Showing posts with label Norwex. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Norwex. Show all posts

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Tip of the day: Husking made easier!

We've gotten a great crop of sweet corn this year, and I've been husking it with the kids like crazy in the last few weeks--either for dinner, or to preserve it in the freezer. The one thing that makes me crazy about corn is all that hair! It's a pain to get off the ears and then it gets everywhere else when you're done. You'd think it shouldn't be that hard to clean up, but it's just sticky enough to prove you wrong.

Norwex has come through again and made my life easier. I learned that the polishing side of the Veggie and Fruit Scrub Cloth is excellent for getting off those little hairs on the corn. Then, by chance I figured out that the Rubber Brush sweeps it all into a neat pile for easy clean-up. I decided to try the rubber brush trick after finding out how effective it was at removing the pet hair from the floor of our minivan.

So while I wouldn't go so far as to say that husking corn is now the highlight of my day, I would say it's not the chore it was before.


Saturday, August 25, 2012

So how's the Norwex? And how about that writing?

I know it's been a long time since I talked about what I've been doing with Norwex. I started selling in February of this year, and yes I'm still doing it. I've hesitated talking much about it, since I really wanted this site to remain personal, and not too sales-pitchy. That's just me :)

Anyway, I started out strong and had a great couple of months of lining up parties, making sales and have had some decent commissions come in. I also had some dud parties that cost me more than I made, but thankfully those were few and far between. I learned some lessons fast the hard way and I came to the conclusion that I'm a terrible sales person! Haha. 

I still LOVE Norwex, and I believe in it 100%. I use it everywhere in my home and find it superior to anything else I've tried that's similar. That said, I just am not motivated enough to talk people into throwing parties for me. I can do it. I have done it. I just psych myself out that my friends, family and their friends and family are going to start screening their calls and avoiding me! Haha. Why do I fear that? Because I over-analyze EVERYTHING. And yes, I do mean everything.

Anyway, when I've put myself out there, I've done pretty well. I find that the more motivated I am, the better I explain things and the better my hostesses do. There is the occasional exception to this, but for the most part that's held true. I think I'll continue to do it, but to what degree, I'm not sure. I could see myself being successful with it and doing quite well financially, but that does have some drawbacks for me. The first drawback is that I'm definitely out of my comfort zone! Another is that I am less available to the kids and they hate that. It doesn't kill them though, much as they think so. And then there is that fact that I'm worried about the other dream I have going unfulfilled. Not that I've done much with that anyway. Okay, I'll admit it now, I'm a coward and have done little to nothing with that dream.

I'm filled constantly with all of these story ideas. They even keep me awake at times as I plot them out in my head. I should be running downstairs when that happens and start pounding away at the keys here. But I don't. Usually I'll just go take a Benedryl to knock myself out so I can sleep (hah!). It took me a while to admit why. I've said in the past that it's because don't have enough free time and I get cranky when I'm interrupted while writing (and that's certainly true), but I could still do it and just try harder to be patient to overcome those things. I've come to accept, as I've made myself think about it, that what the real issue here is that I'm afraid to fail. What if I'm not as good as I think I am? Or rather, as good as others have told me I am (and I so want to believe them)? 

If I take the time to write those stories, and flesh them out into novels and nothing happens, then I feel like I've taken that time away from my family for nothing. I hate that idea. And I so don't want to let anyone down either. But then I keep telling myself that I'm letting them down by not following through with my dream. If you don't try, you already failed, right?

So now comes the question of which road to focus on, and how much time should be dedicated to each pursuit? Is it possible to balance family, writing and sales? Or does one of those things have to go? Obviously the family part is non-negotiable and I wouldn't want to lose that part of my life anyway (it's the best part!). For me, this isn't an easy decision. Any thoughts, ideas or motivating phrases for me? I can certainly use all I can get right now!

Monday, March 5, 2012

I'm "Norwexing" Everywhere!

So since I became an independent consultant for Norwex, I decided I needed to really get to know all of their products better. I'm not going to tell someone something is great and that it works unless I have reliable testimonials about it first--and what better testimonial is there than one's own?

It's been a productive time for me over the last few weeks, and the Norwex products I got have been put to the test over and over again. So far they're coming out way ahead. Yay! With all the cleaning up (damage control?) I've been doing, you'd think that my hands would be trashed (or you would if you knew my issue with "housewife's eczema" after a day of heavy-duty cleaning). But my hands have never been better, especially for it being the dry, cold months here--I'm not missing those chemicals at all!

Anyway, I've gotten purple sharpie (permanent marker for those who don't already know) out of my cream sofa, cleaned up my 4 year old's "art" off my kitchen hutch, gotten the rust and other build-up off the shower that wouldn't come off with the other cleaners I'd tried, cleaned my friend's son's "art" off her cabinets and sofa and the scuff marks off her door. I did it all while laughing about how easy it was coming off. Usually after incidents like this, I'd be as horrified as the next parent over our kiddies' art projects around the house, but this gave me lots of before and after pictures. My only regret is that I didn't think to take pictures until after the first few tests. I think I'm going to need a camera with me at all times now. Haha!

 I cleaned this door off using the micro hand pads. It's like a magic eraser, only it doesn't dull your paint finish, doesn't cause burns on the skin and it didn't crumble at all while I was using it.

 This sofa took only a minute to clean off using a damp envirocloth. That's also what I used to clean off the purple sharpie on my sofa (I soooooo wish I'd thought to take pictures of that one too!).

 My 4 year old claims my one year old drew this....hmmmmmmm......not buying it! In any case, it took literally seconds to clean it off with the micro hand pad :)

 Yeah, I'm not proud of the way this shower looks. I'd tried other products like scrubbing bubbles, Clorox and things of that nature.
 I'm so embarrassed! At least I can say it was great for a before picture, right?
 I used the Norwex bathroom scrub mitt, cleaning paste and some descaler. The cleaning paste took off most of it, but the descaler took off the little bit that was left behind. It was awesome to see that rust disappear!

There are other products I've fallen in love with, but I'll talk about those later. You can find out more about these environmentally friendly products on my website here. I'm no where near done testing all the products out though. I'm actually looking forward to doing more of these tests. For once, cleaning has been almost fun! ;-)

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Big Things Are Happening!

Many of you know I've been been exploring money-making opportunities over the last few years. I've also talked about ways to save money and "Go Green." I've been wanting to talk about my latest endeavor for weeks, but made myself wait to see how things panned out first. I tend to be skeptical (though I prefer the term "realistic") about a lot of things, especially when it comes to making money. I don't believe in "Get Rich Quick" schemes and I tend to believe that if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.

Well, a few weeks ago a friend of mine invited me to a party. Actually, she invited me to 3 parties total. I really didn't want to go. It was a home sales type thing and I just don't get into that. I've tried Avon and ended up spending more than I made (that and I had a really hard time pushing the cosmetics because I felt like I was telling people they needed those products because they weren't attractive they way they looked now! Hah!) Anyway, I avoided things like pampered chef, tupperware, the jewelry parties and all of that. I felt that people could easily get by without these things and couldn't bring myself to convince them they needed them, though I do believe that many of these companies do make good products overall.

These parties I was trying to avoid were for Norwex. I finally went to one after my friend called me several times on the day of the 3rd party. I told her that even if I went, not to expect anything because I just don't get into things like this. She said that was fine, and just hoped I would come and see what it was all about. Well, I did, and it changed my mind in a big way!

Norwex is all about earth-friendly, chemical free and effective products. They have a micro-fiber cloth infused with micro-silver (which never launders out of the cloth) that does incredible things. I had to see it with my own eyes to believe it. It does these things using the cloth and water. I watched butter being wiped off a mirror and within seconds that mirror was more streak-free than anything I've ever seen using various cleaners and many paper towels. I watched it wipe up all trace of a raw chicken breast in seconds and it doesn't transfer that nastiness over when you take that same cloth and clean another area. Incredible!

Anyway, I don't want to sound like an infomercial. Needless to say I was impressed. I saw myself getting rid of my sanitizing cleaners, using much fewer paper towels and getting my cleaning done much faster with less headache. I also saw myself being able to talk about these products with friends without feeling like I was pushing something unnecessary on them. I felt so good about what I learned of this company, that a few weeks after that party, I signed up to be a consultant with them.

This is a great opportunity for those looking to make extra money to supplement lost income, or even to become their main income. It's not without effort though. You have to put yourself out there to be successful. You have to be comfortable talking with people, or at least seem like you're comfortable ;-)

Norwex talks about honesty and integrity in their core values--something that impressed me. They're generous to work for, they're generous to their party hostesses too! They also back up what they sell, which is a huge deal for me.

So how has this worked out for me? Well, so far I've done very well and am already coming out ahead in the expense/profit aspect. I've got several avenues I can explore to take this further and I'm getting more and more excited the more I use the products I'm now selling. Win-win!

If you want more information on Norwex and their products, feel free to check out my website: nelliebutler.norwex.biz.