Has anyone ever told you “You won’t make any money selling Mary Kay?”

Have you ever heard someone say “You won’t make any money selling Mary Kay.” Or “You have a college degree, why would you sell Mary Kay.” Or, everyone’s favorite. “I knew someone who did that and she bought a bunch of inventory and then didn’t sell anything.”

Let’s talk about each one of those wonderful comments our “well meaning” family members and friends might say.

“You won’t make any money selling Mary Kay.”

Maybe your loved one doesn’t understand that MK has one of the highest profit rates in all of direct sales. You have the opportunity to make double what you spend. What she might not know is that you’re paying close attention to the money that you’re spending. You’re not just tracking the money that is coming into your account through sales by keeping invoices in Pink Office, but you’re also tracking your wholesale purchases and other expenses in Pink Office. Not every app available gives you the opportunity to track how much you spent on cotton balls at Target or on coffee when you were interviewing a potential team member. With out this information you have no idea how much money you’re actually making or where to cut corners if you need to. For more information check out your tax info report for a complete picture of your income and expenses.

“You have a college degree, why would you sell Mary Kay?”

Hopefully that degree made you smart. And being smart, you know a good thing when you see it. I think of top directors and nationals that I’ve heard speak over they years. They talk about their degrees and how they heard this friendly concern from those they love. Unfortunately today, degrees don’t always mean jobs or careers. Degrees don’t give you the flexibility you realize you need as you raise a family or watch parents age. Also, degrees often come with debt and what better way to relieve that debt than with instant income?

“I knew someone who did that and she bought a bunch of inventory and then didn’t sell anything.”

This disenchanted person didn’t understand that being a beauty consultant was a job. She must not have known that it was going to be work. Good, profitable work, but work nonetheless. Perhaps she didn’t attend training, perhaps she didn’t know how to set goals and break them down into manageable pieces. Whatever the reason, it applied to her, not all consultants for all times. We’ve all seen our director’s closets busting with inventory they can’t keep on the shelves. We’ve seen the new consultant that fits her products into an under-the-bed storage bin in her tiny apartment. The beauty of the business is that you make it work for you, and then you work it. Don’t ever let someone else’s bad experience plant seeds of fear.

When family and friends say these things they think they’re helping. They think they’re telling you something you’ve never heard.

• Be smart: work your business like a business and use your Pink Office to track every penny going in and out of your account. Write yourself a weekly paycheck and make that a business expense. Work smart!
• Your worked hard for your degree and being an Independent Beauty Consultant is a smart person’s job. Own it.
• I know someone who bough bad milk at the grocery store, some one who got their purse stolen at the gas station on the corner and someone who met the worst sales associate at the department store at the mall. But guess what? That doesn’t mean it’s going to happen to me. Even the most well meaning people will accidentally tell you a negative story.

To finish up, write yourself and affirmation. Anytime someone tries to rain on your parade, repeat it in your head, out loud in your car, or just tell them. Keep stretching.

Originally published at https://blog.pinkoffice.com on September 28, 2017.