, but you will earn your investment back easily within 4 shows. I have been with Premier for over a year and absolutely love it. You can't beat the love and support you receive from the other people in this business!!

Premier is not quota based - so you work as little or as much as you want to, and you're never "fined" for not working enough! You earn 50% profit from all your shows. Two girls that just started as my "children" in the business actually earned back their investment in one show!! You can do it too!!

Please feel free to contact me, I'd love to sit with you and show you our Marketing Plan. At least it will give you a visual of what the company has to offer. I look forward to hearing from you!! Also, think about maybe hosting a show for yourself so you can see what I do and how easy it is.

____@____.com

-Char

Hi E.,

I am an Arbonne Independent Consultant, too. I have been using the products (and loving them) and working my business for 8 months now. While it has it's ups and downs like every startup company, I have made a promise to myself to stick it out and try to work the business and give it my all for at least 2 years. I am currently a District Manager, which is the next level up from the first level, a Consultant. I tried 2 other network marketing businesses before and never got as far in the other two, and was never paid as well as I am being paid in Arbonne. There really is a lot of work in the beginning, but I now see the fruits of my labor starting to pay off. I have met many wonderful people through this experience and have been amazed at (and very appreciative for) the wonderful support from my upline.

The startup cost is $29 (ends up being around $36 with taxes and shipping) which gives you 35% off all the products immediately. I currently have all of the products and most of the makeup, so if any of my downline needs to borrow anything for a presentation, I gladly lend it to them (as did my upline for me), so they don't have to invest as much money in their business.

As for shipping, Arbonne does charge shipping, but you can choose whether or not you want to pass it on to the customer. Plus, the order can be shipped directly to your customer. As one of the other mamas stated, you do have to have $100 retail sales (only $65 with your discount) each month in order to get paid, but that can be from either the products you buy for yourself or the products your customers buy. If you'd like to talk more in-depth, I can be reached at ____@____.com There is absolutely no obligation. This may or may not be a fit for you, but I'd love to share the opportunity with you to let you decide.

Good luck in your search!

Sincerely,
Jacqueline Lipe
Arbonne Independent Consultant