Make Selling Your "HOBBY"

[ A collection of writings by Rich DeVos & Jay Van Andel; Co-Founders of Amway Corporation ]

Have you ever noticed that most hobbyist are "producers?" Whether it's handicraft, woodworking, gardening, or whatever, they really work hard at it - because they enjoy the satisfaction of producing. The finished results they frequently give away ... because "selling is hard work."

Why is it that producing is often perceived as "fun" but selling as "work?"

And if it really is such hard work, why have so many Distributors - untrained and inexperienced salespeople - become so successful?

There's no doubt that hobbyist get a lot of satisfaction in seeing a finished object "grow" under their own hands. But the choice of the object is theirs - and so is the satisfaction. Selling is somewhat different. Its success depends on the satisfaction of others. And though you choose what you sell, it has to be made appealing to your customers.

So many Distributors are successful because they start right out thinking of others and keep on doing so. They may not know the "fine points" of salesmanship, but they know people. And knowing how to satisfy people is what selling is all about!

And in turn, they also see a finished object - their business and the opportunity to make money - grow under their hands as well.

More writings by Rich DeVos & Jay Van Andel:

[1]  The Plan That Works

[2]  Zero to Hero

[3]  An International Passport To Success

[4]  The Amway Sales and Marketing Plan - Positively Superior

[5]  "Reasons" Vs. Facts

[6]  Keep The Plan Simple

[7]  Keep It Simple

[8]  A Business of Your Own

[9]  Basics Build The Successful Amway Business

[10] Amway is a Repeat Business

[11] Customer Service is the Difference

[12] Keep The Customer Coming Back

[13] Selling or Sponsoring: Which is more Important?

[14] Who Will Rise To The Top?

[15] Make Selling Your "HOBBY"

[16] The Facts Of Life

[17] Business Vs. "Busy-ness"

Attitude and Age

You've heard the statement many times that this is a young person's world - and a quick check of the history books rapidly establishes that this statement has considerable validity. For example, Lindberg at age twenty five was the first man to fly nonstop over the Atlantic Ocean to Paris; John Paul Jones was a full sea captain at twenty two; Napoleon was an artillery captain before he was twenty three; Edgar Allen Poe was internationally known as a poet at eighteen; Tracy Austin won the U.S. Open Tennis Championship at age sixteen; Alexander the Great had conquered the known world at twenty six; Eli Whitney was twenty eight when he perfected the cotton gin. We also frequently see stories of child prodigies who at age five are solving mathematical equation that confound college professors. The list is truly endless of all the people who've done remarkable things before their thirtieth birthday.

This obviously proves that it is a young person's world. Or does it? I'm going to prove that it's also an old person's or even a middle aged person's world. As a matter of fact, it is really your world, regardless of your age. Read on and you'll see what I mean.

Commodore Vanderbilt was not known as a great railroad king until he was seventy; at eighty eight he was the most active railroad man of his day. Socrates started studying music when he was eighty; Pasteur discovered his hydrophobia cure when he was sixty; Columbus was well over fifty when he made his first voyage of American discovery; Voltaire, Newton, Spenser, Talleyrand, and Thomas Jefferson all were active and in their intellectual prime after eighty. Grandma Moses achieved her fame and success after age ninety. Galileo discovered the monthly and daily phases of the moon when he was seventy three. The list is endless.

What this really says is that the world belongs to anybody who will recognize that now is the time and here is the place - to go to the top.

"To me, old age is always fifteen years older than I am."

~ Bernard M.Baruch

Courage and Risk

It's a simple truth - anything you do involve risk.

• To drive a car is to risk having a wreck.
• To apply for a job is to risk not being hired
• To try out for a play is to risk not getting the part.
• To enter college is to risk flunking out.
• To smile is to risk that no one will smile back.
• To love is to risk rejection and hurt.
• To speak is to risk that no one will listen.
• To hope is to risk despair.
• To dream is to risk appearing the fool.
• To climb is to risk falling back down.

One ingredient I've noticed in the personality of almost every successful person I know is the courage to risk failure. To try is definitely to risk failure, but what is your alternative? To do nothing, have nothing, and be nothing. When you do absolutely nothing you've avoided failure, but you also have avoided success. Anything of importance in life involves risk; if you don't try you can't do. Don't be afraid to reach for your dreams. As Will Rogers once said, "You've got to go out on a limb sometimes, because that's where the fruit is!"

Try This Recipe

Recipe that guaranteed to cook up a happy marriage.

1 Cup - Love
2 Cups - Loyalty
3 Cups - Forgiveness
1 Cup - Friendships
5 Spoons - Hope
2 Spoons - Tenderness
4 Quarts - Faith
1 Barrel - Laughter

Take Love and Loyalty and mix it thoroughly with Faith. Blend it with Tenderness, Kindness and Understanding. Add Friendship and Hope. Sprinkle abundantly with Laughter. Bake it with Sunshine. Serve generous helpings daily.

我们的方程式 ~ Our Formula

在安利，每天都有新的发现诞生。这些发现不只限於令人异的研究与开发成果。我们所指的发现，是随着我们提供的商机，我们的品牌家族，我们赖以步上成功轨迹的关系，以及我们在世界各地履行的良好公民义务而持续在演变。

Every day, new discoveries happen right at Amway. Discoveries that go beyond the amazing work being done in research and development. We're talking about the discoveries that continue to evolve with our Business Opportunity, our entire family of brands, our relationships that hold us on the track of success, and our citizenship efforts around the world.



Steve Van Andel - Chairman of Alticor,Inc. & Doug Devos - President of Alticor,Inc.
Steve Van Andel - Alticor 机构主席 & Doug DeVos - Alticor 机构总裁



配合全新计的品牌标志蓝图，我们在世界各地更深入省思—了解到底是何因素促成我们今日享有的成就；我们的与众不同阿处；以及我们为何被标榜为赢尽人心的一家公司和品牌。

As we designed the blueprint for our new brand identity, we dug deeper - around the world - into what makes us who we are; what makes us different; and what defines us as a company and a brand of people's hearts.

我们关注的其中一个差异点，就是人标关系。我们做其他任何事之前，总是先腾出时间倾听员工，直销员，社区成员以及顾客的心声，了解他们有何需要。

One of those points of differentiation is our focus on relationships. We take the time to listen and understand the needs of employees, Distributors, our communities and our customers before we do anything else.

我们以人为先，而且每次都交出成绩—新的发现逐一诞生。正如某位直销商最近写

道：“我们通过这门生意赚财富也结交到良朋益友。但最重要的是经营事业的整个过程里，我们学习到新事物，从中自我成长。”

We put people first, and what results - every time - is a new discovery. As one Distributor recently wrote, "We have made money in our business. We have made friends in our business. But most important is what we have learned and become through our business."

持久的关系仅仅是安利等式其中一个环节。综合我们的公民义务，品牌家族，以及史无前例的创业良机，我们发现有一套方程式能在公司业务遍布的所有80个国家和区域里奏效。这是属於我们的方程式。它经过验证，确实管用。

Enduring relationships are just one part of the Amway equation. Combined with our citizenship, family of brands, and unprecedented Business Opportunity, we have discovered a formula that works in all 80 countries and territories where we do business. It's our formula. It's been tested, and it works.

You might also like:
[1] 我们的方程式 ~ Our Formula
[2] 我們對美好世界的承諾 ~ Our Commitment to a Better World
[3] 跨世代的机会 ~ An Opportunity for the Ages
[4] 回顾和愿望 ~ Looking Back, Looking Ahead
[5] 谁是成功者 ~ Who Will Succeed
[6] 展望未来 ~ Looking Forward to the Future
[7] 夥伴关系的承诺 ~ The Promise of Partnership
[8] 握手 ~ The Handshake

OVERCOME YOUR FEARS

Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, "Do the things you fear and the death of fear is certain." This is one of the most important success principles ever discovered. The only way that you can elimate a fear that might be holding you back is to do the thing that you fear. The death of fear is certain.

Both courage and cowardice are HABITS. You can develop the habits of courage by confronting your fears and moving toward them rather than hiding from your fears and moving away from them, as most people do. As Mark Twain once said, "Courage is not absence of fear, it is control of fear, mastery of fear."

DO THE THING YOU FEAR

Make more calls, and you will experience less fear of making calls. If you keep making calls, as many as possible, day after day, without really caring whether the prospect responds in a positive or negative way, you eventually reach the point at which you have no fear at all. By confronting your fears of failure and rejection, you eventually develop habitual courage. At this point, you will turn a corner in your career, and your sales will begin to go up rapidly.

Once you have developed courage as a habit, along with the ability to face your fears of failure and rejection, your whole life will improve. You will feel terrific about yourself. Your self esteem and self-confidence will swell. And as you improve on the inside, your sales results will improve on the outside.

LEARN TO SAY NO

Every time you say yes to something that is unimportant, you are saying no to something that is important. 'Yes men" and "Yes woman" never create anything great. There's huge value in getting good at saying no.

 Say no to the friend who wants to meet over coffee to gossip. Say no to the co-worker who wants to spread his negativity and cynicism. Say no to the relative who laughts at your dreams and makes you doubt yourself. Say no to the social obligations that drain time from your life's work.

You can't be all things to all things to all people. The best among us get that. Know your priorities. Know your goals. Know what needs to get done over the coming weeks, months and years for you to feel that you played your best game as a human being. And then say no to everything else. Sure some people around you might not be happy. But would you rather live your life according to the approval of others or aligned with your truth and your dreams?