“The One Stop Shop For Women”
Life is too short to blend in! Mix it up!
Big, Bold, and Beautiful Statement Necklaces
I have been looking for ways to dress up simple outfits. I’m really a basic tee and jeans or solid color dress type of girls. This has always driven my best friend crazy, so this year she decided to introduce me to the statement necklace. Oh la la. She said there would be no better accessory for my simple style.
I’m going to be brave, I’m going to be bold, and I’m going to give this one from Stella & Dot a try!
If you are looking for a little piece of magic for your jewelry collection, you can find statement necklaces in a variety of stores and in a variety of price ranges. Just go out and rock whatever your budget will allow! Have fun!
What In The World Is The Lyoness Shopping Network Cashback Program?
I’m always drawn to things involving shopping. I don’t care that I’m a woman and it’s a cliché, it’s accurate. When my fiancé presented me with an option to spend money and make money, I was immediately intrigued and decided I would see what it was all about.
While looking around the internet, I saw that there were both positive and negative reviews. Some thought the program was questionable, and others thought it was the most amazing thing they had ever used. Any company that has successfully amassed millions of members within a short time will generate lot of confusion and discussion. Before you go signing up for Lyoness or any other type of venture you need to practice diligence and get the 411 on it. Hopefully, I can help you out with that.
Let me present you with Lyoness! It’s a shopping network that offers its members a cash back program that allows them to earn money on their purchases and the purchases of people they’ve referred. The best part about it is that the membership with the company is free. I don’t know about you, but I like free.
How does it work as a buyer?
As with any program I review or suggest, I went ahead and signed up for the Lyoness program last week.
Let’s start with the money because that is what you are really interested in! The Lyoness cash back program is pretty straightforward. Once you successfully reach a set amount in the cash back account, it will be automatically transferred to your bank account.
You can earn money when you shop at any partner establishment. From what I have seen so far, there are a large variety of online retailers, such as Lucky Brand, Gap, and Banana Republic. There are also offline retailers available by region. Aside from direct buys, you can earn money off of gift cards. I tried this with my gas purchases. You can buy gift cards for various retailers, including some gas companies. I purchased a $50 gift card to BP and earned money off of the gift card purchase. Then I went to BP and filled up my car just like I would have done with my debit card. Super easy!
As I said before it is completely free to join, but if you want to use it as a side business you will be required to make a purchase from their program. For me it was a pair of shoes from Lucky Brand. I was going to make the purchase anyway, so I did it through the system so that I could go ahead and get activated. You do not have to make a purchase to use the system for yourself. You can sign up and take your time looking through everything and use it when you want to make cash back on something. It’s not complicated in that regard.
How does it work as a seller?
Essentially Lyoness works the same way whether you are shopping for yourself or referring people into the system. As a sponsor, you will earn money off the purchases of people they’ve sponsored. All these earnings are sent back to your business member’s account.
As mentioned before, Lyoness is designed to help you save money on purchases you are already going to make, but if they want to make a little money on the side you can. How would you do that? Share it! Just remember, it’s not a selling program. It’s something for you to share with your relatives, friends, work colleagues, networking communities, neighbors, and so on. You can share it with people you personally know or come into contact with. It doesn’t require you to go door to door to do business, unless of course that is what you want to do.
Now many sites on the internet are already discussing the viability of the program and the earning potential of the system. Simply put, if you sponsor more people to join your shopping network, you can earn more through their purchases. The larger the team you have, the more you are going to earn. That said, if you just want to use this system for yourself and to save money on your purchases, it is just as beneficial. It doesn’t require you to sponsor within it like other online programs. It just benefits you if you do.
Quick Summary:
* Lyoness uses a cash back program to boost the shopping activity and savings for its members.
* The number of shops in their network and the ones that accept the gift cards may vary depending upon your location. Therefore, once you sign up for your free membership check this before you recommend it to someone else. You want to make sure it has retailers you can use in your area. Otherwise it doesn’t benefit you or people you sponsor.
* If you are looking to make money off of this program, the more referrers you have in the Lyoness network will create a higher profit for you.
*It’s free to join Lyoness.
*This is not the traditional mlm or network marketing business that you are used to. It’s recommending a free service to people.
*Lyoness members ONLY spend their money for things they are already going to buy. There are no Lyoness specific products that they sell you. No Lyoness face cream or Lyoness vitamins. It’s composed of retailers and products you already use.
As of today, Lyoness has more than 2.8 million members around the world. The company has proven to be quite valuable to many members and is definitely worth looking into. I’m always looking for a good deal and the coupon of the day, so this is a perfect program for me. If you are interested in it, contact me with any additional questions.
Have a great week MatchPointWomen! 
Kate Spade New York Cobble Hill Satchel
Last summer Kate Spade had this amazing Cobble Hill Satchel in turquoise. Unfortunately, I did not have the funds to buy the little gem at the time. Thanks to my growing internet marketing business, I do now! I’m so excited!
However, the Cobble Hill Little Minka Satchel is no longer available in turquoise, but it is available in firoza which is really close to last year’s shade. It’s just got a little more blue than green to it.
When Kate Spade crafted this bag she was inspired by the residential Brooklyn enclave known for its historic distric and 19th century homes. The Cobble Hill Satchel’s have a little old world class to them. I would more than likely carry this bag by hand, but if you want to throw it over your shoulder it comes with a crossbody strap.
As all the fashion magazines tell me, mint green is huge this season! This bag comes in that hue as well. It’s a little light for me, but it may be a better fit for you.
Happy shopping Match Point Women!
Planning A Wedding Sucks
As many of you know, I’m getting married to a wonderful man!
As many of you may not know, planning a wedding sucks.
Hey hey hey…don’t freak out. I love my fiancé, I’m truly blessed to have such a fantastic Christian man. However, planning a wedding still sucks.
Pinterest shows pictures of smiles, laughs, and gorgeous color schemes. Pinterest makes this gig look easy, and I don’t want to hurt any of your feelings but Pinterest lied.
It’s hard, it’s expensive, and everyone has an opinion on what will look best for your special day. As a result, I felt compelled to give you guys a little advice to make the process go more magically.
Set some sort of budget…make it reasonable. I’m a budgeter by nature so this wasn’t difficult. What was difficult was sticking to it. The grass is always greener on the other side, so I made sure not to go see the other side. I set a maximum amount of what I was willing to spend on the venue, and I did not entertain anything that did not fall within that number. I wouldn’t even go look at them. Why do you ask? Because seeing something you want and knowing that you can’t afford it is torture, and it drives you to do stupid things. Like break the budget.
I followed this philosophy with invitations, catering, and yes…even the dress. I told everyone that went dress shopping with me that they would have to pay the difference if they brought me a dress outside of my budget, had me try it on, and made me fall in love with it. Turns out, no one really wants to pony up for that so they tend to be a little less pushy with their tastes when you put that on the table.
Look over the things on the “to do” list that you can do yourself. It’s time consuming, but it’s less expensive. When I went to look at florists, they were charging around $150/per bouquet. I started doing the math and realized a florist would end up costing me around $3,000. For flowers…that get this guys… die. I’m pretty crafty so I decided to look around for other options, and the internet is full of how to videos. Use them. They are your friend. I found a How to Guide for Making a Bridal Bouquet. It’s super easy, and you can get everything done for under $500. Not to mention, when you look around the room on your special day you will see you in every part of it. Not the vision someone else had for you, but your vision.
Cheddar Cheese Risotto
There’s this thing called a wedding diet, and I’ve not found it delightful. This girl wants to eat, and I wish to start with this Cheddar Cheese Risotto recipe courtesy of The Curvy Carrot. The only thing I swapped out was the vegetable stock. I replaced it with chicken stock. I’m sure vegetable would be lovely, but it’s not my personal preference.
Try it tonight! You’ll be glad you threw out the diet for a few hours!
Ingredients
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 scallions, chopped, plus more for garnish
1 and 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
Instructions
1. In a deep sauté pan over medium-low heat, melt the butter and oil.
2. Add the scallions and cook, stirring frequently until softened, about 2-5 minutes or so.
3. Add the rice and cook for one minute.
4. Increase the heat to medium-high, and add the white wine and mustard, stirring until completely absorbed.
5. Stirring constantly, add the hot vegetable stock, one cup at a time, adding each cup after the previous is completely absorbed. Cook the rice until it is al dente (mine took about 20 minutes of old-fashioned stirring)
6. Add the cheese and stir gently until completely melted.
7. Divide the risotto evenly among your serving bowls and top with scallions, if desired.
Review on iLiving App: The Real Score Behind the iLA Publicity
There’s all this talk in the internet marketing and network marketing worlds regarding a new motivational app for your phone called the iLivingApp. As a motivational business woman, I thought I would take a look to see what all the hype is about.
This program is said to have phenomenal motivational videos that will help individuals build a better sense of self and accomplish their goals. It is also being marketed as an affiliate program that will allow members to acquire a piece of the booming $14 billion application industry. Members can share it with their friends, family, and networks to get a cut of the profits.
Marketers always make new applications sound fantastic, but I have enough experience knowing what to look for and I want to check it out myself. In this iLivingApp review, I will be giving detailed information about the program, its important features, and my opinion on whether it’s worth it or not. I’ll be honest and tell you what I like and what I don’t, and if I think it is going to provide you any value.
Full Disclosure: In order to effectively write this review, I opted to take part in the iLivingApp program two months ago. This way, I was able to get an insider’s view and share what it looks like from the member’s area.
Here it goes…The iLA Review
I’ve been involved with several application development programs before, but to be honest more often than not the entire process became too complicated. I had a difficult time figuring out the compensation plans, making user friendly backoffices, and providing adequate support to members. It always ended up as one giant headache that I didn’t have time for.
Even if you get past all of the design work and extensive programming you still have to determine what type of application you are going to create. The application industry has quickly evolved into an extremely competitive trade. If you don’t have an application that can compete in the market, then you are out before you even get started.
Should you be lucky and creative enough to compete in the market, you still have to be constantly making upgrades to your application. Applications have to be updated. Users get stagnant, and they want to see that the application they are with is at the top of their game. You can just create an application and just let it sit. You have to be checking out your competitors and offering value to your members. It takes innovation and that is something that users should look at when they are deciding if they want to partner up with one of these application programs. So let’s evaluate iLivingApp’s innovation and see how they are doing so far.
Unique and Up-to-Date Application
As previously mentioned, in order to maintain your existence in the application industry you’ve got to provide something unique to your members. You have to provide something that no one else in the marketplace has discovered. This is one of the major reasons I became initially drawn to iLivingApp and decided to do this review.
You can scout the entire application market, and you will see that no one has this type of business model. iLivingApp has managed to set themselves apart from their competitors, which is extremely difficult to do in such a volatile market.
You may be thinking “well the referral marketing plan has been around for years”. You’re right it has, but the application world has yet to see anything like the iLivingApp. It incorporates a reliable referral plan with an innovative application. The processes have already been tried, tested and proven successful. iLivingApp has just put their own spin on it. This forward thinking and creative approach is proving to be a huge a contender in the marketplace.
Effective Application at an Incredibly Low Price
What I really care about is my checkbook. How much is this app going to cost me? Well it cost $9.95. This is charged on a monthly basis to become an iLivingApp partner. For me, it proves cost effective and the referral plan allows me to make that $9.95 back relatively quickly. They’ve truly made it easy for me to turn this novel little app into an income stream. Which I love!
Excellent Content Delivery Features
iLivingApp has some strong content delivery features. One of the major services that the application produces is weekly professional videos. The videos they provide and share with members cover a wide variety of topics, but tend to be geared around business development, wealth building, personal finance, and leadership. Great topics for an entrepreneur like me! I’m always looking for additional training and motivation. You can’t inspire others if you aren’t inspired.
Something else I really enjoy about the application is that iLA keeps an archive of past videos. This way, I can go back over topics that I really enjoyed or if I can’t make the weekly call I can catch it later. It allows flexibility which is key for the type of business I have.
The content of the videos is off the charts. They have experts in the industry share their experiences and guidance. It’s relevant and reliable, and the teachings are applicable to what I do every day.
As you are finding out now, clearly I find value from iLivingApp’s content, but if you are looking at it from a referral standpoint you need to ask “will others find value?” I’m going to go with a strong yes. People are always looking to better themselves. If you go to the leadership or business section of your neighborhood bookstore you will see rows of books on self improvement, making goals, and building your business. People are hungry for knowledge and inspiration. When I go on pinterest.com nowadays, I’m presented with all kinds of inspirational quotes like “you aren’t going to get the butt you want by sitting on the one you have” or “everything will be alright does not mean everything will stay the same”. People need to be inspired. It motivates them, and this application allows you to tap into that market. You provide value while building an income stream. It’s really a win-win as far as I’m concerned.
Solid and Reputable Marketing Campaign
If you don’t have marketing you don’t have anything. After looking over the iLA marketing materials, it’s obvious that they spend a lot of time working on their marketing campaign. Everything is well documented and leaves the user well informed. The company is clearly working hard to make sure their application is not only functional but sellable. When businesses take time to put together a solid marketing force they are able to reach people on a variety of different levels.
Reading over this, it sounds like iLA is definitely the way to go. It shows legitimacy and excellence. The core team is knowledgeable and brings a lot of benefits to the table, but that’s the surface items. That’s what they want you to see and the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.
Here are some problems that I did encounter while using iLivingApp.
Problems with Mass Produced Websites
While it is true that you can obtain a personal website with iLivingApp, it is a mass-produced website that’s similar to the ones they provide to everyone else in the program. As such, I think that it’s going to be difficult to compete with other iLA associates. How do you differentiate yourself from everyone else that is trying to sell the product? If you have read anything on my website, you know that I’m all about bringing your unique personality to what you do. I’m not one for mass production or over commercialized items. I want to be different, I want to stand out, and I found that hard with the way this is structured.
Concerns Regarding Price
I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I’m worried that the price is too low. Initially, the price is beneficial. A low price point always intrigues buyers, but if I’m going to invest time and energy into a referral program, I need to know that I’m going to make a little money. I need to get it out to more than just my friends and family. I need to get it out to hundreds of people, and again I need to differentiate myself from all of the other sellers.
The Perfect Solution
It is clear that you are going to have to stand out and you are going to have to offer more value than what other iLA associates can give out. More than that, it is imperative that you build a team that can do the same. So how can you further augment the things that the program provides?
My answer was to simply build everything into my very own marketing system at SOARnetworks.com. I wanted a way to make my team successful, and this was the obvious solution.
Since the marketing system is entirely without charge to everyone who joins my team, you don’t have to worry about the extra cost because there is none. It’s an easy to use system that has custom image banner advertisements, custom capture pages, custom e-mail marketing operations as well as an all-inclusive training program with step by step guidelines. You don’t have to be an internet guru to figure it out; you just have to be willing to learn. Everything is there with step by step instructions.
This type of application has worked for me time and time again and has allowed me to compete at a higher level. It also has provided the same ability to my team. It gives them a daily action plan that they can customize to their needs and their style. It allows them to find an advertising niche that is best suited to their personality. It gives them everything they need to be successful.
Just ponder on this thought, if you’re interested in taking part in the program and offer the same product just like everyone else, how are you going to do it better? How will you differentiate yourself? Are you going to go out and invent your own marketing system? Would you even want that kind of hassle or do you want to just login and start working.
SOARnetworks has a lot to offer. I speak highly about it because it’s a system my fiancé and I have spent thousands of hours creating. You may be asking yourself “why would they give it away for free?” Well we give it to OUR team for free because we want our team to grow. We can build our business wide all day. We’ve done it, but we want our team to grow deep as well. We want to create leaders because depth brings long term sustainability. I’m an entrepreneur, so I’m offering it because there is a benefit to me, and the benefit is building you and your business. I want you to reach your goals so that I can reach mine. That is how a team works.
The iLiving App can generate an income, but it works best when you combine it with a marketing strategy. We are passionate about building our teams. We won’t do the work for you, but we will guide you and support you the entire way. If you follow all of the setup instructions correctly, then the marketing system will handle all the selling for you. You will just have to worry about finding an advertising method that works for your skill set and personality, but don’t worry there are plenty of training videos on that. You can be successful just like hundreds of others on our team have been.
This is the main reason why I incorporated the iLivingApp into our SOARnetworks marketing system. I knew we could find a way to make them work together, and we did. Now my team members can stand out, and it has proven successful.
That sounded like a pitch didn’t it? Well I guess it was…it is my blog after all. That said, regardless of which team you sign up for the iLivingApp is a great product. If you want to give it a go with someone else I completely understand, but the opportunity is worth looking into.
This blog post is pretty internet marketing heavy, but if you are looking to do one on one marketing you can totally do that with this app. I’ve got a few girls on my team that talk to everyone they come in contact with, and using the internet wasn’t working for them. They wanted to be able to talk to people and we have marketing strategies for them to be successful as well. The training is just more one on one focused, rather than internet based.
As a quick wrap up, this application can work for anyone. The home business owner, internet marketer, network marketer, or entrepreneur all have a similar goal…they want to be financially independent. Whatever your angle, this business can work for you if you want it to. If you decide to not join my team you won’t hurt my feelings. SOARnetworks has proven successful for my business and my team’s business. That’s what matters to me at the end of the day. So cheers and be merry! I’m all done for today!
Coffee And Style
I wish I could be this stylish when I wake up and have my coffee!
(Source Image: www.pinterest.com)
The Entrepreneur Mindset
I’m going to ask you all a question today. Do you want to be a small business owner or an entrepreneur? You may think they are the same thing, but they aren’t.
I was reading an article the other day, and it mentioned that 70% of small businesses are sole proprietorships, meaning that their owners are self-employed. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be employed by anyone, not even myself. Yet small business owners have essentially created jobs for themselves. What they haven’t done is created a business. Have I confused you yet?
Here’s the difference. When a small business owner takes time off, the business doesn’t run. When an entrepreneur takes the day off, the business is running itself. That sounds like more fun.
Some of you are just getting started in the business, and this will be a great opportunity for your to build a solid foundation. Others of you have been in the business for years, haven’t made any progress, and need to start back from scratch. The right way.
Today is about finding out how to be a true entrepreneur. In doing that, we need to get your mindset on the right track because that will shape how you grow your business and how you lead your team.
Be Flexible: Internet marketing is always changing, and the systems you are promoting are always changing. It makes some of you frustrated or overwhelms you. I’d love to tell you that everything was going to stay the same, but as someone more wise than me once said “change is constant”. The difference is how you approach and adapt to it. Be confident in the skills you have and trust that you can build new ones and adapt to any change you see.
Be Relational: This one is my favorite! I’m from a long line of car salesmen, and more importantly a long line of leaders. When I was growing up, my dad would mentor 40 salesmen a year on how to be the best at what they did. In each class he would make them read the book “The Greatest Salesman In The World”, and when I turned 15 he made me read it to. It’s one of my favorite books to date. It’s brilliant and timeless.
I tell you this because it indirectly taught me that everything you do in life is a transaction…a sale. Every interaction you have. If you are going to be successful you need to understand that and use it to build your team.
It’s easy for everyone to get focused on building their team wide. I hear it every day. You are only worried about getting them in. Once they’re in you aren’t worrying about supporting them or building them like Eric and I are currently supporting and building you. This approach works for many and has created plenty of millionaires. But if those people stepped away from their businesses for a 3month trek around the world, their team would die off because they hadn’t been trained properly.
If you want to be a true entrepreneur, you need depth in your team. You need to build up your own leaders and have them build up their own leaders and so on and so forth. Just like we talked about in the beginning of this, that way you can walk away for a random adventure, and you know your team has your back. So how do you do that? You get relational. Take the time to get to know your new downlines and build relationships with them. Know what their goals are and be there to support them. If you are newer and don’t have all the answers to their questions, then come to us and your fellow team members. Ask questions in the facebook group. That’s the reason we created it. All of you are working for the same thing, even if for different reasons. You all want to be financially independent. So get out there and get to know eachother.
Be Humble: This is a lesson Eric earned the hard way. Since Eric started online marketing he has been consistently making money, and each month he does a little better. Then last spring he skyrocketed. He figured out the system that worked for him, and he started making $85-90k a month. It was awesome and what he had been working for but his mindset wasn’t right and Eric got bratty. Eric got overconfident and forgot everything it took to get to that stage. He stopped thinking of the future of the business and focused on the now.
People started approaching Eric about other business opportunities because they realized he had money and a team to bring to them. He added value to their business, but they didn’t add any to his. They sold him on a few of their ideas and investment plans, and he ended up losing a lot of the money he had earned. Then his business started slowing down because while he was being bratty he wasn’t focusing on the future and the vision behind what he wanted to create. I tell you this because all of your that truly strive to be an entrepreneur will at some point face this dilemma. How you react to it will define the future of your business. Make sure that you have your mindset straight so that when you start making the big bucks, you stay steadfast and focused on your path which will lead you and your team to even more bucks.
Be Yourself: The best leaders in the world are known for their individuality. They have marketed themselves separately from their competitors. There is only one you. Use that to your advantage. Every second a new internet marketer is born, if you want to distinguish yourself in this industry show what makes you unique. Don’t try to mimic the personalities of the leaders before you because you will just end up the “someone else” in the crowd. Now I’m not saying ignore your mentors. I’m saying learn from them and tailor what they are teaching you to your unique gifts and personalities. Copycats are a dime a dozen. Make sure you stand apart in the crowd. You’re all awesome and you all have different strengths, and when I talk one on one with you I can see them. Others can to, so just make sure you let your unique flag flow!
I hope this helped all of you. Make sure you get your mindset straight so that you don’t get lost in the chaos.
