Sunshine Family Monthly News - August 2005 - The Herbs Place
Sunshine Family Monthly News
August 3, 2005 Edition
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The content of this newsletter is directed to members doing a Nature’s Sunshine business in The Herbs Place organization. Any benefits or offers in them are directed solely to this group of people.
Hi Sunshiners!
I’m so excited about going to convention this year. We’ve had the largest number of people in our Sunshine Family that earned it this year. I’m looking forward to experiencing another exciting Nature’s Sunshine convention. We always learn so much and get so motivated to build more Sunshine in our lives and the lives of others.
We are flying our son in on Saturday which happens to be my birthday! Then we’re going to spend five days traveling through Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and back to Utah for our flights out. The highlights will be Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons National Parks. We’re planning on visiting a Nature’s Conservancy preserve, gardens, and a nature center that has a wild bird rehabilitation program.
For all of you who will not be at convention, I’ll be sure to have a super packed newsletter for you in September to give you as much of the new information as I can from National Convention.
Sunshine Blessings to Each of You!
Randal and Donna Watkins
Toll-Free: 1-866-580-3226
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NSP News
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Many Products Now Being Reformulated for California
Nature’s Sunshine is having to reformulated many of their products due to California’s Proposition 65. Therefore, the “old formulas” will be running out of stock and replaced with the new ones.
Some have already run out. These products are estimated to run out in August:
801-5 Cardio Assurance
854-2 Energ-V
2948-6 Fat Grabbers (360)
1105-8 Intestinal Soothe & Build
792-6 Joint Support
2870-7 Master Gland
456-5 Nature’s Noni Capsules
850-3 Nerve Eight
1022-2 Pro-Pancreas
1060-7 SF
Development Award Changes
Did you notice the changes made to the ? They were in the July issue of the Sunshine Horizons. This is a fun way to set some goals and earn some awards. You must be a Manager to participate in this program.
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Sharing Sunshine Tips – What’s Working for You?
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Reverse Osmosis Water Systems
Some people have built an NSP business by selling these units. What a rewarding job to provide clean water to families. Not a week [or day?] goes by that you don’t see something about the state of the water quality in our country. It’s a serious concern for viruses, bacteria and cancer-causing chemicals.
There is nothing more basic than water. It’s desperately needed by the body since our bodies are mostly water! Drinking other beverages does not supply the kidneys with what they need to filter out the multitude of toxins that we take in each day.
Learn more about the water systems that Nature’s Sunshine has to offer. It’s a segment of the product line that is often left behind. Here’s .
Take anything you need to print for somebody or to compose a mailing or segment in your newsletter.
Know The Marketing Plan
If you don’t know how great the NSP marketing plan is, how can you tell somebody else? If you don’t tell somebody else, you won’t be building your group – you’ll be out there trying to earn the QV for rewards all on your own. It’s much more fun to do WITH your own Sunshine Family!
Close to half of each dollar coming into the company is paid back to Members, Distributors and Managers in rebates, commissions and benefits. The plan rewards Managers with trips, conventions, car plan and more. Dig in and learn more about it
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Growing Your Business
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Make Your Business (and YOU!) More Successful!
by Philip E. Humbert, PhD
Every business owner needs a great set of tools. Professionals typically spend years in graduate school, and anyone who’s ever managed an office or run a shop knows the skills needed to supervise people, manage inventory, deal with customers, balance budgets and make payroll each month. Often we get caught up in the daily rush and forget to step back and look at the big picture. While every coach needs a great headset and every restaurant needs a great cup of coffee, there are bigger tools “behind the tools” that every business person should have at their finger tips. My suggestions include:
1. A coach!
(You thought a coach would recommend a plumber?) Whether you hire a professional coach, or work with a mentor or have a mastermind group of friends, every business person needs perspective, ideas, discipline and someone outside the daily rush who can say “Let’s re-think this.” Every great athlete has a coach. Business leaders need them, too.
2. A copy of Napolean Hill’s book, “Think and Grow Rich.”
Yes, it’s 60 years old, it’s sexist (in his world only men go to work), and his narrow definition of “success” is almost laughable, but it’s still the best single book on setting and achieving goals I’ve ever read. It’s still in print despite its flaws because it really is that good. Get it! Read it!
3. A personal journal.
Use any notebook that suits you, but keep notes! Write down your goals, jot down your brilliant ideas before the phone rings and you lose them forever! Note your successes, document your failures, and learn from all of it.
4. A large wastebasket.
Most ideas that come into your office won’t fly, and many of the ones that were innovative, original and brilliant last year are now antiques. Either mount them in a frame on the wall, or throw them out. A large wastebasket is a wonderful aid to staying focused.
5. An open door.
Whether it’s an open cubicle where staff and customers and vendors can drop by, or having lunch in the employee cafeteria, make sure your best people and their best ideas reach you! Reward creativity and do it in person!
6. A closed door.
Leadership requires perspective, and that requires time to think, to review, to preview, and to restore balance. I believe it was Jonas Salk who for many years spent an hour a day in a dark, silent room with only a chair, table, pen and pencil, “waiting for ideas.” Whether you call it a mental health day or something else, get time away, alone, to re-think and refocus.
7. A hobby you are not very good at!
Leadership and success can quickly lead to arrogance. Get out of the office, join a club or group and learn a new skill, be an amateur, a beginner and a novice. “Play” at something, laugh at your mistakes, stay loose, and have fun. Fall off your surfboard (or your kids’ skateboard), be scared to death on the side of a mountain, let the neighbor kid teach you chess or make and fly your own kite. Never stop learning and having “beginners mind.”
8. A library card.
When Lee Iacoca was leading Chrysler back from bankruptcy, I was amazed to learn that he routinely read 2 books on business every week! I would also say: read widely outside your field! Innovation and a competitive edge rarely come from doing the “same old thing” a little bit better. Fortunes and extraordinary success come from children’s books, history, technology, novels and poetry.
9. A personal “Fort Knox” full of reserves.
To really succeed, you have to take risks. And you can’t take intelligent, creative risks when you’re scared. It’s as simple as that. To be successful, have some money set aside so you can always “start over.” Have a LIFE that is so full, so varied and so wonderful, that the risks and challenges at work are always kept in perspective. After all, it is just business!
10. Have a great accountant, and just in case, have a great attorney!
Since you can’t be an expert at everything, hire people who can do the parts you can’t do, or don’t want to do. You focus on doing your best stuff. Delegate everything else to people who will do it better, faster, cheaper and with more enthusiasm than you could. Successful people have extraordinary teams behind them! You can bank on it!
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Business Tax Tips
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Make Sure a Business Trip Doesn’t Look Like a Vacation
The brochure for the industry trade show looks awfully appealing. It’s being held in a sun-drenched resort in the middle of winter. Sure, it’s expensive, but you decide to attend because it’s tax deductible.
Caution: Follow all the rules and keep proper records. IRS Auditors are suspicious of business conventions that look like vacations. Here are some answers to help you secure valuable deductions and stay out of trouble with the IRS.
Q. I’m planning to attend a convention paid for by my company. How much of the cost can the firm deduct?
A. It depends. In order to be deductible, the convention must be connected to your business and the primary purpose of the trip must be business-related. In other words, you can’t write off the cost of a six-day trip if you spend one morning attending a seminar and the rest of the time sightseeing or lying on the beach.
If the convention qualifies, you can deduct travel costs to and from the location, convention fees and hotel bills. You can only deduct 50 percent of your meal expenses. If you do a small amount of sightseeing on a trip that is made primarily for business purposes, you can’t deduct any of those personal expenses.
You also cannot write off the cost of bringing your spouse or other family members, unless they are employees of your company and have a bona fide business reason for making the trip.
Q. Can I deduct an educational conference offered on a cruise ship as part of my professional educational development?
A. In some cases, you can deduct travel expenses when you attend a convention on an ocean liner or cruise ship but the rules are very strict. In order to qualify for convention write-offs — on land or sea — you must show that attendance benefits your trade or business. No deductions are allowed for meetings related to personal investments, political causes or other purposes.
When you set sail on a cruise ship convention, there are additional restrictions:
* You can only deduct the cost of a business-related convention if the cruise involves a United States flagship and all ports of call are within the U.S. or its possessions.
* There’s a $2,000 annual limit on cruise conventions.
* You must attach a written statement to your tax return that includes certain facts about the convention. Check with your tax pro for the exact information.
Tip: If you meet the qualifications for a deduction, keep a copy of the convention agenda or program with your tax records. It generally shows the purpose of the event and can be used to prove to the IRS that the convention benefited your business.
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Sunshine Select Goals
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We’re in a new period for earning Sunshine Select. If you haven’t studied this income-producing program, you need to.
Each six months you have a new QV goal. If you make it, you get a 5% discount on all of your personal orders for the next six months (6% if you order online). You also earn and additional check for your managers qualifying for Sunshine Select. It’s a great program and we have certainly enjoyed getting that extra bonus check every six months.
It’s being used to qualify for next year’s TAC trip to China also …. so it would be good to get used to watching your goal and earning some extra kudos.
Understand the program. You have to enroll.
To check your current status, use the link on the Business Reports section of the site. It says “Sunshine Select Status Report.” You can find out exactly where you are right now!
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News Within The Family
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Dianne Frase thinks she’s found some land to build not only her house but also one for her parents who are needing to be watched over more closely these days. It just happens to be across the road from where one of her son’s lives also. The one she’s been staying with since her house sold. Dianne is surrounded by family in Mobile, AL, but the less than upbeat news in her life is that her other son just moved to Louisiana. That will be an adjustment for all of them.
As mentioned above, Nathan and Kelley are getting settled in to the new home they built in Springfield, Tennessee.
John Howlett’s birthday is on Saturday, August 6th. Okay, everybody join in and sing “Happy Birthday to YOU! Happy Birthday Dear John, Happy Birthday to You!” 🙂
Edward Young will definitely be coming to Convention. There was some doubt when we announced who earned it, but he and Randal talked last week. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen him. He has a health food store in Montgomery, Alabama, and a brother in Montana (also an NSP Manager) who also has a store. Since Diane, his wife, won’t be going with the school year just beginning, we won’t get to see her.
Christina Tarman is going to be creating a domain name and home page for her essential oil newsletter and to link in the MyNSP site. She’s so artistic, I’m sure it will be very pretty.
Jennifer Valentine in Wisconsin is going retail and will be opening on Labor Day. She’s going to be doing the business with her friend who is a massage therapist. She has promised to be taking photos of the process of getting it all ready.
Welcome to Kathy Schnitzler in Snyder, Oklahoma. She’s busy with the Untold Truth Seminar materials sharing with friends and considering all of the options of how to do Sunshine, one of which is to open a small store in her town which does not have access to natural supplements.
Welcome to E.L. Cook in Kaufman, Texas, who just signed on the end of July and already has his MyNSP site up and running. He’s a retired salesman so he has hit the road running and is enjoying the process. He plans to attend the Untold Truth Seminar in September in the Fort Worth area.
Last, but not least, Robin Sockness finished out July with her highest month ever at 7118 QV. Congratulations! What an example of how even focusing on only one health issue, you can build a nice NSP business. She specializes in pets and built her managership on helping people with natural heartworm programs. Her favorite comment is “with only 5 little bottles of herbs” when she talks about building her business. Her domain site has really doubled her business and has been well worth the investment since she pays somebody to do it since she has a full-time job outside of NSP. She has just added a human section to the site to expand the Sunshine Horizons of her business.
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