Day 9: Presentations with fun not fear

One of the primary reasons I came up with this idea was to encourage my quiet girl to relax and learn that public speaking can be fun.

Up until now, we've focused on math skills (calculating percentages for donations, etc); more thoughtful writing (vision statements) and even social issues (which causes they wanted to support). 

But now it was time to dig into the pile of bags from the consultant kit and get to presentations.

I was running late making dinner so I thought I'd throw the idea out there and see if the girls would be interested. They were.

We talked about how a company like Thirty-One's success is entirely based on communications. They are relying on the consultants to communicate in person and online to sell the product. Therefore, they've hired talented professionals to put together their print and online media in the most compelling, enticing manner possible.

Out of the consultant kit, I chose the Cinch Sac. I chose it for a couple of reasons because: 1. I thought it was one of the more kid-friendly products and 2. I thought it seemed overpriced and not like such a great item from my experience with cinch sacs put out by other companies.I thought this might give them more of a challenge.

Well first off, I opened the packaging and quickly discovered this wasn't close to similar bags I've seen or the kids have gotten for free as promotions at the State Fair, etc. This is actually a really nice bag with a lot of carefully considered finishes that I bet will keep it lasting for a longtime.

Then I gave the bag to the kids. I told them to get a piece of scrap paper and their thesaurus. Their task was to brainstorm, individually, all the attributes of the bag and some good suggested uses to be used as the basis for a 3 minute presentation that I would film. I encouraged them to look up new and better adjectives and to consider their audience. Were they talking to the moms who would do the buying or the kids who would put it on a wishlist?

Immediately, they began taking turns carefully investigating the bag's features and then scribbling down notes. See the photo above. They were laughing, hiding their ideas from each other and filling their pages with writing - even the 7 year old. Getting the 7 year old to participate was great because she tends to be a perfectionist and if she can't write the entire page without a spelling error, she's not interested. But somehow, she got caught up in the fun and was writing away.

So the plan is that sometime this weekend we will film their first "draft" of their presentation. The older two need to give me their presentations written up also.

Then they'll watch their own. After, I'll show them some of the videos the home office provides for consultants and ask them to compare and contrast. What did they communicate well? What could use improvement? How was their delivery? Did they effectively reach their target audience?

Using their self-critique, they'll get a chance for changes and a second filming. 

My hope is that there is a vast improvement between each one's first and second draft, that they'll feel a little less self-conscious with an item to focus on and they'll ask to do more. 

Could we accomplish this without the actual bags? Of course. We could go to the pantry and pick out any product and pretend to sell it. However, we wouldn't necessarily have the professional marketing material to compare and contrast. You could look at a commercial but that's sort of the final product. What we have access to is more of the how & why to present the item as deemed by the company. And then there's the added fun of raising money for the non-profits they chose and the family goal (which still hasn't been determined).

I'll let you know how it goes. 

I'm so pleased that this project brings out laughter with them. The bad news is that they've made me promise not to post their videos here or on fb. Maybe if they come out really well, the girls will change their minds. 

Oh hey - great news! Thirty-One is running a special for the first two weeks of October. You can now join as a consultant for just $1. With this option, you don't get the kit of goods but you can quickly earn some product with your first sales. 

The way Thirty-One works you pay a $14.50 per month fee to access your online website. But you could sign up for the $1, pay the first $14.50 and then cancel before the second month kicked in if you just wanted to try it for a little bit and see if it's worth it. 

Or who knows, you might get hooked and love to earn the 25% commissions for some extra holiday cash. Plus, you also might just sign-up to get the discount for your own holiday shopping. Send me an email if you have any questions: mylifewithpurls at gmail.com.

Here is a link about the $1 sign-up. We sure would appreciate you signing up under me, Becky Smith, to support Project Toteschooling. 

Oh - if you're interested in the Cinch Sac above, here's a link. They are $20 each and really are nice - grommets at the openings where the cord goes through; the cord is squishy and much softer than that hard cord some on the market have and there's a huge zipper compartment on the front. The fabric is multiple thicknesses with the pocket and really easy to wipe clean. This isn't just a kid's bag by any means. 

Day 2: When Will the Box Arrive???

I told the girls yesterday about the idea of using Thirty-One as part of our language arts, writing, math and public speaking curriculum.

They were THRILLED!

And now they're eagerly awaiting the arrival of the consultant kit. Here's what should be arriving in the next couple of days.

Day #2

Today's Plan:

• What is Thirty-One? How do Commissions Work? etc.
• How to Set a Realistic Goal & Determine Our Goals?
• What Should We Call This Fun Project?

While we wait for the goods, we're going to start today with reviewing what the company is, what it sells and how it sells it. I won't show them too much of the promotional material they just need a general idea of what this is all about. I want to preserve their current understanding of what those promotional items should look like and say so we can have a great compare/contrast later with our writing projects.

We'll talk about the different goals consultants have: fun, extra spending money, full-time income and how that correlates to amount of effort/time put in. 

And then, they'll set their collective goal. 

Remember, my plan is that whatever money we make (by the grace of God) we'll divide 50/50 between monthly charitable donations and a family "something" - I can't wait to see what the kids pick.

When talking about goals, we'll be doing lots of math backwards and forewards. In other words, we'll start with "If we sell $200, how much commission would we make?" and "If we want to raise $100 per month for a charity, how much would we have to sell?" 

Did you read that? They're going to be doing real life math problems over and over again, most likely without complaining! I'm hoping this project might reframe math for them into a fun, powerful tool... it's reaching but I'm an optimist.

We'll see where the conversation leads but I might even have them look into some of the non-profits they are hoping to support and see what different sums of money can buy, ie. $5 to feed a family one meal.

By the way, did I mention that I have told the girls that we will work on this project every day that they complete all their work and chores without a struggle? Oh my word! Can you imagine? Could I have just squelched tween complaining? From this blog to God's ears.

Ok, I'm soooo excited. Are you? 

Remember, if you want to join us, here's the link to sign up.  https://www.mythirtyone.com/1867915/shop/join

Tune in tomorrow to see what happened & our next steps.

Day 1: Thirty-One as Curriculum

Day 1 - The Plan

I bet you didn't expect that, did you?

You read it right. 

Yesterday, I talked about slowing our family schedule down and being more selective about the activities to which we allocate our time.

Today, I'm focusing on using the advantages we have as homeschoolers for real-life learning. We have the time. They love project based learning. They love experiments. So, wouldn't promoting and selling a real product be a combination of the two?

I think so and so we'll give it a try.

My out of pocket expense is $99 for the Consultant Kit. Let's face it, I've spend that on just one subject for one child in curriculum. And essentially, that's how I'm looking at that fee.. as curriculum.

For $99, we're getting access to a company built completely on communication. That's what the consultants do - whether it be face to face at a party, or written in an online approach. AND, it's the company's best interest to support their consultants with marketing materials - so for $99 we'll have access to professionally designed and written marketing materials.

Starts to make sense, doesn't it?

Of course, this won't be child labor - no I am not making the kids do parties or necessarily have any direct contact with customers.

But what I might do is say, here is your product line - a line of thermal products for carrying food. Ok, 

What features would you want to highlight? 

Who would be the market for this product? 

How and where would they use it? 

So how can we achieve that in a promotional email? a short video presentation? 

What adjectives would you use to describe it?

Then maybe, they'll design a flyer (writing, computer & graphics skills being used) and then we'll compare it to the one Thirty One designed. Which is more effective? Why?

We'll write short demonstration scripts and actually video a demo video explaining and promoting the product (writing, public speaking skills used) and then compare and contrast to the professional ones. 

Exciting, engaging, motivating writing projects are endless! 

Then there's graphic design and computer skills in creating product flyers.

And how about math! Oh my goodness the opportunities are endless. 

Just off the top of my head, there's:

  * Figuring out your commission (percentages)

  * Reverse Engineering a fundraising goal - if local group X wants to raise $500, how much product        would they need to sell as a group? per each group member?

  * Even my 2nd grader could use the order form to practice simple adding and subtracting with     

    carrying by filling it in with an order (more writing!) and then adding it all up.

  * How about learning about accounts payable and receivable. We can track our business and use this      as an experiment. Ok, 9/2016 we invest $99. We'll track all of our individual expenses with         

     business materials, shipping materials and postage, cost of fun marketing promotions, etc. Then,          add in the commissions we earn and see where we are at in June, 2017. (Excel Spreadsheets &      

     Accounting)

Also, Marketing. Who is the customer for this and how will you effectively sell to them.

Then there's learning about the value of a dollar. I have to say, I think it's inevitable that entitlement rears its ugly head in every child's development at one point or another. I recently had my 13 year old tell me in disgust, "You're not even loaning me $100, it's only $80." Ah, excuse me. 

So, what if we are modestly successful and actually have someone buy something and make some money. I'll have the kids set a goal to use with the money earned in our 9 months. All the intrinsic learning about realistic expectations; breaking a large goal into monthly goals along the way, etc. 

I'm also hoping that they might understand the value of work. Perhaps at the end, the goal they pick in September won't seem worthy of the effort they put in. 

And finally, my favorite part, 50% of any commissions earned will be donated to a local non-profit! 

Charity, community service, I love it! 

My expectation is that they will choose a different non-profit for each month. I know the local humane society will top that list but my hope is that over the course of 9 months, they'll need to research other non-profits in the area to find other worthy recipients. Learning about their community's needs, who is out there helping and how they, as kids, can have a positive impact on all of that will be a tremendous achievement.

I'm not completely sure what will happen except for a tremendous amount of meaningful, engaging learning that I hope will be received enthusiastically by the girls.

Am I completely insane? Maybe. But this just might be the ticket to not only get my reluctant writer and shy speaker, communicating well and confidently, all with some laughter and fun. Really, how could this fail?

My plan is to post our projects here to both chronicle our work and maybe guide/inspire other homeschooling families. We'll have a Pinterest board up soon with links. And, I hope that we also have a blog/vlog that will be the live product of their work - to promote the products in writing and video posts. I'll insert those links soon. 

Anyone want to join us? If you do, the Consultant Kit is $99 and let's face it - you do get over $300 worth of bags that really are pretty terrific. And like I said earlier, consider it curriculum. You can quit at any time and they require $200 over a 3 month period to stay active. I'm hoping some kind souls (or maybe Grandma) will help us get there.

If you do want to join us, we sure would appreciate it if you used this link to sign up. We get credit for that and even a penny or two from your sales - more percentage computing!!

Here's the link.

Thanks everyone and remember to check back. You may find something inspirational or a great laugh at my expense. It's ok. It'll be fun, that I can promise.