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                    In a Nutshell
   Information and Tips for your Image Consulting Business

 10/04/02                                           Issue #6
 Linda Gerloff, Editor, linda@blueflute.com
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     By subscription only! Welcome to your next issue of
                   "In a NutShell".
 You are receiving this newsletter because you have
 subscribed to either the monthly Automated Inventory
 Updates or this newsletter.
 Unsubscribe instructions are at the end of this newsletter.
 
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   IN THIS ISSUE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    =>  Inventory Updates for October
    =>  Blue Flute News 
    =>  ‘In a NutShell’ archives 
    =>  Feature Article -
         Better Inventory means a Better Business
    =>  Fun Trivia

    =>  Guest Column
         Please – be my guest!
    =>  Getting along with your Computer -
         Protect your client and colleague’s privacy.
    =>  NutShell Tip – Handling Herbal Serenity Mini’s 
    =>  Recognition Corner 
    =>  Party Game – Funny Adjectives
    =>  Subscribe/Unsubscribe information
 
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 Inventory Updates for October
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Your inventory updates for October are ready. If you have
 subscribed to this service, you can get your updates here:
 http://www.blueflute.com/btyupdt1.htm

 If you lose this link, you can always download your updates
 from the main Blue Flute web page. Just click on the
 'Pre-Paid Updates' button.
 
 If your subscription to the updates has expired, you can
 purchase another year online here:
 http://www.blueflute.com/orderpage.htm
 
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 Blue Flute News

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 October Special – Free Spa Tools! Many a consultant has
 experienced an increased level of activity in her
 business due to clients’ and prospects’ enthusiasm for spa
 parties! If you know someone whose business is flourishing
 due to spa parties, she will be ready for NutShell in
 October. What could be a better combination than free spa
 tools and NutShell? Spa tools for delightful spas and
 NutShell to manage all the resulting new business!

 

 Consultants who purchase NutShell and Inventory Updates in
 October will receive a head massager and body massagers
 free! This is a $25 value!

 Don’t forget that when you refer NutShell to a friend,
 you win, too. Not only will your consultant will have more
 time for selling and recruiting, but you will receive free
 inventory updates, as well!

 Please note that in order to receive the free spa tools,
 NutShell and updates must be purchased within 10 days of
 downloading the NutShell 30 day trial.

 

 Tell me what you want – I will be starting on the next
 NutShell upgrade this month, and I need to hear from you!
 I need to know your deepest wishes and desires on the
 following subjects:

 Party Management – What are the tasks that you do from the
 day you book a party through the day of the party and even
 in the completion of paperwork and follow up? How can
 NutShell help you with this?
 Let me know: PartyManagement@BlueFlute.com

 Projected Reorders – How would you like to determine when
 it is time for a client to reorder and how would you like
 to handle it? Should it be based on each client’s personal
 buying pattern? Do you want to ‘do’ reorders periodically,
 say, once per month? How would you like NutShell to remind
 you – with a report, a reminder on the datebook, an
 on-screen list? Would you like NutShell to create an
 invoice for the client automatically and let you adjust it?
 Y’all are smart and creative, so tell me what you
 want!: ProjectedReorders@BlueFlute.com

 New! Online Checks – I am now able to accept online checks.
 This makes it very easy to process your purchase and the
 payment plan is better than ever! No checks to write or
 mail! You can make a purchase by online check on the
 Blue Flute Order Page: www.blueflute.com/orderpage.htm

 

  Address change – I have changed post offices:
  Blue Flute Software
  P.O. Box 77882
  Fort Worth, TX 76177

 
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 ‘In a NutShell’ archives
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 Did you miss a prior ‘In a NutShell’ newsletter, or would
 you like to review one of the articles? You can view it
 here: http://www.blueflute.com/Newsletters.htm

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 Feature Article –
  Better Inventory means a Better Business
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 It’s a fact that it is necessary to keep good records for
 tax purposes. But, good bookkeeping can help you run a more
 profitable business as well. One of the most challenging
 aspects of our businesses is knowing how much inventory we
 need. It certainly is helpful to have inventory on hand
 when closing a party. Clients prefer to not have to wait
 for their product and will buy more when it is instantly
 available, ready to take home at once.

 On the other hand, inventory that sits on your shelf month
 after month is the same as dollar bills sitting on your
 shelf. This is not good for business. The trick is to
 strike a balance between too much and too little inventory.
 
 Your director and recruiter can help you decide what
 products are most important to have on hand, according to
 your goals for your business. Once you decide on your base
 inventory, you can focus on keeping it stocked and then
 gradually build up a wider selection of products. A good
 base inventory would include basic skin care items along
 with a few sets of glamour. And some spa products, too,
 depending on what the focus of your business is.

 When you are ready to place a product order, it will help
 to think about three things:
   1. Replenishing your base inventory
   2. Filling your client’s orders
   3. Expanding your inventory

 Replenishing your base inventory – You can let NutShell
 help with this or if you are not using a computer to run
 your business, you can keep track of it on paper. Make a
 list of your base inventory – which items you want to stock
 and how much of it you want to keep on hand. Key this into
 the NutShell inventory screen in the ‘Reord’ column.
 ‘Reord’ stands for ‘Reorder Point’. Once your inventory of
 any given item falls below the reorder point, NutShell will
 know that you need to order more.

 Filling your clients’ orders – There’s not much rocket
 science involved here. If your client ordered something you
 don’t have in stock, you will need to get it. The hard part
 comes in remembering everything that you need. NutShell
 will be able to help you with this. Enter an invoice for
 every sale you make, as soon as you make the sale even if
 you don’t have all the product in stock. The invoice will
 give NutShell the info it needs to help you fill your
 clients’ orders.

 Expanding your inventory – This is the most subjective part
 of maintaining a balanced and effective inventory. Take
 advantage of sale prices and discounts. Listen to your
 clients as they talk about what they would like to buy.
 And listen to your heart. The products that excite you are
 the products that you will sell the most successfully.
 Decide ahead of time how much of your profit you want to
 devote to expanding your inventory. Depending on the goals
 of your business, put 15-30% of your monthly profit toward
 building your inventory.

 Based on these three considerations, you can build your
 product order quickly in NutShell. If you have entered
 your Reorder Points, and entered your invoices, then to
 figure out what you need to order is simply a click of
 a button. Start a new PO and click the ‘Load Items’
 button. NutShell will check your inventory for items
 below reorder point and will check all your invoices for
 unfilled orders. Using this information, it will create
 a suggested order for you. You can then adjust the order
 according to your circumstances. Then add the products
 you want to purchase in order to expand your inventory.

 Building your inventory based on sound decisions will help
 your business grow and prosper. You will be able to often
 provide your clients with product-on-demand without tying
 up your money with inventory that is just sitting on your
 shelf!ess grow and prosper. You will be able to fill
 your clients o


 ~~~~~~
 You can get more information about using the NutShell
 software here: http://www.blueflute.com/btynut.htm
 

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 Fun Trivia
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 Of all cheese customs, one of the more unusual was that of
 the "groaning cheese." Years ago in Europe, a prospective
 father would nibble on a huge chunk of cheese while
 awaiting the home birth of his child. Instead of pacing
 outside the bedroom door, the father would eat from the
 center of the cheese until a large hole had been gnawed
 out. Later, his newborn infant was ceremoniously passed
 through the hole.

 from www.absolutetrivia.com


         *-----------Quote of the Month-------------*
           
          I have not failed. I've just found 10,000
          ways that won't work.

                   - Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931)

         *------------------------------------------*

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 Guest column 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Please – be my guest! There are so many of you with a
 wealth of knowledge and inspiration to share. If you would
 like to share, we would love to hear from you. If the
 writing is intimidating to you, we could do an interview
 instead! It would be fun!

 

 I’m looking forward to hearing from you, plus, I need
 your help!: Guest@BlueFlute.com

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 Getting along with your Computer –
    Protect your client and colleague’s privacy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 With the invention of computers and the internet, an
 entirely new method of communication was created. Email is
 here, and I can’t imagine how we grew up without it!

 As with most new inventions, email has its positives and
 negatives. On the positive side, email is cheap – it’s
 practically free. When I first started learning about the
 internet, I kept saying ‘But who is getting rich from this?’
 Wonderfully, there is no big corporation or conglomeration
 of companies controlling and getting rich from the millions
 of us who use the internet. Email really does cost
 practically nothing!

 On the other hand, there is a whole new etiquette regarding
 email. One of the most important aspects is the protection
 of the privacy of the people with which we correspond. We
 all receive junk email which seems to be much more
 irritating than junk snail mail. Once our email address
 gets on a commercial list, it can be sold over and over
 again to various companies. And the junk email becomes
 never-ending. Also, the more junk lists our email address
 is on, the more likely we are to receive a virus-laden
 email.

 We all must do our part to minimize the loss of our client
 and colleagues’ email privacy. A common practice is to send
 a single email to a group of people. For example, this
 newsletter will be emailed to many consultants. We all love
 to share good stories, inspirational thoughts and funny
 jokes as well as client newsletters and postcards. However,
 it is important to insure that each group mailing protects
 the privacy of each and every recipient.

 All email programs provide an option just for this purpose.

 It is the ‘Blind Carbon Copy’ or ‘BCC’ feature. BCC allows
 you to send an email to two or more recipients without
 anybody being able to see anyone else’s email address.
 When you send an email to a group using the more
 traditional ‘Carbon Copy’ or ‘CC’ feature, everyone who
 receives the email will see the name and/or address of
 every other person who receives the email. This may seem
 OK, but in actuality, it is a breach of privacy. A
 recipient may forward the email to one or more other
 people. Every person who gets the forwarded email will
 also get the name and address of every person on the
 original mailing list. This is not very private, but
 is very easy to prevent.

 If you want to send an email to several or many people,
 list their email addresses in the ‘BCC’ field rather than
 the ‘CC’ or ‘To’ field. (It is not necessary to list
 anything in the ‘To’ field when using ‘BCC’.) Nobody will
 be able to see anything that is in ‘BCC’, conversely,
 they will see everything that is in ‘CC’ and ‘To’.

 Using ‘BCC’ is an easy way to respect the privacy of those
 receiving your emails. If your email is professional in
 context, it will look much more professional than having
 a long list of names or addresses in the ‘CC’ field. You
 can have comfort in knowing that you are respecting and
 protecting the privacy of everyone on your list!

            
       *---------------A Good Laugh--------------*
         Whoever said money can't buy happiness
         simply didn't know where to go shopping.

                      -Bo Derek
      *-----------------------------------------*

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 NutShell Tip – Handling Herbal Serenity Mini’s
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 Occasionally, BeautiControl offers a product that is so
 popular, they can’t meet the demand for it or for some
 reason, are unable to fill orders for it. Instead, they
 give you credit for the unshipped product. This is what
 has happened with the Herbal Serenity Mini’s. It has
 happened at other times with other products, as well.

 If you have Herbal Serenity Mini’s or other item like
 this on a NutShell purchase order that is in Receive
 Mode, you will need to go ahead and receive it. This
 will allow you to close the PO.

 To account for the ‘unreceived’ Herbal Serenity Mini’s,
 make a second PO. This will be your ‘credit’ PO. Add the
 Mini’s to the PO, using the same order quantity as on the
 original PO, but make it negative, like this: -1. Remove
 the shipping fee so that the PO total will match your
 credit from BeautiControl. Then, receive the PO, using a
 negative ‘quantity received’. Close the PO and all parts of
 your system will be correct. 

 

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   Recognition Corner
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 Congratulations to the following NutShell users who have 
 worked hard and achieved success in advancing their careers!

  ~ Executive Director ~
  Susie Pratt
 
  ~ Director ~
  Christy Sarosdy

  ~ Unit Manager ~
  Rebecca Bevill

  ~Unit VIP~
  Catherine Blomeke
  Vicki Callaway
  Sherri Cassidy
  Melinda Duke
  Alice Gray
  Lisa Hernandez
  Pamela Lehmer
  Patricia Lyons
  Kathy Mansco
  Tracy Michel
  Peggy Miller
  Karla Skufca
  Melynda Thompson
  Tara Willkie

 ~ New DIQ ~
  Valerie Altman
  Stephanie Boring
  Kathy Bosworth
  Lisa Boyd
  Leslie Duhon
  Jami Gann
  Penny Henze
  Tawana Hornaday
  Cindy Irvin
  Donna Kirkbride
  Beth Krantz
  Tracy Kruse
  Debbie Neill
  Donna Oehlert
  Bridget Psaromatis
  Renae Reeves
  Barbara Sloan
  Donna Winegard

 ~ DIQ ~
  Thelma Blount
  Connie Brown
  Gina Bullis
  Geri Cozine
  Patricia Crowley
  Roxanne Dufort
  Tina Fitts
  Gena Flanary
  Brenda Fogerty
  Karen Fritschi
  Jenna Fujimoto
  Mary Hamala
  Ann Harris
  Karen Haynes
  Bonnye Hicks
  Norma Holland
  Nancy Johnson
  Cindy Koleba
  Donna Kistler
  DJ Loehr
  Sue McKeithan-Jensen
  Karen Mosteller
  Sandra Mozey
  Alicia Nelson
  Denise Newsome
  Heather Richter-Egger
  Marcy Roitman-Boothe
  Jeannie Russo
  Lisa Sloan
  Bettie Smith
  Kippy Jo Spencer
  Teresa Sykora
  Anne Teran
  Angie Toben
  Pam Vanden Bulk
  Diane Vivlamore
  Carol White
  Beverly Williams
  Linda Williams
  Kelly Wofford
 

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   Party Game – Funny Adjectives
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Thank you to Michael Ann Dillinger, Director, who
 contributed the following game. She said:

 “I like it because it is never the same twice and is very
 funny. For example, tonight I had a party and I was a
 "goofy" salesperson and our refreshments were "hideous".

 Funny Adjectives Game
 
 This game is a great icebreaker. Ask the guests for
 10 adjectives and then fill in the blanks.

 Hello!

To those of you who don’t know me, I’m (insert your
 name), and I represent the most ___________________ company
 in the world. Tonight, I will introduce you to some of our
 _____________________ BeautiControl Products. I’m very
 happy to be in this__________________ home this evening.
 I’m sure you all agree with me that we have a
__________________________ hostess. And of all groups I’ve
 ever held a presentation for, you are by far the most
_____________________________.

      Once again, I want to thank our _________________
 hostess for inviting me into her home. I am sure that by
 the end of the evening, you will agree that I am the most
 ______________________ sales person you’ve ever met. I do
 hope that you have such a good time that you will invite me
 into your ____________________ home, so that you can
 receive some of our ___________________________
 BeautiControl Products.

      And now I’ll get on with the presentation, because
 afterwards our hostess has told me that she will be
 serving some __________________ refreshments.

 Thank you for coming tonight!

 

 

            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 If you would like to share a game, please do!

 mailto:games@blueflute.com

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  
 Please pass this e-zine along to your friends. Just click
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 Copyright 2002 Blue Flute Software Creations, Inc.

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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Linda Gerloff
 Blue Flute Software Creations
 linda@blueflute.com
 P.O. Box 77882 
 Fort Worth, TX 76177
 817-439-1081