Why I Love Mary Kay--Commissions!

I've had many people ask me why I sell Mary Kay, as a man. I mean, men don't wear lipstick, so why would I sell it? First of all, take a look at the Mary Kay website sometime. Mine is here. You'll find out that Mary Kay is more than just lipstick. Second of all, men sell everything from ladies lingerie to yachts. Does it matter if I make a living off of "just lipstick"? It shouldn't. Besides, the company is amazing.

I would like to share with you the marketing plan from Mary Kay--the commissions and prizes we earn from Mary Kay. Ask yourself, does your current job or Direct Sales company do the same? It is worth a shot to earn some of these? What I love about Mary Kay--the company posts the minimum requirements. ANYONE who meets the requirements earns the reward. If the company needs to give the same reward to a million people, they will.

You start out by signing your agreement and becoming an Independent Beauty Consultant under someone. For most, they start out under a Recruiter and a lot of others start out under a Director. Neither matters since everyone has a Director somewhere.

As a Consultant, you earn 50% off of everything that you sell. You buy the product from the company first (say a lipstick, for example at $7.50). You then sell it for the suggested retail ($15). This is no secret, so nobody in Mary Kay is going to be upset with me for sharing this information with you. The more you sell, the more you earn, but your commission is always 50%. You can choose to give away some of your commission by giving away free product to those who help you find more customers, but that is an individual thing. We all love doing it!

I know a lady who sold $100,000 in product each year. She was the Queen of Sales every year. That means, she was making $50,000 just in her commissions alone. She was not a recruiter. She was a retail seller. You can do this if you which. Nobody will make you recruit anyone. I have no idea how long it took her to generate such sales, but I do know she had done it for years by the time I met her.

If you choose to recruit people, you will start to earn bonuses off of their wholesale purchases to the company (the lipstick we buy for $7.50 and sell for $15). You make nothing off the $15. Your commission comes from the $7.50, which the company sends to you. We do not buy products from each other. We all buy straight from the company (to ensure everyone is getting a 50% commission). You will never give any commissions to your recruiter and none of your recruits will give you any. Like I said, it all comes from big Mary Kay.

If you recruit one or two people who start selling product, you become a Senior Consultant. You are eligible for 4% commission from everything they buy from the company. We call these "love checks" since they are not usually huge. Every $1000 in product they buy from the company, you earn $40. It is in YOUR best interest to make sure your team knows how to make money and sell product. The more they sell, the more you earn. So, make sure your team members are hooked up with your Director. It's her job anyway to train new people. That's why she earns the big checks.

If you have 3-4 personal team members, you continue to earn 4% commission, but you are now a Star Team Builder or a "Red Jacket". We call these people Red Jackets, because they get to wear one as a symbol of their status. You even get it nearly free the first time you buy one. The company gives you a voucher to get one at a big discount. You also earn a $50 bonus on the 4th team member and EVERY ONE after that, forever! Okay, not forever. As least as long as you are alive and in Mary Kay.

After the 5th team member, you are now a Team Leader. Your commissions move up to 9%, depending on activity. So that $40 commission just jumped to $90. Depending on your team's orders and your own personal orders, that 9% can jump to 13%. If you do it right, you can jump from $40 to $130 overnight. :) Also depending on production levels of your team, you can start to earn the use of a FREE CAR. At this point, the car is a white Chevy Cruz. We'll talk about how to win a car later. Just know that 5 personal team members is the minimum to go into qualification to earn a car.

At 8 personal team members, you are a Future Director. Commissions are the same at this point. Remember, it's 9-13% commission off of purchases of your team members from the company, plus $50 off of each one, starting with #4. At 10 personal team members, you can go into Director Qualification. We call these, Directors-in-Qualification or DIQs. You are not required to become a Director, just know you need at least 10 personal team members to consider it. Director Qualification is another subject, just like Car Qualification.

But, just so you know, once you become a Director, that $50 recruiting bonus jumps to $100. And the 4-13% bonus, jumps from 4% to as much as 36%. So your $40 commission off of $1000 jumps to a $360 commission, depending on levels of production and individuals (your personal team member commission is going to be different than your down line commission--which is also another topic).

Directors are the individuals who earn the Chevy Equinox, Toyota Corolla or AS OF JAN 1, 2014, a BMW 320i (all 3 are black) OR, if they are top Directors, a Pink Cadillac (SRX or CTS). Directors can also earn the Top Director Trip. For 2014, the trip is to Maui, Hawaii, with a bonus (if you earn it) to San Francisco--all paid for by Mary Kay (on top of all those bonuses and free cars you've earned).

This is why I love Mary Kay. And it only costs $100, plus shipping and tax to get started. Is it worth it to you? Mary Kay posts the monthly commission checks of many of the Directors each month. I know some National Sales Directors who earn $100,000 a month in commissions. Now, these are rare ladies indeed (and no men have ever achieved this level--but I will). Don't you want a shot at it? I know, I do!

If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them. But this marketing plan is why I LOVE MARY KAY!

Take care!

I'm very flattered

Well, it has been well over a year since I posted anything on this blog, made a video on Youtube, tweeted much, etc. Yet oddly enough, I still have people reading this blog. I even get emails, comments on my blog and a phone call or two from people interested. I'm very flattered that I have a following of some kind. My sole purpose is to assist those who have questions. Feel free to ask any questions. I'll do my best to answer them as quickly as I can.

So, it's a new year and some changes have happened in my life. Mostly, I plan on building my Mary Kay business. I want the things I talk about in this blog. I want to be able to drive a free car from Mary Kay (yes! I will drive around in a pink Cadillac if I earn one--why not? it's free!). I've never owned a brand new car before. Even though I won't technically own this car from Mary Kay, it's still brand new and I get to drive it. And I love that I get a new one every two years, so long as I meet the requirements to earn one. Where else can you go where they'll take your "old" car back and give you a new one every two years? I don't know of many places. Feel free to let me know where these places are. I'm sure others wouldn't mind working for such companies.

I want the trips around the world, the jewelry, the cash bonuses, etc. I am looking for people who want that as well. I want to be a Director, where I can inspire many people to achieve their dreams by teaching, coaching and guiding. I know many ladies who I think would be incredible Directors, if they would just give Mary Kay a chance. I can see them as powerful business women who mentor other ladies. I also know there are men out there who understand the opportunity. I want to inspire them to know that men can sell skin care and make-up just as well as ladies--and the ladies don't mind at all.

I want to find people who want free products from me just for being my customer. I want to spoil those who introduce me to new customers. The only way I am successful at Mary Kay is if I have customers who enjoy the product. I am not a pushy salesperson. I am a CONSULTANT. I consult with you on your skin care needs and help you find the products and tools that help you achieve those needs. And if you can't afford some of the products I have, I am willing to help you earn them for free. What would you buy from Mary Kay if you could get $100 worth of product for free? Contact me and I'll let you know what we can do together so you can earn this $100 shopping spree. I love to give away product (see, I'm not a pushy salesman or I'd not give you anything for free).

In short, I am going to be more dedicated to social media. I am actively interviewing people who want a job. For now, I can only interview those in the United States and its territories. International will come, but one step at a time. I am looking for hosts who want $100 in free product and I am looking for customers who want top customer service and expert consultation.

Feel free to share this with your friends.

Take care!

Mary Kay is Too Complicated

From time to time, I've heard people tell me that Mary Kay is too complicated as a business. You have to know your products, find people who will meet with you, market yourself and "compete" against other Mary Kay Consultants. That may be true, but I hardly find Mary Kay a complicated business.

My wife is a pastry chef and a cake decorator. She's actually a very good one. She studied her craft in St. Petersburg, Russia (where she is from) and worked in a 5 Star Hotel and a high end restaurant on Nevskii Prospekt, the main street running through St. Petersburg. My wife wants to have her own business, where she is making custom wedding cakes and cakes for all occasions. To get an idea of what I am talking about, I suggest you visit her website: www.thecakemanor.com (and yes, that is a plug for her business at the same time).

My wife and I are realizing really quickly how complicated starting a new business is. There is a bakery for sale that we are interested in. It's much easier to take an existing business and go with it than start from the beginning. To buy the bakery, we need to have a business loan. To get a business loan, we need to have a business plan. To get a business plan, you need to have someone with a lot more experience than I have.

I have never written a business plan before. I'm slowly working through it anyway. And I am lucky to have a few people who are willing to look it over for me.

In addition to the business plan and the loan, I am the sole marketer for our business. I created the webpage (from Vista Print) and used the template for the business cards. We had to look for general liability insurance and we'll need a commercial kitchen in the future as well.

Basically, we are starting everything from the beginning, which is exactly where we are--the beginning. But there are so many things I never thought about. One solution leads to another question. One step forward creates 5 new issues that need to be addressed. I am not complaining, since this is my wife's business. But, I am overwhelmed.

My Mary Kay business, on the other hand, cost me $100 to start, plus tax and shipping. I do not need liability insurance with Mary Kay. The Company already has that. Mary Kay also has a 100% satisfaction guarantee, which makes it easy on me. I didn't have to create a website. I only had to pay for it (and add my personal information). It only costs me $50 for the year (our Vista page costs $10 per month). I didn't have to look for business cards. I just had to fill out my contact information, choose the style and pay for them.

The only other thing I had to purchase was my inventory (which is not required, but let's be serious--if you want to run a retail business, you need to have something to sell). Mary Kay does the advertising, marketing, even uploads videos to Youtube. Mary Kay puts together the catalog and prints them. I just need to decide who to send them to.

But seriously, if Mary Kay is really that complicated, I want to know which business (or job) out there that is less complicated.