Book Review: Build It Big & More Build It Big

-->

Hello Everyone!

I'm back with a 2-in-1 book review because these two books are directly related.

I was very fortunate to be nominated and accepted into the Fall 2016 online course for the AVON Leadership Academy in partnership with

the Direct Selling Women's Alliance (DSWA.)

This was a 12-week online course and it was Ahhh-mazing!!!

I started as an AVON Representative in July 2015. I'm quite new.

I've never been a salesperson, never been in marketing or wanted to be a home-based business. (I have always wanted to work from home, however.) Becoming a representative for AVON was the right thing at the right time for me due to wanting to pay off the braces my daughter was about to have put on and the next goal ~~was~~ (is) to pay off my car loan (still working on this and getting closer!)

Direct sales was not something I knew much about.

Yes, I had known people who invited me to home parties (not really my thing) and a few people who had been representatives, but I never really asked about how they worked. Now here I was a part of the mother of all home-based businesses, AVON!!!! (131 years old in 2017!!!!)

Now before I go any further, I know what you're thinking.....home-based business? You just show some brochures and put some orders together!!!!

Yes, that's what a lot of people think it is, and what some people do, but it can be made into so much more. There are personal shoppers, hobbyists, part-timers, full-timers and sales leaders. There are many avenues you can follow in this business and you can do it all from home!

I was kind of in awe at the opportunity of being able to build a business all from home for such a reasonable price.

(If you'd like to find out more, please visit this link.)

When I was presented with the chance to take the AL Academy courses,

I was excited and a bit hesitant. I hadn't attended a class in quite a long time and now I had to fit this in with my kids schedules, home-duties and my AVON business. It really wasn't that difficult to squeeze in, and there were replays I could listen to if I could not attend the webinars live.

The training was broken down into six parts:

1-Visionary Planning

2-Creating Community

3-Team Building

4-Training

5-Coaching

6-Business Management

One week would cover a topic, the following week would be a review and a coaching session with two chosen participants and plenty of time to ask questions and learn from the session. Then the following week the next topic would be covered, followed by a coaching session for that topic and so on.

Some topics I felt like I had already mastered, but many others I knew I could use a lot more training in.

I was given a digital printable workbook and the two Build It Big Books for my Kindle as part of the course. A few weeks into the course I decided it was worth buying both of the hard copies of these books because I could easily flip to a section and find information I may need to help a team member or myself. In my opinion, these books are close to being Bibles for the direct sales industry.

I will go over the general sections covered in each of these books and I hope you will consider purchasing them through the links provided if you are a part of a direct selling company. Many, many, many thanks to the DSWA for creating this program and tailoring it to AVON Representative Leaders! And to all of the contributors in these books (including my own sister, Pam Heller, which I didn't even know until I got to her chapter!) thank you for sharing your expertise and honest opinions, solutions and outlooks on what can happen in a home-based direct sales business if you have the right tools to aide you in your success!

Published in 2005

Starting Your Direct Selling Business
Booking And Coaching Your Hostess
The Art Of Selling
Sponsoring And Building Your Team
Coaching Your Team
Developing Leadership Skills
Managing Business Finances
Integrating Home And Business
Building Through Technology
Strategies For Success

Published in 2006

Direct-Selling Excellence
Sensational Shows
Networking And Prospecting
The Art Of Sponsoring
Principle-Centered Coaching
Managing Your Money
Home Business Excellence
Enlightened Leadership
Success Strategies

Purchase the Build It Big books through the below links to help Elle raise money for her vision of making this blog bigger and better in the future. Thank You!

I received a leadership pin, certificate and I can proudly display the below seal for completing the AVON Advanced Leadership Academy training.

The training has been invaluable to me and I know I will continue to come back to these two books as resources whether to help myself or my team members.