Blog News

And the winner of my fall new subscribers raffle is…

(That’s subscribers to my newsletter, not the blog posts.)

Drum roll…

Briana B. from Wisconsin, US

Briana, congrats!  I’ll email you shortly with the details of your $50 gift certificate.

To all – I’m signing off for an extended holiday break.  Will be back online a bit at the end of next week, and more fully in January.

From my family to yours…

“We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!”

A quick PS – my favorite version of one of my favorite Christmas songs (not We Wish You A Merry Christmas)…

I completely understand that, for many people, looking for the cheapest possible option in any category of spending often comes from an excellent desire to save money and spend wisely. And of course, for most of us, it can also come out of necessity due to the limits of our own budgets.

Unfortunately, what many people don’t realize, or stop to think about, is that the continual quest for the lowest cost is often undermining so many other important values. Values such as:

– Quality.
– Built to last.
– Fair pay for workers.
– Excellent customer service and personalized attention.
– Less waste ending up in landfills.
– Avoiding the potential health risks associated with certain products or ingredients.
– Owning fewer things of better quality, instead of mountains of junk we don’t really need.
– Farming or manufacturing practices that protect and preserve the planet given to sustain us all.
– Honoring the beauty, wisdom, and provision in nature rather than thinking “cheaper, bigger, faster.”
– Genuinely caring to make a difference in the world vs only seeking max profits at whatever cost.
– Endeavoring to help people of all means, not just sell to those with the deep pockets.
– And more…

Of course, the best example I can give you is the one with which I’m the most familiar, since I now work in this space – personal care and nutritional supplements.

And this is where I really hope you can “hear” my heart through my writing…

To be honest with you, in so many ways, I could honestly care less about personal care products – I’m a pretty low maintenance person myself (no offense to my higher maintenance friends at all – I love you!). But they are a part of our daily hygiene routines that we all need to varying levels, and it is my passion for the “bigger picture” values that leads me to care down to these tiniest spending details of my life and vote with my dollars for more sustainable systems.

So this month I share the following with you not as a sales pitch for Miessence, but rather as a tangible example. As I often tell people, I’m married to principles not a brand. But it just so happens, that in all my research to date, I have yet to find a company or brand that offers a better overall value than Miessence – both in terms of the value to their customers and in terms of the overall value in the difference they seek to make in the world. This is why I have chosen to use their products in my home, and also to align with them and do Rep work on their behalf.

Here is a list of the value and values offered by Miessence…

1- Certified organic to the highest possible standards (international food grade standards ). This supports both human health (no toxic ingredients) and the environment (via organic farming).

2- Highest quality ingredients of their kind – Narelle is a stickler for the purest and most potent (check out just “Ingredients #4 and #5” here to hear her talk about the ingredients – and especially the rose essential oil, as one example).

3- Price per ounce a better value than other products of similar ingredient standards.

4- Products made fresh every month – unheard of in the industry

5- Free, personalized consultations whenever needed from knowledgeable working Reps.

6- Customer discount programs – I have yet to find another company offering products of similar standards (food-grade organic) that also offers 20% off customer memberships (free with an initial qualifying purchase and no monthly ordering commitment).

7- Referral benefits for customers (you don’t have to do Rep work for this) – find out how to learn more about these here. I also have yet to find this perk among other brands of similar purity. These benefits can potentially pay for your products and eliminate a budget line – and are a great option for those who want to choose organics as often as possible but wonder how to do so on a tight budget.

8- Fully recyclable packaging (with R&D working on compostable packaging).

9- Carbon negative manufacturing – their facilities are run on wind power, and…

10- Carbon negative global shipping – mixed native species of trees are planted to *more than* offset your products’ journey to your doorstep. (Yes, it can actually make more environmental sense for me, in the northeastern US, to order manufacturer-direct from Australia than it would for me to get into my car and drive to a store to purchase products that had been shipped all over the country with no regard for the transportation burdens of doing business).

11- No waste shipment packing – have you seen how small the boxes are, even for big orders? They pack the boxes efficiently, use a minimal amount of compostable packing peanuts, and encourage customers to reuse the biodegradable plastic bags used to prevent possible accidental leakage from liquid items.

12- Fair trade ensures that everyone along the supply chain is paid fairly.

13- A “Glocal” Focus – a beautiful blending of global and local, supporting local economies all over the world via an ethical, mission-orientated global enterprise… sourcing ingredients from local farmers around the world, and using a distribution model that supports customers with discounts, referring customers with a bit of thank you money, and also provides…

14- Opportunities – while it takes hard work and dedication (no hype here), Miessence offers anyone who wants it, the opportunity to create a home based consulting business in the growing organics marketplace, with professional training and ongoing support.

All in all, when I looked at the “total package” as a customer myself, I was blown away by the value provided by these values – economically through the value, price per ounce, for the quality, and their commitment to provide a way for people on tight budgets to earn free products through referral benefits; environmentally through their business practices and all that implies for the preservation and restoration of the earth; and socially through their connecting us back to a slower, simpler, more natural, more conscious, more ‘organic’ way of living.

Whenever and wherever you spend your “treasure” – your hard earned income – I encourage you to consider these sorts of values. No matter what the category of spending is, from the big stuff to the small stuff, challenge yourself to look beyond just a cheap price tag and look for values that help reclaim a better world – the sustainable world we were meant to enjoy but many have forgotten. The more people who wake up, remember, and reconnect, the better our own lives will be, as well as the lives of future generations. At the same time, please be gracious toward yourself and others on the journey. These big mindset shifts can take time, and we can only make the best choices among those before us at any given moment with what limited info we have. Please don’t allow guilt, or stress, or worry to creep into this journey for you – enjoy the ride.

A few weeks ago, Shane, from Environmental Booty emailed me about a plastic bag themed blogging carnival.  To be perfectly honest with you, since I’m not really a *blogger* so much, and more a home-based, small business consultant with a sporadic, mixed-use blog, I’m not even sure exactly what a blog carnival is…  But it sounded fun, so I saved the email… intending to get to it by the deadline…  Um, which is TODAY!

Between being extraordinarily tired (just passed the 13 weeks mark this past Friday with baby #5 – hoping to get some more energy in the second trimester!) and keeping up with my kids and business, I’ve haven’t been online much, but I wanted to at least help get the word out on this new interactive map tool Shane mentioned.  It’s a map where you can see which communities have banned plastic bags, which have levied a usage fee on them, and which have rejected a plastic bag ban.

Now, no doubt, there are mixed feeling on this out there.  Some will undoubtedly cry ‘personal rights’ and such.  If I want to use a plastic bag, I should not be denied that right to do so.  I can understand – sort of.  What I don’t understand is why, if plastic bags are clearly detrimental to the world in many ways, why would someone cling so strongly to using them just in the name of ‘personal rights.’  Why not lay down your rights for the good of all and just adapt to a more beneficial method of carrying your stuff – as millions of people are already doing regardless of laws or lack thereof?

I won’t lie and say I never use a plastic bag myself.  We have 5 or 6 reusable bags from various places, and use them probably 99% of the time.  But I confess I sometimes forget.  I know, I know.  I need to keep them in the car.  Trouble is, I’m not usually the one who goes shopping.  For the things we do still get in the grocery store, my saintly husband usually goes – and often takes kids with him!  He’s just better at the math and resisting impulse purchases.  And he always remembers the bags.

On the rare occasion that *I* end up in the grocery store, it’s usually a last minute stop and therefore I don’t have the bags with me.  But, it’s usually just for a few things, so I can just carry them out.  And if I do need a bag, I either ask for paper, make sure to repurpose either the paper or the plastic bag elsewhere it in my home somehow, or put the plastic bag in the little pile of bags in my closet to be recycled at the grocery store.

At any rate…  I certainly would not miss plastic bags if they disappeared from my grocery store – or fuss about rights.

In general, I think banning plastic bags is a very good idea.  But, I’m also in favor grass-roots education and personal empowerment for change, one person at a time.  Yes, there is a place for legislative work, but it’s often so negatively charged and polarizing – unfortunately.  Sigh.  But we don’t have to wait for the laws to change to create change in a positive and empowering way.  Which is why this map site is so cool – a great resource for educating people on the plastic issue.

I like that this interactive map includes the stories behind the movement in each region.  Check it out.

Oh, and, if you have not seen this yet, here is a “funny” (though serious) “mockumentary” on the plastic bag…

 

Happy Thanksgiving to those who are celebrating!

Just wanted to take a quick moment to thank you all for your readership – either on my blog or my monthly newsletter, or both.  And those of you who are clients and customers – thank you especially for your business.  I really cannot fully express how much you mean to me.  You all enable me to pursue my passion for change through encouraging and empowering people to be better stewards of the world, while at the same time allowing me to work flexibly from home around my young family.  I don’t know if you know this, but my big goal for my business is to grow it to a place where God can support our family fully through business so that my husband can pursue his ministry passions full time.  And as of June, barring the unforeseen, it looks like we’ll be a family of 7!

That’s right, baby #5 is due in June .  🙂

SO, that makes me even more thankful for this growing community – and a little extra emotional.  🙂

From the bottom of my heart, thank YOU – each and every one of you – for being part of this journey with me.

And again, Happy Thanksgiving!

Wondering what to do with leftover pumpkin puree this holiday season?

Check out this simple DIY recipe.  A great source of vitamin A, C and zinc, this pumpkin facial is fun and easy.

Homemade Pumpkin Facial

2 tsp of fresh pumpkin puree (avoid canned unless you know the can was BPA-free)

1/2 tsp olive oil

1/4 tsp of milk for dry skin or apple cider vinegar for oily skin

Mix together, spread over face, and leave on for 10 minutes, then remove with a warm wash cloth.

 

 

“What if you could save money on your cell phone bill every month – or possibly even eliminate it all together?”

Sounded like a good deal to me.

BUT, you know me – I like to dig to find the catch.  😉

So, when I first heard about this new cell phone service provider called Solavei, I had a TON of questions.  There is some “hype” out there about the company, but it runs on T-Mobile and ATT signal towers, so I decided the price they were offering was worth the effort of digging to discern the reality from the hype.

Did I mention I had a TON of questions?  🙂  Literally, the woman I spoke with spent 3 hours with me answering all my questions.  I needed to make sure the business model was legit, that there were no hidden fees in the service beyond normal taxes and such, that my phone would work on their service, that it would make sense for me to switch even though I was still in contract with my provider of 15+ years (who I’ve been happy with… but, the Solavei price was really worth looking at more closely), etc.

For those who may not want to read over my detailed story of research, here is the quick summary, ‘bottom-line result’ of all my digging… 

I found that it was a legit company with a great deal to offer our family.  I became a customer because it will save us a decent amount of money every month *even if I never refer another soul to the company.*  And the actual service and coverage has been good, so I’ve decided that it’s worth telling people about. I know a lot of people pay way more than $49/month for their smart phone service – so I know this could help folks save money.  And the possibility of eliminating phone bills for my family and others, by referring people to the company, is also a great option for everyone in a tough economy.  Who wouldn’t like to eliminate a major bill from their budget?

If $49/month for unlimited voice, text, and data sounds like a good deal to you, too, and you want to check it out, here is the referral website the company gave me (free with my service) to share with friends.

** If you have questions as to whether this would actually be a good fit for your situation or not, contact me and I’ll be happy to help you figure that out.  Though every company in the world would like to think they are the perfect fit for everyone, that’s never the case.  There are certain situations in which it would NOT make sense to switch to Solavei.  And, as in all my paid consulting work (free to you, the company I consult for pays me instead), I’m 100% committed to no hype, no pressure, ‘tell-it-like-it-is’ guidance for my clients, friends, and family and will always be the first to say ‘this wouldn’t make sense for you’ if it really wouldn’t make sense for you.

Check out the website and let me know what questions come up – you can either leave a comment below for a public question, or contact me with your private questions.  If you think it’s a good deal too, and do decide to make the switch through my referral site, I’ll effectively get credit toward my bill for referring you – so thanks for considering it!  🙂

Now, for those who want to read the more detailed account of my research and experience with this company, here it is…

As I said, no one company will ever be a good match for everyone – and it’s no different here.  So, I wanted to know if, when, how, and why switching to this company would make sense – AND when it would not.

First though, let’s start with the business model.  Solavei uses a form of network marketing they like to call a ‘social commerce network.’

OK – let’s stop right there and address something…  Network marketing has it’s good, bad, and ugly sides.  This is no different than any other profession or industry.  In all fields, there are people who do their work well and with integrity, and people who do their work unethically and sometimes even illegally.

First order of business – I wanted to make sure that Solavei was a legally structured network marketing company.

For those who think “network marketing” = “illegal pyramid scheme,” I’d direct you to the IRS website for an obvious indication of the business model’s legitimacy.  Note, in the descriptions there, for those who many not know, ‘network marketing’ and ‘multi-level marketing’ and ‘direct sales’ are all basically the same thing.  The terms just reference a different aspect of the same industry.  Direct sales = person to person selling.  Network marketing = getting the word out on a product or service through networks of happy customers, rather than through big-dollar (wasteful, IMO) ad campaigns.  MLM = the ability to get paid on the sales of x number of levels in the organization one works to build.

The potential problem with network marketing is two-fold.  1) There are companies out there that look like legit network marketing companies but that actually have illegal ‘pyramid’ components to their structure.  And 2) Some of the legally structured companies still promote unethical practices.

So you have to be able to tell the difference.

In a little more detail…

1) If commissions are paid on anything other than the sale of the product or service to an end-user, RUN!  I once saw a company that was paying commissions on mandatory monthly website fees for their sales reps – this is not OK.  Such ‘business expenses’ or ‘sign-up fees’ should not be commissionable.  These are considered ‘pay to play’ or ‘pyramid’ structures and are not to be messed with.  It’s only a matter of time before the FTC finds out and comes after them.  You do not want your name attached with that.

The verdict on Solavei?  I was happy to find that they only pay commissions and bonuses on the actual sale of cell phone service.  There aren’t even any sign up fees or monthly website fees to worry about at all.  If you sign up for their phone service, you automatically have the option to refer friends for a referral bonus – you do not have to pay an extra fee to be eligible to receive commissions.

Legal commission structure – check!

2) Many network marketing companies will try to ‘lure customers in’ with the ‘potential to earn big-money’ hype.  This runs into an ethics issue, and actually the FTC is cracking down on that, too.  In network marketing, there is indeed great potential for significant income, BUT it takes a LOT of time (either many hours per day for a year or two, or a little bit per day for 4-7 years), effort, focus, and skill to build that kind of business.  Most people, while they might like the idea of the big income and time flexibility of having one’s own business, don’t actually want to do the work it takes to achieve this.  Therefore, it is critical that the product or service appeal to the majority of people who are really only going to want to be customers, or to those who maybe just want to refer a few friends for free product or service, or for a bit of side cash.

In this arena, I did see a bit of “sharing is easy” marketing from Solavei.  And in a sense, since $49/month is a good deal on unlimited smart phone service, it IS “easy” to share.  However, it is important to note that there will always be questions to answer, and if you can’t answer those questions for your friends, or don’t want to, you may not be able to help them figure out if it’s a good deal for their situation or not.  Rarely will you ever just be able to send someone to your website link and they’ll just sign up like that.  You have to be willing to answer questions and guide them according to what’s actually best for them.

I was pleased to see that Solavei, as a company, does uphold that truth (that it takes work to really build a significant income with them if that’s what you want to do) – even if there may be some individual reps who choose the way of unprofessional hype instead of the way of genuine consulting.

So verdict on the ethics question?  Check!  The company overall seems to be upholding ethical standards – and I knew, of course, that from all my experience in network marketing over the years, that I personally would be committed to upholding such standards as well.

What about my current contract?

So once the company checked out as a legit company (no sense even looking at the deal they offer me as a customer if the company would be in jeopardy of being shut down by the FTC), I then turned my attention to their offer.

$49/month for unlimited voice, text, and data was a good deal.  Compared to what we pay now, we’ll be saving about $35 per month.

But I still had another 13 months left on my current contract.  What to do?  I did the math!

I found out that the early termination fee (ETF) on my current contract would be $110.  The Solavei activation fee ($49), sim card ($29) and first month of service ($49), all together with tax would come to $135 and change.  (Side note – until October 31st, they are now waiving the sim card and first month charges for new members.)  Add to that $20 to get my phone “unlocked” (which I’ll discuss later), and the total cost to make the switch would come to about $265.  But if I stayed with my old provider for the remaining 13 months, paying $35 more per month, that would cost me $455 more.  So, it still made more sense to switch now and pay my ETF, than to stick out the contract until November 2013.

What about my phone number?

I was REALLY nervous about the possibility of loosing my phone number.  I’ve had this number for 15+ years – and I have not had a land line for over 10 years.  This number has been my home, office, cell all in one.  Loosing it, while it wouldn’t be the end of the world, would be a major headache.

So, I dug into the logistics of how to make this switch without my number disappearing forever into cyberspace.

First, because the major carriers “lock” your phone so it can only be used on *their* network, you have to get your phone unlocked.  You can ask your company to do this, but I heard that in some cases, they were unlocking the phones and then canceling the contract right away, effectively dumping the phone number before people had a chance to ‘port’ the number over.  I did NOT want to risk that happening, so I opted to pay $20 to have the phone unlocked by a third-party company.

So, I enrolled with Solavei and ordered my sim card, saying that I was going to port my number.  And then, I ordered the iPhone unlock.

The unlock was done within a day, but I had to wait for the Solavei sim card to arrive.  I backed up my iPhone data in iTunes with my old sim.  My new sim arrived within 3 business days, and to finalize the unlocking process, I put the new sim in and did a back up and restore.  Once the unlock was completed, I followed the steps to activate my Solavei sim and – thank God! – my number ported over just fine.

I called ATT to cancel (and was honestly sort of sad, I’d been with them for so long), and they said the account was automatically closed when my number ported.

At first I had some trouble with picture texts, but I called support and they helped me with the settings and now they are working fine.  Maybe a little slower than they used to be, but they go through fine.

It’s been about 10 days now, and so far the coverage has been just fine.  No dropped calls.  Maybe even sounds a bit clearer?  And even better signal in a couple places where I didn’t used to get it.  The only slight downside is that Solavei does not *yet* support visual voicemail, which I had gotten used to and liked.  But, they hope to have it supported in a month or so.  Dialing in for my voicemail, like in the ‘old days’ (ha!),  isn’t that big a deal.

So when does it NOT it make sense to switch?

Do the math!  (I can help you with the specifics.)  There are certain situations in which the cost to change may not be worth it if someone only ever intends to be a customer and never refer anyone.  If someone would like to refer people, for free service or perhaps even an income, then that extra expense may be worth it.  But it’s all a math thing that is unique to each person.  Verizon and Sprint users are the mostly likely to just stay put, but not necessarily.  It really depends on the particulars – and I can help you figure all that out now that I’ve gone through the process to switch myself and understand it well enough to help others with it.  If $49/month for unlimited voice, text, and data sounds good to you, get in touch and we’ll look more closely at your particulars.

Who else wants to save on their service?

Just as with the personal care company whose products I use and represent, and the electric & gas company whose service we use and for whom I do a tiny bit of consulting work on the side, when I was looking at Solavei, I knew I had to first be a happy customer – as if there were no earning potential attached – before I could genuinely tell others about it in good conscience and possibly earn income for the time I spend answering people’s questions.

Since the price was a great deal over what we were paying, and the signal/coverage is good in my area, I am first and foremost their happy customer.  So, now I can in good conscience recommend it to others.

As I said above, if $49/month for unlimited voice, text, and data sounds good to you, check out the free referral site they gave me and feel free to contact me with the specifics of your current cell phone plan so I can help you figure out if the switch would actually make sense for your situation or not.

I’m not passionate about cell phones like I am about organics – in fact, I think they can be far too addictive!  However, as the ‘tagline’ says on my website here – “seeking restoration of sustainable life… personally, professionally, and spiritually…”  Part of that is economic sustainability.  And any way that can help a majority of people save money on an almost universal budget item, can help many people eliminate that budget line altogether by referring friends, can help some folks earn some side cash (if they choose to do the work of referring more than 9 friends), and offer some people a great full time income (who go on to choose to do that level of work)…  Well, with all those options offered to people in support of economic sustainability…  IMO, this is worth sharing.

Again, it won’t be the perfect fit for everyone, but if you want to learn more, let me know.  I’m committed to telling you straight up if it wouldn’t make sense for you.  🙂

 

This is a quick “plug” post for an organization called Holistic Moms Network.  Be sure to read to the end for some great deals, too!  🙂

I discovered a local chapter of HMN a little over two years ago and it has been an overall wonderful experience.  It has been a great place to connect with others on a ‘more natural’ or ‘greener’ or ‘healthy’ or ‘sustainable’ journey and a safe place to learn from and encourage one another.  Even when differences have arisen (which is bound to happen in any organization, especially one as diverse as HMN), folks have been gracious to work through disagreements and come to some measure of understanding and grace toward one another.

It’s been really neat to see.  And the friendships have, of course, been even more of a blessing than the collective knowledge offered by the group.

Of course every chapter is different.  And you may not even have a local chapter in your area.  But, if you’re looking for support along these lines, check out HMN.  They are offering a $10 discount on regular Holistic Moms Network memberships (new or renewing) until October 31.  Use the code HLM2012 here to take advantage of the savings.  If you’re already a member, this will add a full year onto your existing term of membership.

OR…  If you’re just looking for some great deals on products that support you on this journey, check out their 2012 auction site, which is open now through Saturday morning (the 20th).  Side note – here is a direct link to my auction item.  😉