Working In PJ’s Articles

By Liz Folger, Work-at-home mom expert and founder of Bizymoms.com

You’ve just had this beautiful baby. And then it happens.they cry, they fuss and you have no idea what it is they want. What’s worse is that for the next 13 to 15 months you’re going to have little clue why this new beautiful bundle of joy is upset. But do you really have to wait that long?

“Research has shown that while babies may lack the fine motor skills to speak, they do have the ability to understand and use language as early as 6-7 months. And given the right guidance, they have lots to say - with their hands.” Says Diane Ryan, Kindersigns founder, a certified speech and language pathologist, and an expert when it comes to teaching babies sign language.

So what does this mean exactly? Is Diane telling us that we don’t have to wait until our babies are talking for us to know what they want? This almost sounds too good to be true.

I decided to do a little research and see if this was really possible. I talked with Jill Paron-St. Louis who has a 17-month-old son named Nathan. Nathan has been signing with his mom since he was 10 months old.

Even before Jill was pregnant with Nathan she knew she wanted to teach her baby to sign. Jill graduated with a sign language communications degree in 1994, and was teaching hearing impaired children. Jill explains, “I knew when I eventually had children, that I wanted them to learn how to communicate in American Sign Language. It is a wonderful language and I wanted to introduce it to them out of interest, and if by chance they ever met a child in school one day, they could communicate through Sign Language.”

While Jill was pregnant with Nathan she also started to read many articles about the benefits of teaching hearing babies to sign. She learned that there were many more benefits to signing to a pre-verbal baby than she had ever realized. The only problem was she had no idea how to actually go about teaching signs to her son. She found out about a business opportunity that could teach parents how to sign to their babies and jumped on the idea.

Jill started teaching Nathan to sign when he was ten months old. She didn’t know what to expect at first or how long it would take for him to learn. She says, “I started teaching my son to sign at 10 months, I remember after about 8 weeks thinking he just wasn’t getting it. I couldn’t help but think I was doing something wrong, but I stuck it out and after 10 weeks of teaching him, he signed back to me! While sitting in his high chair he signed that he wanted “More Cheerios!!” I was so excited!”

Since that first “More Cheerios” sign, Nathan hasn’t stopped signing. He is 17 months old and knows 30 signs and is learning more every day. Besides the signs, his vocabulary is incredible. He now knows about 75 words. Jill explains, “He is a very happy and calm baby. The only times he really gets frustrated is when he can’t have something he wants. Otherwise, he is able to tell me what he wants without any frustration. If he’s thirsty, or tired, or hungry, or wants me to read him a book he tells me. It’s just amazing!!!”

Jill has been able to get her whole family involved too. Her husband and parents, who are 65 years old, have learned sign language so they could talk with Nathan too. Jill says, “This experience has been extremely rewarding for us all!”

Not only has this been an incredible experience for Jill’s family, but she has also been able to create a very rewarding business as well. She is now able to teach other parents to sign to their babies. When Nathan was about 14 months old and was signing back to Jill on a regular basis, Jill felt confident to start teaching other parents. She started her business called, Baby Signers.

Jill held her first baby-signing workshop in May of 2005 at a woman’s home and then followed that by giving a private class for her and three of her friends. “I left feeling confident and proud with the information I had given them,” Says Jill. Four months later Jill taught another six private workshops and five public ones with more classes scheduled. She estimates that she has already taught between 65-70 people how to sign to their babies. “It is extremely rewarding and I often get emails from people letting me know that their babies have started to sign back,” Explains Jill.

This business has been perfect for Jill. “I love the freedom that Kindersigns gives. We are able to say that we have been trained by them, but still have complete control over all our marketing and pricing, and in just four months I have made a name for myself,” Says Jill, who is very excited about the future of her business. She hopes to have more babies of her own to teach this special way of communication as well as many new clients down the road.

You don’t need to have to have a degree in sign language or be a speech therapist to teach sign language to parents. Kindersigns will certify you and you’ll be on your way to owning your own business very soon.

To receive more information for free CLICK HERE!

If you want to start a home business, but don’t want to make your own products, you may want to consider a job opportunity instead. These opportunities are often called multi level marketing or MLM businesses, because you can recruit other people to sell products under you and you will receive a portion of the money the company makes on your people’s product sales.

One popular MLM company is Avon, which sells cosmetics, bath products, and gifts. I am an Avon representative, mainly because I like Avon products, as do my family members. I get products for myself at a discount and sell a few products to friends and family to cover shipping and order processing costs. However, there are many active Avon reps that make a good living selling these products and others who make enough to supplement a spouse’s income while being stay at home parents.

Benefits:
* Avon is one of the cheapest MLM companies you can find. Becoming an Avon rep is cheaper than a trip to the movies.
* Avon has brand recognition. Many people enjoy Avon products.
* You can sell Avon online if you pay Avon a bit extra for the site.
* You can get a nice discount on products you will actually use.

Drawbacks:
* With Avon, you will need to place monthly orders. If you do not place a monthly order, Avon may ship you a random item to keep your account active.
* It can be difficult to get a hold of Avon customer service by phone. You may have to e-mail them for help.
* If your customers change their minds about buying products, you will either have to pay to send them back to Avon or pay the bill, keep them yourself, and hope you can re-sell them.
* If you don’t have many friends, don’t work outside the house, and are new in town, it can be hard to get people to buy Avon from you. It is easier if you or your spouse has a job with a large company or if you are active in the community. However, with perserverance and determination, you will eventually get your first customer, who will probably refer other people to you.

Would you like to become an Avon representative? Go to www.youravon.com/ for details.

By Anita DeFrank

Home parties can be a lot of fun and a great way to earn extra money. Following a simple guideline can help you have a successful home party that runs smoothly and everyone enjoys. The following guideline will give you a basic idea of how to do this and can easily be adjusted to fit your own tastes.

Before the Guests arrive…

Be sure to arrive at your hostess’s home about an hour or so before the start of your party to review any last minute details. Set up refreshment table. Re-arrange furniture if needed. Set up your display. Do a quick review of the guest list. Review any before-party sales. Don’t forget to lay out the catalogs, brochures and business cards!

Greeting the Guests…

Have the hostess warmly greet each guest as they arrive. Have her introduce you and engage in some general chit-chat. Ask them about themselves, what do they do, how do they know the hostess, do they have any children? Remember to smile!

The Ice Breaker…

Games are a perfect ice breaker. Play a game or two to make the guests feel welcome and comfortable. Make your games fun and with as much interaction with the guests as possible. Another good ice breaker is to thank your hostess for holding the party and giving her a gift. If you offer gifts to guests who bring friends; now’s the time do hand them out.

The Presentation…

Start showing guests the items that you’ve brought for display and give a brief description that you’ve prepared before-hand on each one. Guests love hands-on viewing. After each description, hand the merchandise to the guests to get a better look and pass around. At the end of your presentation, discuss the opportunity for guests to become hostesses themselves and briefly discuss the rewards. Be sure at some point to open the floor to the guests for any questions, comments and/or concerns. At this time the hostesses should be doing any last minute preparations of the refreshments.

Finishing up Guest Orders…

Be prepared to help guests fill in their order forms and answer any questions about sales tax and shipping costs. It might not be a bad idea to bring along a calculator for quicker or more accurate order totals. Also be prepared to accept checks and let it be known who you’d prefer the checks to be written. Make sure you thank each guest who purchases and give them a copy of the completed order form.

Ending the Show…

Make sure you once again thank the hostess for having the show. Be sure to thank each guest for coming as they leave whether they made a purchase or not. Don’t forget to have all the needed information to contact guests after the party concerning their orders or potentially hosting a party themselves. And don’t forget to have fun!

About the Author
Anita DeFrank a WAHM of two and co-owner of DirectSalesHelpers.com which was created specifically for those in Direct Sales. Do you find yourself asking how to make more sales? The above is only a small taste of the wealth of information available at http://www.directsaleshelpers.com. Stop on in if you’re serious about your direct sales company and want to know how you can make more sales.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/