A shredded business of strings!

Before we go to the ender conversation, let’s look back that leader and change it up a little.

The leader, as we talked about yesterday, is the piece of scrap fabric that catches all the little pieces of threads so our sew pieces will be perfect. But then, when they get too full, they get thrown away.

Hang on, wait a minute! Isn’t that what we do when we are leaders, getting all these things hanging on to us and dragging us down?

We often want to ditch the whole project or whatever, and trash it! I know I have taken on way too many strings in the past and felt so overwhelmed that I wanted to curl up with a big bowl of popcorn and watch Hallmark movies for days!

The truth is that it would not have changed anything. *sigh* I had to figure out how to get this mess cleaned up.

But what if we did this another way, what if we turned that leader into another project?

Okay, so there is this quilter named Bonnie Hunter. She does a lot of amazing quilts, all made from scraps! She has these patterns that are all made from what she calls leader/ender quilts.

What she does is cut up quilt pattern and then lays these pieces near her sewing machine. For the sake of painting a picture for you, I am going to say you are making a double Irish chain quilt.

Stick with me here, this quilt is made up of 2.5 X 2.5 inch squares….ALOT of them! To sit and sew all these squares would probably make the sane want to drink non-stop…lol. Just kidding, but it would get old and boring FAST.

This can be like your business. You are grabbing the same people (the 2.5 x 2.5 inch squares) and trying to sew your business together. You are getting frustrated and bored and falling out of love with all FAST!

So, how do you over come this? Well, what if you had a project or 2 that involved different techniques, patterns, shapes and more?

What if you started on a project that you have been wanting to do for a while? That would make life more fun, right?!

So, Bonnie Hunter started the leader/ender projects. You pick a pattern you like or love. You cut everything out and sew it as normal, with one twist….no scrap pieces for leader/ender. Instead, you are going to take all those 2.5 X 2.5 inch squares you cut up for your Irish chain quilt and push them under the needle.

So, let’s say you are making that blue and brown star quilt you have wanted to make for a while. You lay out the fabrics and the pattern and you cut out all the pieces to sew together.

You go to your machine, you set up all the 2.5 X 2.5 inch squares for the Irish chain. You put in a scrap fabric to start the machine, and then start on your pattern.

In quilting, you can do what is called chain piecing. It is efficient because you can sew a huge line of similar pieces without stopping. It is much more efficient than sewing one piece at a time!

In our business, our goal is to surround ourselves with like minded people. We want to have strong leaders and a solid team. But sometimes we wake up and we find that everyone around us is like a bunch of useless strings!

I once had a downline that was over 200 people, but 90% of them were like strings. The did nothing. I could not understand why they wouldn’t want to work but would want to be in the company. They were like strings hanging off a piece of fabric. They really serve no purpose. Not for themselves or our team.

I know, I sound horrible. But the whole reason we build a business and work with a team is so that we have a TEAM. If everyone is sitting on the sideline, it is not a team effort.

Back to the leader/ender. We are sewing our new brown/blue pattern that we have wanted to do for a while. This would be like drafting up what our ideal team looks like and making a marketing pattern that attracted those people to us!

This can be done. We have an application process to have people see if they qualify to be a part of our team. It isn’t that they need that to be in the MLM, it is that we want to spend time with those who are like minded and will be an active part of our team.

It is kind of like picking the ugliest fabric you can and then sitting down to create a quilt with it. You would probably not finish it and you would not want to keep it, even if you did finish it. Let’s face it, it is not your cup of tea. You are better off donating the fabric and not wasting your time!

So, you sew a bunch of triangles to form sections on your quilt. It is time to press those so you can do the next step. The chain piecing is done for that section. You have 2 choices, you can either end the stitching and go press your pieces. Or you can do what Bonnie Hunter teaches and use your 2.5 X 2.5 inch squares.

You sew the last triangle. You take 2 of the 2.5 X 2.5 inch squares and you sew them, but rather than push them all the way through, you place them under the foot and leave the needle in the down position to hold it steady.

So, let’s look at the going to press and ending the stitching. What is this like in your business?

I have to bounce….I will finish tomorrow!

The 🤫“dirty secret” and the golden nugget…Have you ever been asked what you do for a living? What is the answer? Can you tell me in no more than 4 sentences? Do you hesitate? You need to work on this aspect of your business this week.

That way, when your dream customer finds you, they will ask, and you can tell them in less than 4 sentences what it is that you do to serve THEM.

If the wrong customer asks, you will have 4 sentences that will repel them. That is a good thing!

What is the one thing today that took most of your time? Make notes of how to not allow it to steal so much tomorrow!

Upline secrets — Time management. They work hard on this and create specific blocks of time for each task at hand. We will talk more about this later!

For now, I have to bounce…

Be your best and don’t copy your upline!

Cheers,

Stacey

I promise that if you follow me for the next 365 days, your business will be stronger. You will have more of the people you WANT in your business and you will be happier and financially stronger!

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