direct sales

5 Frugal Steps to Save Money on Clothes

February 19, 2019 By Joni Kinney Leave a Comment

Clothing is a necessity, but you don’t have to spend a lot to look good. Most people I know who have children have found ways or try to find ways to save money on clothes. Here are some of my favorite tips that everyone can use to help make this an area budget friendly.

If you need help saving money in other areas of your budget check out this article on 5 useful ways to save money on utilities.

Use resale shops to make purchases

Thrift shops or resale shops are great places to pick up bargains. Many people take things to these stores so that they can get credit. These credits can often be used to purchase items from the store or can be turned into cash. Every store has its own policies, but this makes thrift stores great places to pick up new wardrobe pieces.

Additionally, because their items are continually turning over, you can check several times a week and may have many things to choose from. Check for sales or when they run specials. Many thrift stores will run monthly or weekend specials that will help you save even more.

Sell older items

If you have clothes you are no longer wearing, sell them. This is a great way to save money on clothes because you can then use the money you earn to purchase new items. Using the money from your older clothing items helps ensure you continuously have a friendly clothing budget.

One of the best ways to clean out your clothing is to follow the Marie Kondo Cleaning method. She will teach you how to decide what you need to keep, as well as how to organize your items.

Buy items on clearance

When you do have to purchase something new find the clearance racks. Many people shop the clearance racks to get great deals and help you save money on clothing. Don’t forget the online clearance sections of your favorite stores too. Just because you are not in a physical store doesn’t mean you can’t find great deals.

Staple Pieces

Basic tank tops, athletic wear and basic pants do not need to be a designer. No one is going to notice if your tank top you see about two inches of is from Target. Use in-store specials and sales to maximize savings on these staple pieces.

If you are really looking to save money on clothes, skip the fancy athletic wear all together. Your work out clothes do not need to be fancy, just get what means your minimum needs. For many people that is shorts and a decent fitting tank top.

Make a list

Treat clothes shopping like you would any other shopping adventure. Start with an agenda. What are the basics you need to purchase? You may find an awesome pair of jeans, but if you already have 30 pairs at home, you are not wearing, skip that item and purchase what you need.

You are not saving money on clothes just because you bought something on sale. Like my husband always tells me we aren’t saving money by buying things we don’t need.

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Fabulous ideas for Valentine’s Day – A Gift Guide

January 27, 2019 By Joni Kinney 2 Comments

Are you trying to figure out that perfect gift for your loved one? Do you want to make sure that Valentine’s Day is special? Here are some gift guide ideas for Valentine’s Day.

If you are looking for that perfect activity to do for a date night then you need to read 10 Valentine’s Date Ideas that are Simple and Easy.

Gift ideas for Valentine’s Day

For the fashion diva in your life get her a fantastic pair of leggings with built-in support! Or one of the other clothing options! Spanx features cute apparel items ranging from shapewear to swim; they even have a men’s line.

Since there are many great ideas, we recommend you check out Top 5 Best Selling Leggings! Spanx has a wide range of products for the woman in your life.

One of my favorite places to shop for gifts is Mixbook. They have a wide range of items that can be customized. From canvas prints to Custom Photo Books at Mixbook you are almost guaranteed to find some ideas for Valentine’s day here!

Recently we visited Oahu, Hawaii and one of the things I discovered was the amazing coffee on the islands. Coffee is one of my absolute must-haves to start my day. For the coffee lover in your life, this is a great idea for Valentine’s day.

Last but not least for the entrepreneur in your life! Whether that is Direct Sales, at home business or just someone who wants to gain some extra Social Media skills. Then you must help them by purchasing one of the courses from The Socialite Suite or The Purple Teacup.

We hope you have enjoyed the ideas for Valentine’s Day that we have put together for you. Feel free to comment if you have other great ideas for those deserving a gift for Valentines.

Team Motivation for Direct Sales

July 8, 2018 By Joni Kinney Leave a Comment

Team motivation applies to everyone. Everyone is on or leads a team of some sort. You may be a team leader of your family, your friends, your town board or lead a group at a corporate job. No matter what having a confident team and team motivation determine how successful you are on a daily basis.

5 Keys to Team Motivation Success

Lead from the front – Don’t ask your team members to do things you wouldn’t do. If you aren’t putting your best foot forward your team and those around you will know it. Your team will feel like you don’t care and that is precisely the opposite of what you want.
There is POWER in staying POSTIVE. Negativity has no place in a team setting so keeping a positive mindset is critical. Find ways to encourage, work through issues and put positivity at the forefront of all the things you do.
Have a single mission. Everyone on the team needs to understand the big picture. What are you trying to accomplish? Having a purpose no matter what type of organization can mean the difference between success and failure, your mission can and should change over time. Whether your mission is to make it through the day with no boo-boos or to redesign the corporate logo you need to know what you are trying to accomplish.
Don’t spend time concentrating on things you can’t control. You can only control your reaction, your influences, and your attitudes. Don’t waste time trying to convince others you are right or your way is best. Merely lead the way, and they will get onboard with your vision or they will not. Exuding to much energy into something you can’t control is exhausting and won’t change the outcome anyway.
Gratitude! Showing others they matter means so much to them. It is your job as the leader to help your team stay positive and showing them they matter to you and each other. Team members who feel like they matter are more likely to want to stay engaged and part of the team. Help them see the vision, recognize their accomplishments (even if small) and encourage them to understand and accept others.

Team Motivation Quotes

Your energy is contagious. Either you affect people or you infect them.
Replace “I can’t” with “How can I?”
If you love someone, do not let them settle for less than their best.
When “We” comes before “Me,” you become the person and TEAM you are meant to be.
One person can’t make the team, but one person can break a team.
Dream big, sparkle more, shine brightly.
A little progress each day leads to big results.
Excellence is not a skill; it’s an attitude
Believe in yourself
Be brave enough to believe in yourself.

Looking to set some team goals? Check out our free ebook: Kinney Chaos

Instagram Auto Post: Planoly

June 1, 2018 By Joni Kinney 1 Comment

I love Instagram and my new favorite tool, Planoly! There are some visually stunning posts on Instagram and if you are into the Instagram Grid you will find some amazing creativity. With that said, I am always forgetting to actually post on Instagram. If you are stuck on what to post on Instagram, check out our article on types of photos to post.

Let’s face it as someone who is trying to increase their social media awareness you can’t afford to forget to post on one of the social media channels you are trying to build. I am a planner and like to spend a few hours at the beginning of the week creating all my graphics and posts across all of my social media channels. My one missing piece was a way to auto post on Instagram. So I was super excited to find Planoly which will auto post for you!

Insert my new best friend: Planoly!

This amazing little tool of creative goodness let’s you set your images to auto post on Instagram! This is a game changer for those who like to plan ahead and set up their social media posts.

Some great Features include:

Visual Organization: You can see how your posts look together and create a cohesive brand awareness by seeing how your images work together before they actually post.
Pre Write your Posts: Yay! I love being able to plan out what I want to say. This is especially helpful if you are using an challenge or prompts to create your posts.
Analytics: You are going to want to at a minimum check out to see how your posts are doing and see which ones are getting you the most bang for your buck. Therefore creating more posts like the ones that do well and minimizing the ones that don’t.

Let me know what you think of Planoly by commenting on this article!

Direct Sales: What types of Instagram Photos should I post?

May 23, 2018 By Joni Kinney Leave a Comment

Instagram is an amazing tool you can use to express your personality for both personal and business. However many people wonder what are the best Instagram photos to post? Here are some different types of instagram photos that will allow you to help maximize your engagement and interaction.

Instagram Photos with Quotes

The first type of photo you will often see is something with a fun quote. These quotes are often motivational and inspirational. They can be so fun to read what others think people need to see. Keep these types of posts short!

Current Events

By being responsible and posting to relevant current event hashtags will pull people to you. If you combine this with good hashtags, great content and useful ideas/perspectives on things happening around us right now will help boost your posts. Make sure you are not taking advantage of social situations or current events though as that would do the opposite of what you are trying to accomplish.

Organizational Photos

There is something to be said about a well lit, fun photo of objects. This is another great way to help push forward your brand awareness. Read more about how to brand yourself if you don’t already have a personal brand established.

Seasonal Photos

There is just something fun about Christmas Lights, BBQ photos, Valentines hearts and fun loving photos around holidays that make people happy. Your audience should want to get to know you and what your family is doing. That doesn’t mean you have to always share overly personal things, but giving your audience a glimpse into your life makes you relatable. That makes people want to get to know you, and to ultimately follow you on social media.

Selfies

Look to take selfies in unique places to provide fun backgrounds. I’ve recently taken some selfies in hardware stores, craft stores, and randomly along the road. Try to mix in your unique personality with your selfies and show your audience a variety of things and unique color blends to stand out.

With all those ideas the number one characteristic of amazing content that will attract new people to your photo is the ability of your audience to relate to the photo. If you are being authentic, sharing good content, fun ideas and being genuine people are sure to find you.

Great photos and an awesome hashtag strategy are sure fire ways to get you more followers on Instagram. If you want additional tips on how to rock out Instagram I suggest you check out the Suite Success with Instagram video course! This course will help you set up your profile, content and hashtag strategy!

What is a Blog?

May 18, 2018 By Joni Kinney Leave a Comment

If you’ve found your way here you have probably heard someone or seen a post somewhere talking about a blog. Well Ok… but…. what is a blog?

Definition: What is a Blog?

A simple definition is a personal website that gives you a source for information.

Originally blogs were called weblogs and then shortened to just blogs. So really they are in some ways an online log book or some would say they are similar to online journals.

Types of Blogs

Ok well that definition didn’t really address the point, now did it? Truthfully blogs can be so many things it’s hard to put a solid definition of what they are and what they are not. There are many different types of Blogs… from very specific (about 1 brand, 1 item, 1 topic) to very general (Lifestyle). Some blogs really focus all about about one persons life, beliefs, etc and others are a collections of articles from a larger community. Most blogs will still serve a purpose. Whether that purpose is to tell you about the bloggers life or about a specific brand really depends on the overall type of blog they are writing.

Blog Posts

The fundamental purpose of a blog is to provide the reader with different blog posts or articles. Every blogger will have multiple things they want to talk about and no matter what they center around they help build that blog and the blogs credibility. Blog posts can contain a wide variety of things from pictures, to graphics, to full on text, to videos. etc.

Why do People Blog?

Well there is an interesting question. For me personally it’s an outlet of information I’ve gathered that people have asked me for or that I think they should know. But there are many reasons someone may choose to blog including:

Making Money
Finding people with their opinions
To gain information
To give information

So hopefully I’ve helped answer that original question you had… What is a Blog? Comment below or message me and tell me what you think about this article and tell me what you think blogging is.

Oh and if you are thinking you’d really like to start a blog of your own… Head on over to The Socialite Suite and watch for them to announce their Blogging Boot camps. These courses are pricey but oh so worth it, they TEACH you how to set up your own blog and guide you through the entire process.