Hindsight is 20/20

It's been almost a month since my last blog, so I'm going to pretend it's not from me being lazy but rather that I wanted to get a distant perspective to make sure it was unbiased. You buy that, right? OK, good. Swamp land, Florida, check.

So let's discuss the convention. Remember I had this fear that I'd be in amongst 5,000 health nuts worshipping a few select people? It was nothing like that at all. The convention experience was amazing. 7,000 people attended. It was held in the Salt Palace, which in itself is an L-shape two blocks by two blocks - Salt Lake City blocks, mind you - so going from one end to another is about 2/3 mile. The general sessions were in the Energy Solutions Arena, another 1/3 mile of a walk beyond that. In all, I walked about 15 miles - and get this - didn't get a single leg or foot cramp.

The lack of pain tells me that I was in better shape and health than a year prior, where I'd get a cramp just walking 200 feet in a parking lot. During the convention, I even lost another 5 pounds or so, and had plenty of energy through the end of the 14-hour days. I'm sure it was partly psychological, because I was having a blast.

Everyone at the convention had such high energy, especially the speakers. The company had a huge store set up, with attention-grabbing contests and games for prizes. Convention-only specials on Rev3, sampler packs of Nutrimeal and energy/protein bars, and skin care products made sure the store was constantly packed. But when the company announced they had reformulated the Essentials and HealthPak, and improved the MyHealthPak, the "new products" section of the store had hundreds of people in line until it closed noon Saturday.

There is so much to tell about the convention that I'll have to split it over a few posts. I learned a lot about the science behind the products, as well as how to promote them and the business effectively; that part isn't as hard as I thought. I'll share some of the highlights with you next time. As always, if you have questions, email me at markjholmes@usana.com or visit my website at http://supergeek.usana.com.

World domination in 10 easy steps

While I wait for my new toys to arrive, I'm impatient and want to look at all the online tools they gave me.  I have to say,  in the 12 years since I attempted this the first time, they've come a long way.  I much prefer the online approach, because I find it uncomfortable to approach people I don't already know.  That includes the supportive upline - sponsors, etc., who are directly benefitting from my own success.  

The online tools are diverse:

• A downline manager that's pretty robust - I can track the sales activity of thousands of people sponsored by me and others below them.  
  

• A website hosted on their servers, with a template - nay, a hundred templates to choose from, variables and even raw HTML capability.  This means I don't have a lot of technical limitation on creating the presentation.  The new site is at http://supergeek.usana.com.  You'll see that not only can you find information about the products and business side, but sign up and buy the products without depending on me to act quickly and get your name spelled right.
  

• What appears to be hundreds of downloadable sales tools, brochures, and guides on setting up my new business for fastest success.  Not just "get out there and sell" but even including a step by step process on which to build a real business.  I can see how the company's grown so well over the past decade.
  

• Training on the products, USANA's history and foundations, the business and compensation model.  A reading list to help develop the business instinct.  (Yes, Carnegie and Covey are included)
  

• Motivational stuff like reward programs and evidence of others' success.  
  

Interesting... I'm noticing that I'm more motivated now, even so far as to blog about this, than almost anything in the recent past.  I'll probably ignore the reasons why until they smack me upside the head, but for now I'm rolling with it.